such a course and what hopes He had of Money Men Arms Fortified Places Shipping Council and Military Offices sufficient for such an Enterprize against the Parliament that had Men and Money as much at Command as the City of London and other Corporation Towns were able to furnish which was more than they needed And for the Men they should set forth for Soldiers they were almost all of them spightfully bent against the King and his whole Party whom they took to be either Papists or Flatterers of the King or that had design'd to raise their Fortunes by the Plunder of the City and other Corporation Towns and though I believe not that they were more valiant than other Men nor that they had so much Experience in the War as to be accounted good Soldiers yet they had that in them which in time of Battle is more conducing to Victory than Valor and Experience both together and that was Spight And for Arms they had in their hands the chief Magazines the Tower of London and Kingston upon Hull besides most of the Powder and Shot that lay in several Towns for the use of the Trained Bands Fortified places there were not many then in England and most of them in the hands of the Parliament The King's Fleet was wholly in their Command under the Earl of Warwick Counsellors they needed no more than such as were of their own Body so that the King was every way inferior to them except it were perhaps in Officers A. I cannot compare their chief Officers for the Parliament The Earl of Essex after the Parliament had Voted the War was made General of all their Forces both in England and Ireland from whom all other Commanders were to receive their Commissions B. What moved them to make the Earl of Essex General And for what cause was the Earl of Essex so displeased with the King as to accept that Office A. I do not certainly know what to answer to either of those Questions but the Earl of Essex had been in the Wars abroad and wanted neither Experience Judgment nor Courage to perform such an undertaking and besides that you have heard I believe how great a Darling of the People his Father had been before him and what Honour he gad gotten by the success of his Enterprize upon Cales and in some other Military Actions To which I may add That this Earl himself was not held by the People to be so great a Favourite at Court as that they might not trust him with their Army against the King and by this you may perhaps conjecture the cause for which the Parliament made choice of him for General B. But why did they think him discontented with the Court A. I know not that nor indeed that he was so he came to Court as other Noblemen did when occasion was to wait upon the King but had no Office till a little before this time to oblige him to be there continually but I believe verily that the unfortunateness of his Marriage had so discountenanced his Conversation with Ladies that the Court could not be his proper Element unless he had had some extraordinary favour there to balance that calamity For particular discontent from the King or intention of revenge for any supposed disgrace I think he had none nor that he was any ways addicted to Presbyterian Doctrines or other Phanatic Tenets in Church or State saving only that he was carried away with the stream in a manner of the whole Nation to think that England was not an absolute but a mixt Monarchy not considering that the Supreme Power must always be absolute whether it be in the King or in the Parliament B. Who was General of the King's Army A. None yet but Himself nor indeed had He yet any Army but there coming to him at that time two Nephews the Princes Rupert and Maurice He put the Command of His Horse into the hands of Prince Rupert a man than whom no man living has a better courage nor was more active and diligent in prosecuting his Commission and though but a young man then was not without experience in the conducting of Soldiers as having been an Actor in part of his Father's Wars in Germany B. But how could the King find Money to pay such an Army as was necessary for Him against the Parliament A. Neither the King nor Parliament had much Money at that time in their own hands but were fain to rely upon the Benevolence of those that took their parts wherein I confess the Parliament had a mighty great advantage Those that helped the King in that kind were only Lords and Gentlemen which not approving the proceedings of the Parliament were willing to undertake the payment every one of a certain number of Horse which cannot be thought any very great assistance the persons that paid them being so few for other Moneys that the King then had I have not heard of any but what he borrow'd upon Jewels in the Low-Countries whereas the Parliament had a very plentiful Contribution not only from London but generally from their Faction in all other places of England upon certain Propositions published by the Lords and Commons in June 1642. at which time they had newly Voted That the King intended to make War upon them for bringing in of Money or Plate to maintain Horse and Horse-men and to buy Arms for the preservation of the public Peace and for the defence of the King and both Houses of Parliament for the Repaying of which Money and Plate they were to have the Public Faith B. What Public Faith is there when there is no Public What is it that can be call'd Public in a Civil War without the King A. The truth is the Security was nothing worth but serv'd well enough to gull those seditious Blockheads that were more fond of change than either of their peace or profit having by this means gotten Contributions from those that were the well-affected to their Cause they made use of it afterwards to force the like Contribution from others for in November following they made an Ordinance for Assessing also of those that had not contributed then or had contributed but not proportionably to their Estates And yet this was contrary to what the Parliament promised and declared in the Propositions themselves for they declared in the first Proposition That no man's Affection should be measured by the proportion of his Offer so that he expressed his good will to the Service in any proportion whatsoever Besides this in the beginning of March following they made an Ordinance to Levy weekly a great Sum of Money upon every County City Town Place and Person of any Estate almost in England which weekly Sum as may appear by the Ordinance it self printed and published in March 1642 by Order of both Houses comes to almost 33000 l. and consequently to above 1700000 l. for the year They had besides all this the profits of the King's Lands
his first coming to the Crown of England did endeavour it but could not prevail But for all that I believe the Scotch have now as many priviledges in England as any Nation had in Rome of those which were so as you say made Romans for they are all Naturalized and have right to buy Land in England to them and their Heirs B. 'T is true of them that were born in Scotland after the time that King James was in possession of the Kingdom of England A. There be very few now that were born before But why have they a better right that were born after than they that were born before B. Because they were born Subjects to the King of England and the rest not A. Were not the rest born Subjects to King James and was not he King of England B. Yes but not then A I understand not the subtilty of the distinction but upon what Law is that distinction grounded is there any Statute to that purpose B. I cannot tell I think not but it is grounded upon Equity A. I see little equity in this that those Nations that are bound to equal obedience to the same King should not have equal Priviledges and now seeing there be so very few born before King Jame's coming in what greater priviledges had those ingrafted Romans by their Naturalization in the State of Rome or in the State of England the English themselves more than the Scotch D. Those Romans when any of them were in Rome had their voice in the making of Laws A. And the Scotch have their Parliaments wherein their assent is required to the Law there made which is as good Have not many of the Provinces of France their several Parliaments and several Constitutions yet they are all equally Natural Subjects to the King of France And therefore for my part I think they were mistaken both English and Scotch in calling one another Foreigners Howsoever that be the King had a very sufficient Army wherewith he marched towards Scotland and by that time he was come to York the Scots Army was drawn up to the Fronteers and ready to march into England which also they presently did giving out all the way that their march should be without damage to the Countrey and that their Errand was onely to deliver a Petition to the King for the redress of many pretended Injuries they had received from such of the Court whose counsel the King most followed so they passed through Northumberland quietly till they came to a Ford in the River of Tine a little above Newcastle where they found some little opposition from a party of the King's Army sent thither to stop them whom the Scots easily mastered and as soon as they were over seized on Newcastle and coming farther on upon the City of Duresme and sent to the King to desire a Treaty which was granted and the Commissioners on both sides met at Rippon the conclusion was that all should be referred to the Parliament which the King should call to meet at Westminster the third of November following in the same year 1640. And thereupon the King returned to London B. So the Armies were disbanded A. No The Scotch Army was to be defrayed by the Counties of Northumberland and Duresme and the King was to pay his own till the disbanding of both should be agreed upon in Parliament B. So in effect both the Armies were maintained at the King's Charge and the whole Controversie to be desided by a Parliament almost wholly Presbyterian and as Partial to the Scotch as themselves could have wished A. And yet for all this they durst not presently make War upon the King there was so much yet left of Reverence to him in the Hearts of People as to have made them odious if they had declared what they intended they must have some colour or other to make it be believed that the King made War first upon the Parliament And besides they had not yet sufficiently disgraced him in Sermons and Pamphlets nor removed from about him those they thought could best counsel him therefore they resolved to proceed with him like skilful hunters First to single him out by men disposed in all parts to drive him into the open field and then in case he should not seem to turn head to call that making a War against the Parliament And first They called in question such as had either Preached or written in defence of those Rights which belonging to the Crown they meant to usurp and take from the King to themselves whereupon some few Writers and Preachers were Imprisoned or forced to fly The King not protecting these they proceeded to call in question some of the King 's own Actions in his Ministers whereof they Imprison'd some and some went beyond Sea and whereas certain persons having endeavoured by Books and Sermons to raise Sedition and committed other Crimes of high Nature had therefore been censured by the Kings Council in the Star-Chamber and Imprisoned the Parliament by their own Authority to try it seems how the King and the people would take it for their Persons were inconsiderable ordered their setting at Liberty which was accordingly done with great Applause of the People that flocked about them in London in manner of a Triumph This being done without resistance the Kings Right to Ship-money B. Ship-money what 's that A. The Kings of England for the defence of the Sea had power to Tax all the Counties of England whether they were Maritine or not for the Building and Furnishing of Ships which Tax the King had then lately found cause to impose and the Parliament exclaimed against it as an oppression And one of their Members that had been Taxed but 20 Shillings mark the Oppression a Parliament-man of 500 l. a Year Land Taxed at 20 Shillings they were forced to bring it to a Tryal at Law he refusing payment and he was cast again When all the Judges of Westminster were demanded their Opinions concerning the legality of it of Twelve that there are it was judged Legal by Ten for which though they were not punished yet they were affrighted by the Parliament B. What did the Parliament mean when they did exclaim against it as illegal Did they mean it was against Statute Law or against the Judgments of Lawyers given heretofore which are commonly called Reports or did they mean it was against Equity which I take to be the same with the Law of Nature A. It is a hard matter or rather impossible to know what other men mean especially if they be crafty but sure I am Equity was not their ground for their pretence of Immunity from Contributing to the King but at their own pleasure for when they have laid the Burthen of defending the whole Kingdom and governing it upon any person whatsoever there is little Equity he should depend on others for the means of performing it or if he do they are his Soveraign not he theirs and as for
believe oppose the Lower House B. But why were the Lower House so earnest against them A. Because they meant to make use of their Tenants and with pretended Sanctity to make the King and his Party odious to the People by whose help they were to set up Democracy and Depose the King or to let him have the Title only so long as he should Act for their purposes But not only the Parliament but in a manner all the People of England were their Enemies upon the account of their behaviour as being they said too imperious This was all that was colourable laid to their charge the main of the pulling them down was the Envy of the Presbyterians that incensed the People against them and against Episcopacy it self B. How would the Presbyterians have the Church to be govern'd A. By National and Provincial Synods B. Is not this to make the National Assembly an Arch-Bishop and the Provincial Assemblies so many Bishops A. Yes but every Minister shall have the delight of sharing the Government and consequently of being able to be reveng'd on them that do not admire their Learning and help to fill their purses and win to their service them that do B. 'T is a hard Case that there should be two Factions to trouble the Common-wealth without any Interest of their own other than every particular man may have and that their quarrels should be only about Opinions that is about who has the most Learning as if their Learning ought to be the Rule of Governing the whole World What is it they are Learned in is it Politicks and Rules of State I know it is called Divinity but I hear almost nothing preacht but matter of Philosophy for Religion in it self admits of no Controversie 'T is a Law of the Kingdom and ought not to be disputed I do not think they pretend to speak with God and know his will by any other way than reading the Scriptures which we also do A. Yes some of them do and give themselves out for Prophets by extraordinary Inspiration but the rest pretend only for their Advancement to Benefices and Charge of Souls a greater skill in the Scriptures than other men have by reason of their breeding in the Universities and knowledge there gotten of the Latin Tongue and some also of the Greek and Hebrew Tongues wherein the Scriptures were written besides their knowledge of Natural Philosophy which is there publickly taught B. As for the Latin Greek and Hebrew it was once to the Detection of the Roman Fraud and to the Ejection of the Romish Power very profitable or rather necessary But now that is done and we have the Scripture in English and Preaching in English I see no great need of Latin Greek and Hebrew I should think my self better qualified by under standing well the Languages of our Neighbours French Dutch and Italian I think it was never seen in the world before the Power of Popes was setup that Philosophy was much conducing to power in a Commonwealth A. But Philosophy together with Divinity hath very much conduced to the Advancement of the Professors thereof to places of the greatest Authority next to the Authority of Kings themselves in most of the Antient Kingdoms of the world as is manifestly to be seen in the History of those times B. I pray you cite me some of the Authors and places A. First what were the Druids of old time in Britany and France what Authority these had you may see in Caesar Strabo and others and especially in Diodorus Siculus the greatest Antiquary perhaps that ever was who speaking of the Druids which he calls Sarovides in France saith thus There be also amongst them certain Philosophers and Theologians that are exceedingly honoured whom they also use as Prophets These men by their skill in Augury and Inspection into the Bowels of Beasts sacrificed foretel what is to come and have the multitude in obedience to them and a little after It is a custom amongst them that no man may sacrifice without a Philosopher because say they men ought not to present their Thanks to the Gods but by them that know the Divine Nature and are as it were of the same language with them and that all good things ought by such as these to be prayed for B. I can hardly believe that those Druids were very skilful either in Natural Philosophy or Moral A. Nor I for they held and taught the Transmigration of Souls from one Body to another as did Pythagoras which Opinion whether they took from him or he from them I cannot tell What were the Magi in Persia but Philosophers and Astrologers You know how they came to find our Saviour by the Conduct of a Star either from Persia it self or from some Country more Eastward than Judea were not these in great Authority in their Country And are they not in most part of Christendom thought to have been Kings Aegypt hath been thought by many the most Antient Kingdom and Nation of the world and their Priests had the greatest power in Civil Affairs that any Subject ever had in any Nation And what were they but Philosophers and Divines Concerning whom the same Diodorus Siculus saies thus The whole Country of Egypt being divided into three parts the Body of the Priests have One as being of most credit with the people both for their Devotions towards the Gods and also for their Understanding gotten by Education and presently after for generally those men in the greatest Affairs of all the King's Councellors partly Executing and partly Informirg and Advising foretelling him also by their skill in Astrology and Art in the Inspection of Sacrifices the things that are to come and reading to him out of their Holy Books such of the Actions there recorded as are profitable for him to know 'T is not there as in Greece one man or one woman that has thé Priesthood but they are many that attend the Honours and Sacrifices of the Gods and leave the same Imployment to their posterity which next to the King have the greatest Power and Authority Concerning the Judicature amongst the Aegyptians he saith thus From out of the most eminent Cities Hieropolis Thebes and Memphis they chuse Judges which are Council not inferiour to that of Areopagus in Athens or that of the Senate in Lacedoemon when they are met being in number thirty they chuse one from among themselves to be Chief Justice and the City whereof he is sendeth another in his place This Chief Justice wore about his neck hung in a gold Chain a Jewel of precious Stones the name of which Jewel was Truth which when the Chief Justice had put on then began the Pleading c. And when the Judges had agreed on the Sentence then did the Chief Justice put this Jewel of Truth on one of the Pleas. You see now what power was acquired in Civil matters by the conjuncture of Philosophy and Divinity Let us come now to the
and that all persons cited by either House of Parliament may appear and abide the Censure of Parliament XIV That the General Pardon offered by his Majesty be granted with such Exceptions as shall be advised by both Houses of Parliament B. What a spightful Article is this All the rest proceeded from Ambition which many times well-natur'd men are subject to but this proceeded from an inhumane and devilish cruelly A. XV. That the Forts and Castles be put under the Command of such Persons as with the Approbation of the Parliament the King shall appoint XVI That the extraordinary Guards about the King be discharged and for the future none raised but according to the Law in case of actual Rebellion or Invasion B. Methinks these very Propositions sent to the King are an actual Rebellion A. XVII That his Majesty enter into a more strict Alliance with the United Provinces and other Neighbour Protestant Princes and States XVIII That his Majesty be pleased by Act of Parliament to clear the Lord Kimbolton and the Five Members of the House of Commons in such manner as that future Parliaments may be secur'd from the consequence of evil Precedent XIX That his Majesty be pleased to pass a Bill for restraining Peers made hereafter from sitting or voting in Parliament unless they be admitted with consent of both Houses of Parliament These Propositions granted they promise to apply themselves to regulate his Majesties Revenue to his best advantage and to settle it to the support of his Royal Dignity in Honour and Plenty and also to put the Town of Hull into such hands as his Majesty shall appoint with consent of Parliament B. Is not that to put it into such hands as His Majesty shall appoint by the consent of the Petitioners which is no more than to keep it in their hands as it is Did they want or think the King wanted common sense so as not to perceive that their promise herein was worth nothing A. After the sending of these Propositions to the King and His Majesties refusal to grant them they began on both sides to prepare for War the King raising a Guard for his Person in York-shire and the Parliament thereupon having Voted That the King intended to make War upon his Parliament gave Order for the Mustering and Exercising the People in Arms and published Propositions to Invite and Encourage them to bring in either ready Money or â—late or to promise under their hands to maintain certain numbers of Horse Horsemen and Arms for the Defence of the King and Parliament meaning by King as they had formerly declar'd not his Person but his Laws promising to repay their Money with Interest of Eight Pound in the Hundred and the Value of their Plate with Twelve Pence the Ounce for the Fashion On the other side the King came to Nottingham and there did set up his Standard Royal and sent out Commissioners of Array to call those to him which by the ancient Laws of England were bound to serve in the Wars Upon this occasion there passed divers Declarations between the King and Parliament concerning the Legality of this Array which are too long to tell you at this time B. Nor do I desire to hear any Mooting about this Question for I think that general Law of Salus Populi and the Right of defending himself against those that had taken from him the Sovereign Power are sufficient to make Legal whatsoever he should do in order to the recovery of his Kingdom or the punishing of the Rebels A. In the mean time the Parliament raised an Army and made the Earl of Essex General thereof by which Act they declar'd what they meant formerly when they Petition'd the King for a Guard to be Commanded by the said Earl of Essex And now the King sends out his Proclamations forbidding Obedience to the Orders of the Parliament concerning the Militia and the Parliament send out Orders against the Executions of the Commissions of Array hitherto though it were a War before yet there was no Blood shed they shot at one another nothing but Paper B. I understand now how the Parliament destroy'd the Peace of the Kingdom and how easily by the help of Seditious Presbyterian Ministers and of ambitious ignorant Orators they reduced the Government into Anarchy but I believe it will be a harder task for them to bring in Peace again and settle the Government either in themselves or in any other Governor or form of Government for granting that they obtain the Victory in this War they must be beholding for it to the Valor good Conduct or Felicity of those to whom they give the Command of their Armies especially to the General whose good success will without doubt bring with it the love and admiration of the Soldiers so that it will be in his power either to take the Government upon himself or to place it where himself thinks good In which Case if he take it not to himself he will be thought a Fool and if he do he shall be sure to have the Envy of his subordinate Commanders who will look for a share either in the present Government or in the Succession to it for they will say Has he obtain'd this Power by his own without our Danger Valor and Council And must we be his Slaves whom we have thus rais'd Or is not there as much Justice on our side against him as was on his side against the King A. They will and did insomuch that the reason why Cromwel after he had gotten into his own hands the absolute Power of England Scotland and Ireland by the Name of Protector did never dare to take upon him the Title of King nor was ever able to settle it upon his Children his Officers would not suffer it as pretending after his death to succeed him nor would the Army consent to it because he had ever declared to them against the Government of a Single Person B. But to return to the King What Means had he to pay What Provision had he to Arm nay Means to Levy an Army able to resist the Army of the Parliament maintained by the great Purse of the City of London and Contributions of almost all the Towns Corporate in England and furnished with Arms as fully as they could require A. 'T is true the King had great disadvantages and yet by little and little he got a considerable Army with which he so prospered as to grow stronger every day and the Parliament weaker till they had gotten the Scots with an Army of 21000 Men to come into England to their assistance but to enter into the particular Narrative of what was done in the War I have not now time B. Well then we will talk of that at next meeting B. VVE left at the Preparations on both sides for War which when I considered by my self I was mightily puzled to find out what possibility there was for the King to equal the Parliament in
Patriots and wise Statesmen B. What was this Commission of Array A. King William the Conqueror had gotten into his hands by Victory all the Lands in England of which he disposed some part as Forests and Chaces for his own Recreation and some part to Lords and Gentlemen that had assisted him or were to assist him in the Wars upon which he laid a charge of service in his Wars some with more Men and some with less according to the Lands he had given them whereby when the King sent Men unto them with Commission to make use of their Service they were obliged to appear with Arms and to accompany the King to the Wars for a certain time at their own Charges and such were the Commissions by which this King did then make his Levies B. Why then was it not Legal A. No doubt but it was Legal but what did that amount to with Men that were already resolv'd to acknowledge for Law nothing that was against their design of abolishing Monarchy and placing a sovereign and absolute Arbitrary Power in the House of Commons B. To destroy Monarchy and set up the House of Commons are two Businesses A. They found it so at last but did not think it so then B. Let us come now to the Military power A. I intended only the Story of their Injustice Impudence and Hypocrisie therefore for the proceeding of the War I refer you to the History thereof written at large in English I shall only make use of such a Thread as is necessary for the filling up of such Knavery and Folly also as I shall observe in their several Actions From York the King went to Hull where was His Magazine of Arms for the Northern Parts of Ergland to try if they would admit Him the Parliament had made Sir John Hotham Governor of the Town who caused the Gates to be shut and preseating himself upon the walls flatly denied Him entrance for which the King caused him to be preclam'd Traytor and sent a Message to the Parliament to know if they own'd the Actions B. Upon what grounds A. Their pretence was this That neither this nor any other Town in England was otherwise the King 's than in Trust for the People of England B. I cannot see the force of this Argument We represent the People Ergo all that the People has is ours The Mayor of Hull did represent the King Is therefore all the King had in Hull the Mayor's The People of England may be represented with Limitations as to deliver a Petition or the like does it follow that they who deliver the Petition have Right to all the Towns in England When began this Parliament to be a Representative of England Was it November 3. 1640 Who was it the day before that had the Right to keep the King out of Hull and possess it for themselves For there was then no Parliament whose was Hull then A. I think it was the King's not only because it was called the King's Town upon Hull but because the King Himself did then and ever represent the Person of the People of England If He did not who then did the Parliament having no Being B. They might perhaps say the People had then no Representative A. Then there was no Commonwealth and consequently all the Towns of England being the Peoples you and I and any Man else might have put in for his share You may see by this what weak People they were that were carried into the Rebellion by such weak reasonings as this Parliament used and how impudent they were that did put such Fallacies upon them B. Surely they were such as were esteem'd the wisest Men in England being upon that account chosen to be the Parliament A. And were they also esteem'd the wisest Men of England that chose them B. I cannot tell that for I know it is usual with the Freeholders in the Counties and the Tradesmen in the Cities and Burroughs to choose as near as they can such as are most repugnant to the giving of Subsidies A. The King in the beginning of August after He had summon'd Hull and tried some of the Counties thereabout what they would do for Him set up His Standard at Nottingham but there came not in thither Men enow to make an Army sufficient to give Battel to the Earl of Essex From thence He went to Shrewsbery where He was quickly furnished and appointing the Earl of Lindsey to be General He resolv'd to march towards London The Earl of Essex was at Worcester with the Parliament Army making no offer to stop Him in His passage but as soon as He was gone by marched close after him The King therefore to avoid being inclosed between the Army of the Earl of Essex and the City of London turned upon him and gave him Battel at Edge-hill where though he got not an intire Victory yet he had the better if either had the better and had certainly the fruit of a Victory which was to march on in his intended way towards London in which the next morning he took Banbury Castle and from thence went to Oxford and thence to Brentford where he gave a great Defeat to Three Regiments of the Parliaments Forces and so return'd to Oxford B. Why did not the King go on from Brentford A. The Parliament upon the first notice of the King 's marching from Shrewsbery caused all the Trained Bands and the Auxiliaries of the City of London which were so frighted as to shut up all their shops to be drawn forth so that there was a complete and numerous Army ready for the Earl of Essex that was crept into London just at that time to head it and this was it that made the King retire to Oxford In the beginning of February after Prince Rupert took Cirencestâ—r from the Parliament with many Prisoners and many Arms for it was newly made a Magazine and thus stood the business between the King 's and the Parliaments Forces The Parliament in the mean time caused a Line of Communication to be made about London and the Suburbs of 12 miles in compass and constituted a Committee for the Association and the putting into a posture of defence the Counties of Essex Cambridge Suffolk and some others and one of those Commissioners was Oliver Cromwel from which employment he came to his following greatness B. What was done during this time in other parts of the Country A. In the West the Earl of Stamford had the employment of putting in execution the Ordinance of Parliament for the Militia and Sir Ralph Hopton for the King executed the Commission of Array Between those two was fought a Battel at Liscard in Cornwal where Sir Ralph Hopton had the Victory and presently took a Town called Saltash with many Arms much Ordnance and many Prisoners Sir William Waller in the mean time seized Winchester and Chichester for the Parliament In the North for the Commission of Array my Lord of Newcastle and
is their private gain are naturally mortal Enemies their only glory being to grow excessively rich by the wisdom of buying and selling B. But they are said to be of all Callings the most beneficial to the Commonwealth by setting the poorer sort of people on work A. That is to say by making poor people sell their Labour to them at their own prizes so that poor people for the most part might get a better Living by working in Bridewell than by spinning weaving and other such labour as they can do saving that by working slightly they may help themselves a little to the disgrace of our Manufacture And as most commonly they are the first Encouragers of Rebellion presuming in their strength so also are they for the most part the first that repent deceiv'd by them that command their strength But to return to the War Though the King withdrew from Glocester yet it was not to fly from but to fight with the Earl of Essex which presently after he did at Newbery where the Battel was bloody and the King had not the worst unless Cirencester be put into the Scale which the Earl of Essex had in his way a few days before surpriz'd But in the North and the West the King had much the better of the Parliament for in the North at the beginning of the year May 29. the Earls of Newcastle and Cumberland defeated the Lord Fairfax who commanded in those parts for the Parliament at Bramham-moor which made the Parliament to hasten the assistance of the Scots In June following the Earl of Newcastle routed Sir Thomas Fairfax Son to the Lord Fairfax upon Adderton-heath and in pursuit of them to Bradford took and kill'd 2000 Men and the next day took the Town and 2000 Prisoners more Sir Thomas himself hardly escaping with all their Arms and Ammunition and besides this made the Lord Fairfax quit Hallifax and Beverley Lastly Prince Rupert reliev'd Newark besieg'd by Sir John Meldrum for the Parliament with 7000 men whereof 1000 were slain the rest upon Articles departed leaving behind them their Arms Bag and Baggage To ballance in part this success the Earl of Manchester whose Lieutenant General was Oliver Cromwel got a Victory over the Royalists near Horn-Castle of which he slew 400 took 800 Prisoners and 1000 Arms and presently after took and plunder'd the City of Lincoln In the West May 16. Sir Ralph Hopton at Stratton in Devonshire had a Victory over the Parliamentarians wherein he took 1700 Prisoners 13 Brass Peeces of Ordnance and all their Ammunition which was 70 Barrels of Powder and their Magazine of their other Provisions in the Town Again at Landsdown between Sir Ralph Hopton and the Parliamentarians under Sir William Waller was fought a fierce Battel wherein the Victory was not very clear on either side saving that the Parliamentarians might seem to have the better because presently after Sir William Waller follow'd Sir Ralph Hopton to the Devizes in Wiltshire though to his cost for there he was overthrown as I have already told you After this the King in Person marched into the West and took Exeter Dorchester Barnstable and divers other places and had he not at his Return besieged Glocester and thereby giving the Parliament time for new Levies 't was thought by many he might have routed the House of Commons But the end of this year was more favourable to the Parliament for in January the Scots entered England and March the first crossed the Tyne and whil'st the Earl of Newcastle was marching to them Sir Thomas Fairfax gathered together a considerable Party in Yorkscire and the Earl of Manchester from Lyn advanced towards York so that the Earl of Newcastle having two Armies of Rebels behind him and another before him was forced to retreat to York which those three Armies joyning presently besieged and these are all the considerable Military Actions in the year 1643. In the same year the Parliament caused to be made a new great Seal the Lord Keeper had carried the former Seal to Oxford Hereupon the King sent a Messenger to the Judges at Westminster to forbid them to make use of it this Messenger was taken and condemned at a Council of War and Hang'd for a Spy B. Is that the Law of War A. I know not But it seems when a Soldier comes into the Enemies Quarters without address or notice given to the chief Commander that it is presum'd he comes as a Spy The same year when certain Gentlemen at London received a Commission of Array from the King to Levy Men for his Service in that City being discover'd they were Condemn'd and some of them Executed This Case is not unlike the former B. Was not the making of a new great Seal a sufficient proof that the War was raised not to remove evil Counsellors from the King but to remove the King himself from the Government what hope then could there be had in Messages and Treaties A. The Entrance of the Scots was a thing unexpected to the King who was made to believe by continual Letters from His Commissioners in Scotland and Duke Hamilton that the Scots never intended any Invasion The Duke being then at Oxford the King assur'd that the Scots were now entered sent him Prisoner to Pendennis Castle in Cornwal In the beginning of the year 1644. the Earl of Newcastle being as I told you besieged by the joint Forces of the Scots the Earl of Manchester and Sir Thomas Fairfax the King sent Prince Rupert to relieve the Town and as soon as he could to give the Enemy Battle Prince Rupert passing through Lancashire and by the way having storm'd the seditious Town of Bolton and taken in Stock ford and Leverpool came to York July 1. and relieved it the Enemy being risen thence to a place called Marston-moor about four miles off and there was fought that unfortunate Battel that lost the King in a manner all the North Prince Rupert return'd by the way he came and the Earl of Newcastle to York and thence with some of His Officers over the Sea to Hamburgh The Honour of this Victory was attributed chiefly to Oliver Cromwel the Earl of Manchester's Lieutenant General the Parliamentarians return'd from the Field to the Siege of York which not long after upon honourable Articles was surrendred not that they were favoured but because the Parliament could not employ much time nor many men in the Siege B. This was a great and sudden abatement of the King's prosperity A. It was so but amends was made him for it within 5 or 6 weeks after for Sir William Waller after the loss of his Army at Roundway-down had another raised for him by the City of London who for the payment thereof imposed a weekly Tax of the value of one Meals meat upon every Citizen This Army with that of the Earl of Essex intended to besiege Oxford which the King understanding sent the Queen into the West and marched himself
House to carry a Vote in favour of Cromwel as they did upon the 26 of July for whereas on the 4th of May precedent the Parliament had Voted That the Militia of London should be in the hands of a Committee of Citizens whereof the Lord Mayor for the time being should be one Shortly after the Independants chancing to be the major made an Ordinance whereby it was put into hands more favourable to the Army The best Cards the Parliament had were the City of London and the person of the King The General Sir Thomas Fairfax was right Presbyterian but in the hands of the Army and the Army in the hands of Cromwel but which Party should prevail depending on playing of the Game Cromwel protested still Obedience and Fidelity to the Parliament but meaning nothing less bethought him and resolv'd on a way to excuse himself of all that he should do to the contrary upon the Army therefore he and his Son-in-law Commissary General Ireton as good at contriving as himself and at speaking and writing better contrive how to mutiny the Army against the Parliament To this end they spread a whisper through the Army that the Parliament now they had the King intended to disband them to cheat them of their Arrears and to send them into Ireland to be destroyed by the Irish The Army being herewith inrag'd were taught by Ireton to crect a Council among themselves of two Soldiers out of every Troop and every Company to consult for the good of the Army and to assist at the Council of War and to advise for the Peace and Safety of the Kingdom These were called Adjutators so that whatsoever Cromwel would have to be done he needed nothing to make them do it but secretly to put it into the head of these Adjutators the effect of the first Consultation was to take the King from Holmeby and to bring him to the Army The General hereupon by Letters to the Parliament excuses himself and Cromwel and the Body of the Army as ignorant of the Fact and that the King came away willingly with those Soldiers that brought Him assuring them withal That the whole Army intended nothing but Peace nor opposed Presbytery nor affected Independency nor did hold any licentious freedom in Religion B. 'T is strange that Sir Thomas Fairfax could be so abused by Cromwel as to believe this which he himself here writes A. I cannot believe that Cornet Joyce could go out of the Army with a 1000 Soldiers to fetch the King and neither the General nor the Lieutenant-General nor the Body of the Army take notice of it and that the King went willingly appears to be false by a Message sent on purpose from his Majesty to the Parliament B. Here is Perfidy upon Perfidy first the Perfidy of the Parliament against the King and then the Perfidy of the Army against the Parliament A. This was the first Trick Cromwel play'd whereby he thought himself to have gotten so great an advantage that he said openly That he had the Parliament in his Pocket as indeed he had and the City â—â—o For upon the news of it they were both the one and the other in very great disorder and the more because there came with it a Rumor that the Army was marching up to London The King in the mean time till his residence was setled at Hampton Court was carried from place to place not without some oftentasion but with much more Liberty and with more Respect shewn Him by far then when He was in the hands of the Parliaments Commissioners for His own Chaplains were allow'd Him and His Children and some Friends permitted to see Him besides that He was much Complimented by Cromwel who promised Him in a serious and seeming passionate manner to restore Him to His Right against the Parliament B. How was he sure he could do that A. He was not sure but he was resolv'd to march up to the City and Parliament to set up the King again and be the second man unless in the attempt he found better hopes than yet he had to make himself the first man by dispossessing the King B. What assistance against the Parliament and the City could Cromwel expect from the King A. By declaring directly for Him he might have had all the King's Party which were many more now since His misfortune than ever they were before for in the Parliament it self there were many that had discover'd the hypocrisie and private aims of their Fellows Many were converted to their Duty by their own natural Reason and their Compassion for the King's Sufferings had begot generally an Indignation against the Parliament so that if they had been by the protection of the present Army brought together and embodied Cromwel might have done what he pleas'd in the first place for the King and in the second for himself but it seems he meant first to try what he could do without the King and if that prov'd enough to rid his Hands of him B. What did the Parliament and City do to oppose the Army A. First the Parliament sent to the General to have the King re-deliver'd to their Commissioners Instead of an Answer to this the Army sent Articles to the Parliament and with them a Charge against eleven of their Members all of them active Presbyterians of which Articles these are some I. That the House may be purged of those who by the Self-denying Ordinance ought not to be there II. That such as abused and endeavouted the Kingdom might be disabled to do the like hereafter III. That a day might be appointed to determine this Parliament IV. That they would make an Accompt to the Kingdom of the vast Sums of Money the had received V. That the Eleven Members might presently be suspended sitting in the House These were the Articles that put them to their Trumps and they answered none of them but that of the Suspension of the Eleven Members which they said they could not do by Law till the particulars of the Charge were produced But this was soon answer'd with their own Proceedings against the Arch-bishop of Canterbury and the Earl of Strafford The Parliament being thus somewhat aw'd and the King made somewhat confident he undertakes the City requiring the Parliament to put the Militia into other hands B. What other hands I do not well understand you A. I told you that the Militia of London was on the 4th of May put into the hands of the Lord Mayor and other Citizens and soon after put into the hands of other Men more favourable unto the Army And now I am to tell you that on July 26. the violence of certain Apprentices and disbanded Soldiers forced the Parliament to re-settle it as it was in the Citizens and hereupon the two Speakers and divers of the Members ran away to the Army where they were invited and contented to sit and Vote in the Council of War in the nature of a Parliament
BEHEMOTH OR AN EPITOME OF THE Civil Wars OF ENGLAND From 1640 to 1660. By THOMAS HOBS of Malmsbury LONDON Printed ANNO DOM. 1679 THE HISTORY OF THE Civil Wars OF ENGLAND A. IF in time as in place there were Degrees of high and low I verily believe that the highest of time would be that which passeth betwixt 1640 and 1660. For he that thence as from the Divils Mountain should have looked upon the World and observed the Actions of Men especially in England might have had a prospect of all kinds of Injustice and of all kinds of Folly that the world could afford and how they were produced by their Hypocrisy and self-conceit whereof the one is double Iniquity and the other double Folly B. I should be glad to behold the Prospect You that have lived in that time and in that part of your Age wherein Men used to see best into good and evil I pray you set â—â—e that could not see so well upon the same Mountain by the relation of the actions you then saw and of their causes Pretentions Justice Order Artifice and Events A. In the year 1640. The Government of England was Monarchical and the King that reigned Charles the I. of that Name holding the Soveraignty by Right of a Discent continued above 600 years and from a much longer Discent King of Sotland and from the Time of his Ancestors Henry the 2. King of Ireland a man that wanted no Vertue either of Body or Mind nor endeavour'd any thing more than to discharge his duty towards his God in the well-governing of his Subjects B. How could he than miscarry having in every County so many Train'd-bands as would put together have made an Army of 60000 Men and divers Magazines of Ammunition in places fortified If those Souldiers had been as they and all others of his Subjects ought to have been at his Majesties command The Peace and Happiness of the three Kingdoms had continued as it was left by K. James but the people were corrupted generally and Disobedient Persons esteemed the best Patriots B. But sure there were Men enough besides those that were ill-affected to have made an Army sufficient for to have kept the People from uniting into a Body able to oppose him A. Truly if the King had had Money I think he might have had Souldiers enough in England for there were very few of the common People that cared much for either of the Causes but would have taken any side for pay and plunder But the Kings Treasure was very low and his Enemies that pretended the Peoples ease from Taxes and other specious things had the Command of the Purses of the City of London and of most Cities and Corporate Towns in England and of many particular Persons besides B. But how comes the People to be so corrupted and what kind of People were they that did so seduce them A. The Seducers were of divers sorts One sort were Ministers Ministers as they called themselves of Christ and sometimes in their Sermons to the People Gods Embassadors pretending to have a Right from God to govern every one his Parish and their Assembly the whole Nation Secondly There were a very great number though not comparable to the other which notwithstanding that the Popes Power in England both Temporal and Ecclesiastical had been by Act of Parliament abolished did still retain a belief that we ought to be governed by the Pope whom they pretended to be the Vicar of Christ and in the Right of Christ to be the Governour of all Christian People and these were known by the Name of PAPISTS as the Ministers I mentioned before were commonly called PRESBYTERIANS Thirdly There were not a few who in the beginning of the Troubles were not discovered but shortly after declared themselves for a Liberty in Religion and those of different Opinions one from another Some of them because they would have all Congregations free and independant upon one another were called INDEPENDANTS others that held Baptism to Infants and such as understood not into what they are Baptized to be ineffectual were called therefore ANABAPTISTS Others that held that Christs Kingdom was at this time to begin upon Earth were called FIFTH-MONARCHY-MEN besides divers other Sects as QUAKERS ADAMITES c. whose names and peculiar Doctrines I do not very well remember and these were the Enemies which arose against his Majesty from the private Interpretation of the Scripture exposed to every Mans scanning in his Mother Tongue Fourthly There were an exceeding great number of Men of the greater sort that had been so educated as that in their youth having read the Books written by famous men of the Ancient Grecian and Roman Commonwealths concerning their Policy and great Actions in which Book the Popular Government was extol'd by that glorious Name of Liberty and Monarchy disgraced by the Name of Tyranny they became thereby in love with their form of Government And out of these men were chosen the greatest part of the HOUSE OF COMMONS Or if they were not the greatest part yet by advantage of their Eloquence were always able to sway the rest Fifthly The City of London and other great Towns of Trade having in admiration the prosperity of the low Countries after they had revolted from their Monarch the King of Spain were inclined to think that the like change of Government here would to them produce the like prosperity Sixthly There were a very great Number that had either wasted their fortunes or thought them too mean for the good part they thought were in themselves and more there were that had able bodies and saw no means how honestly to get their Bread These longed for a War and hoped to maintain themselves hereafter by the lucky chusing of a Party to side with and consequently did for the most part serve under them that had greatest plenty of Money Lastly The People in general were so ignorant of their Duties as that not one perhaps of 1000. knew what Right any man had to command him or what necessity there was of King or Commonwealth for which he was to part with his Money against his will but thought himself to be so much Master of whatsoever he possest that it could not be taken from him upon any pretence of Common Safety without his own consent King they thought was but a Title of the highest honour which Gentlemen Knight Baron Earl Duke were but steps to ascend to with the help of Riches and had no Rule of Equity but Precedents and Custom and he was thought wisest and fittest to be chosen for a Parliament who was worst averse to the granting of Subsidies or other publick Payments B. In such a Constitution of People methinks the King is already outed of his Government so as they need not have taken Arms for it For I cannot imagine how the King should come by any means to resist them A. There was indeed very great difficulty in the business but of
who as they were not much molested in points of Conscience so they were not by their own Inclination very troublesom to the Civil Government but by the secret practice of Jesuites and other Emissaries of the Roman Church they were made less quiet than they ought to have been and some of them to venture upon the most horrid Act that ever had been heard of before I mean upon the Gunpowder Treason and upon that account the Papists in England have been looked upon as men that would not be sorry for any disorders here that might possibly make way to the restoring of the Pope's Authority and therefore I named them for one of the distempers of the State of England in the time of our late King Charles B. I see that Monsieur du Plesis and Dr Morton Bishop of Durham writing of the progress of the Pope's Power and intituling their Books one of them The Mystery of Iniquity the other The Grand Imposture were both in the right for I believe there was never such another cheat in the World And I wonder that the Kings and States of Christendom never perceived it A. It is manifest they did perceive it How else durst they make War against the Pope and some of them take him out of Rome it self and carry him away Prisoner but if they would have freed themselves from his Tyranny they should have agreed together and made themselves every one as Henry the Eighth did Head of the Church within their own respective dominions but not agreeing they let his power continue every one hopeing to make use of it when there should be cause against his neighbour B. Now as to the other Distemper by Presbyterians How came their Power to be so great being of themselves for the most part but so many poor Scholars A. This Controversy between the Papist and Reformed Churches could not chuse but make every man to the best of his power examine by the Scriptures which of them was in the right and to that end they were translated into Vulgar Tongue Whereas before the Translation of them was not allowed nor any man to read them but such as had express License so to do for the Pope did concerning the same that Moses did concerning Mount Sinai Moses suffered no man to go up to it to hear God speak or gaze upon him but such as he himself took with him and the Pope suffered none to speak with God in the Scriptures that had not some part of the Pope's Spirit in him for which he might be trusted B. Certainly Moses did therein very wisely and according to God's own Commandment A. No doubt of it and the event it self hath made it since appear so for after the Bible was Translated into English every Man nay every Boy and Wench that could read English thought they spoke with God Almighty and understood what he said when by a certain Number of Chapters a Day they had read the Scriptures once or twice over the Reverence and Obedience due to the Reformed Church here and to the Bishops and Pastors therein was cast off and every man became a Judge of Religion and an Interpreter of the Scriptures to himself B. Did not the Church of England intend it should be so What other end could they have in recommending the Bible to me if they did not mean I should make it the Rule of my Actions else they might have kept it though open to themselves to me Sealed up in Hebrew Greek and Latin and fed me out of it in such measure as had been requisite for the Salvation of my Soul and the Churches peace A. I confess this License of Interpreting the Scripture was the cause of so many several Sects as have lain hid till the beginning of the late King's Reign and did then appear to the disturbance of the Commonwealth but to return to the Story Those persons that fled for Religion in the time of Queen Mary resided for the most part in places where the Reformed Religion was professed and governed by an Assembly of Ministers who also were not a little made use of for want of better Statesmen in points of Civil Government which pleased so much the English and Scotch Protestants that lived amongst them that at their return they wished there were the same Honour and Reverence given to the Ministry in their own Countries and in Scotland King James being then young soon with the help of some of the powerful Nobility they brought it to pass also they that returned into England in the beginning of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth endeavoured the same here but could never effect it till this last Rebellion nor without the help of the Scots and it was no sooner effected but it was defeated again by the other Sects which by the preaching of the Presbyterians and private Interpretation of Scripture were grown numerous B. I know indeed that in the beginning of the late War the Power of the Presbyterians was so very great that not only the Citizens of Londen were almost all of them at their Devotion but also the greatest part of all other Cities and Market Towns of England But you have not yet told me by what Art and what Degrees they became so strong A. It was not their own Art alone that did it but they had the conâ—urrence of a great many Gentlemen thaâ— did no less desire a Popular Government in the Civil State than these Ministers did in the Church and aâ—â— these did in the Pulpit draw the People to their Opinions and to a dislike of the Church-Government Canons and Common-Prayer-Book so did the other make them in love with Democracy by their Harangues in the Parliament and by their discourse and communication with people in the Countrey continually extolling of Liberty and inveighing against Tyranny leaving the people to collect of themselves that this Tyranny was the present Government of the State And as the Presbyterians brought with them into their Churches their Divinity from the Universities so did many of the Gentlemen bring their Politicks from thence into the Parliament but neither of them did this very boldly in the time of Q. Eliz. and though it be not likely that all of them did it out of malice but many of them out of error yet certainly the chief Leaders were ambitious Ministers and ambitious Gentlemen the Ministers envying the Authority of Bishops whom they thought less learned and the Gentlemen envying the Privy-Council whom they thought less wise than themselves For 't is a hard matter for men who do all think highly of their own Wits when they have also acquired the Learning of the University to be perswaded that they want any ability requisite for the Government of a Commonwealth especially having read the Glorious Histories and the Sententious Politicks of the Antient Popular Government of the Greeks and Romans amongst whom Kings were hated and branded with the name of Tyrants and Popular Government though no Tyrant
for the Militia of the Parliament was my Lord Fairfax My Lord of Newcastle took from the Parliament Tadcaster in which were a great part of the Parliaments Forces for that County and had made himself in a manner Master of all the North. About this time that is to say in February the Queen landed at Burlington and was conducted by my Lord of Newcastle and the Marquis of Montross to York and not long after to the King Divers other little Advantages besides these had the King's Party of the Parliaments in the North. There hapned also between the Militia of the Parliament the Commission of Array in Staffordshire under my Lord Brook for the Parliament and my Lord of Northampton for the King great contention wherein both these Commanders were slain for my Lord Brook besieging Lichfield-Close was kill'd with a shot notwithstanding which they gave not over the Siege till they were Masters of the Close But presently after my Lord of Northamâ—ton besâ—â—ed 〈◊〉 again for the King which to relieve Sir William Brereton and Sir John Gell advanced towards Lichfield and were met at Hopton-heath by the Earl of Northampton and routed The Earl himself was slain but his Forces with Victory return'd to the Siege again and shortly after seconded by Prince Rupert who was then abroad in that Country carried the place These were the chief Actions of this year 1642. wherein the King's Party had not much the worse B. But the Parliament had now a better Army insomuch that if the Earl of Essex had immediately followed the King to Oxford not yet well fortified he might in all likelihood have taken it for he could not want either Men or Ammunition whereof the City of London which was wholly at the Parliaments devotion had store enough A. I cannot judge of that but this is manifest considering the estate the King was in at his first marching from York when he had neither Money nor Men nor Arms enough to put him in hope of Victory that this year take it altogether was very prosperous B. But what great Folly or Wickedness do you observe in the Parliaments Actions for this first year A. All that can be said against them in that point will be excus'd with the pretext of War and come under one Name of Rebellion saving that when they summoned any Town it was in the Name of the King and Parliament The King being in the contrary Army and many times beating them from the Siege I do not see how the right of War can justifie such Impudence as that But they pretended that the King was always virtually in the Two Houses of Parliament making a distinction between his Person Natural and Politique which made the Impudence the greater besides the folly of it For this was but an University Quibble such as Boys make use of in maintaining in the Schools such Tencts as they cannot otherwise defend In the end of this year they solicited also the Scots to enter England with an Army to suppress the power of the Earl of Newcastle in the North which was a plain Confession that the Parliament Forces were at this time inferior to the King 's and most men thought that if the Earl of Newcastle had then marched Southward and joined his Forces with the King 's that most of the Members of Parliament would have fled out of England In the beginning of 1643. the Parliament seeing the Earl of Newcastle's power in the North grown formidable sent to the Scots to hire them to an Invasion of England and to complement them in the mean time made a Covenant among themselves such as the Scots before had made against Episcopacy and demolished Crosses and Church-windows such as had in them any Images of Saints throughout all England Also in the middle of the year they made a Solemn League with the Nation which was called The Solemn League and Covenant B. Are not the Scots as properly to be called Foreigners as the Irish seeing then they persecuted the Earl of Strafford even to death for advising the King to make use of Irish Forces against the Parliament with what face could they call in a Scotch Army against the King A. The King's Party might easily here have discern'd their design to make themselves absolute Masters of the Kingdom and to dethrone the King Another great Impudence or rather a Bestial Incivility it was of theirs That they Voted the Queen a Traytor for helping the King with some Ammunition and English Forces from Holland B. Was it possible that all this could be done and Men not see that Papers and Declarations must be useless And that nothing could satisfie them but the Deposing of the King and setting up of themselves in his place A. Yes very possible for who was there of them though knowing that the King had the Sovereign Power that knew the Essential Rights of Sovereignty They dreamt of a mixt Power of the King and the Two Houses That it was a divided Power in which there could be no Peace was above their understanding therefore they were always urging the King to Declarations and Treaties for fear of subjecting themselves to the King in an absolute obedience which increased the hope and courage of the Rebels but did the King little good for the People either understand not or will not trouble themselves with Controversies in writing but rather by his compliance by Messages go away with an opinion That the Parliament was likely to have the Victory in the War Besides seeing that the Penners and Contrivers of those Papers were formerly Members of the Parliament and of another mind and now revolted from the Parliament because they could not bear that sway in the House which they expected men were apt to think they believed not what they wrote As for Military Actions to begin at the Head Quarters Prince Rupert took Brinningram a Garison of the Parliaments In July after the King's Forces had a great Victory over the Parliaments near the Devizes on Roundway-down where they took 2000 Prisoners four Brass Peeces of Ordnance 28 Colours and all their Baggage And shortly after Bristol was surrendred to Prince Rupert for the King and the King himself marching into the West took from the Parliament many other considerable places But this good Fortune was not a little allay'd by his besieging of Glocester which after it was reliev'd to the last gasp was reliev'd by the Earl of Essex whose Army was before greatly wasted but now recruited with Train'd Bands and Apprentices of London B. It seems not only by this but also by many Examples in History That there can hardly arise a long or dangerous Rebellion that has not some such overgrown City with an Army or two in its belly to foment it A. Nay more those great Capital Cities when Rebellion is upon pretence of Grievances must needs be of the Rebel Party because the Grievances are for Taxes to which Citizens that is Merchants whose profession
like Enemies but offered not to fight whereby the Rump was put out of possession of the House and the Officers continued their meeting as before at Wallingford house there they chose from among themselves with some few of the City a Committee which they called The Committee of Safety whereof the chief were Lambert and Vane who with the advice of a General Council of Officers had Power to call Delinquents to Tryal to suppress Rebellions to treat with Foreign States c. You see now the Rump cut off and the Supreme Power which is charged with Salus Populi transferred to a Council of Officers and yet Lambert hopes for it at the end But one of their Limitations was That they should within six Weeks present to the Army a new Model of the Government If they had done so do you think they would have preser'd Lambert or any other to the Supreme Authority rather than themselves B. I think not When the Rump had put into Commission among a few others for the Government of the Army that is for the Government of the three Nations General Monk already Commander in chief of the Army in Scotland and that had done much greater things in this War than Lambert how durst they leave him out of this Committee of Safety or how could Lambert think that General Monk would forgive it and not endeavour to fasten the Rump again A. They thought not of him his Gallantry had been shown on remote Stages Ireland and Scotland his Ambition had not appeared here in their Contention for the Government but he had complied both with Richard and the Rump After General Monk had signified by Letter his dislike of the proceedings of Lambert and his Fellows they were much surpriz'd and began to think him more considerable than they had done but it was too late B. Why was his Army not too small for so great an Enterprize A. The General knew very well his own and their Forces both what they were then and how they were to be augmented and what generally City and Country wished for which was the Restitution of the King which to bring about there needed no more but to come with his Army though not very great to London to the doing whereof there was no obstacle but the Army with Lambert What could he do in this Case If he had declar'd presently for the King or for a free Parliament all the Armies in England would have joyned against him and assuming the Title of a Parliament would have furnished themselves with Money Gâ—neral Monk after he had thus quarrelled by his Letter with the Council of Officers he secur'd first those Officers of his own Army which were Anabaptists and therefore not to be trusted and put others into their places then drawing his Forces together march'd to Berwick Being there he indicted a Convention of the Scots of whom he desired That they would take order for the security of the Nation in his absence and raise some maintenance for his Army in their march The Convention promis'd for the security of the Nation their best endeavour and rais'd him a sum of money not great but enough for his purpose excusing themselves upon their present wants On the other side the Committee of Safety with the greatest and best part of their Army sent Lambert to oppose him but at the same time by divers Messages and Mediators urged him to a Treaty which he consented to and sent 3 Officers to London to treat with as many of theirs These six suddenly concluded without power from the General upon these Articles That the King be excluded a free State setled the Ministry and Universities encouraged with divers which the General liked not and imprisoned one of his Commissioners for exceeding his Commission whereupon another Treaty was agreed on of five to five But whilst these Treaties were in hand Haslerig a Member of the Rump seized on Portsmouth and the Soldiers sent by the Committee of Safety to reduce it instead of that entred into the Town and joyned with Haslerig Secondly the City renewed their Tumults for a free Parliament Thirdly the Lord Fair fax a Member also of the Rump and greatly favoured in York-shire was raising Forces there behind Lambert who being now between two Armies his Enemies would gladly have fought the General Fourthly there came news that Devon-shire and Cornwal were listing of Soldiers Lastly Lambert's Army wanting Money and sure they should not be furnished from the Council of Officers which had neither Authority nor Strength to levy money grew discontented and for their Free-Quarter were odious to the Northern Countries B. I wonder why the Scots were so ready to furnish General Monk with money for they were no Friends to the Rump A. I know not but I believe the Scots would have parted with a greater Sum rather than the English should not have gone together by the Ears among themselves The Council of Officers being now beset with so many Enemies produced speedily their Model of Government which was to have a free Parliament which should meet December 15 but with such Qualifications of no King no House of Lords as made the City more angry than before To send Soldiers into the West to suppress those that were rising there they durst not for fear of the City nor could they raise any other for want of money there remained nothing but to break and quitting Wallingford-house to shift for themselves This coming to the knowledge of their Army in the North they deserted Lambert and the Rumpers December 26 re-possessed the House B. Seeing the Rump was now reseated the business pretended by General Monk for his marching to London was at an end A. The Rump though seated was not well setled but in the midst of so many Tumults for a free Parliament had as much need of the General 's coming up now as before He therefore sent them word that because he thought them not yet secure enough he would come up to London with his Army which they not only accepted of but entreated him so to do and voted him for his service 1000 l. a year The General marching towards London the Country every where Petition'd him for a free Parliament The Rump to make room in London for his Army dislodg'd their own The General for all that had not let fall a word in all this time that could be taken for a Declaration of his Final Design B. How did the Rump revenge themselves on Lambert A. They never troubled him nor do I know any cause of their so gentle dealing with him But certainly Lambert was the ablest of any Officer they had to do them service when they should have means and need to imploy him After the General was come to London the Rump sent to the City for their part of a Tax of 100000 l. a month for six months according to an Act which the Rump had made formerly before their Disseisin by the Committee of
Safety But the City who were averse to the Rump and keen upon a free Parliament could not be brought to give their money to their Enemies and to purposes repugnant to their own whereupon the Rump sent Order to the General to break down the City Gates and their Portcullices and to imprison certain obstinate Citizens This he perform'd and it was the last service he did them About this time the Commission by which General Monk with others had the Government of the Army put into their hands by the Rump before the Usurpation of the Council of Officers came to expire which the present Rump renewed B. He was thereby the sixth part of the General of the whole Forces of the Common-wealth if I had been as the Rump he should have been sole General In such cases as this there cannot be a greater Vice than pinching Ambition should be liberal A. After the pulling down of the City Gates the General sent a Letter to the Rump to let them know that this service was much against his Nature and to put them in mind how well the City had serv'd the Parliament in the whole War B. Yes but for the City the Parliament could never have made the War nor the Rump ever have murdered the King A. The Rump considered not the Merit of the City nor the good nature of the General they were busie they were giving out Commissions making of Acts for Abjuration of the King and his Line and for the Olâ— Engagement and conferring with the City to get Money The General also desir'd to hear a Conference between some of the Rump and some of the secluded Members concerning the Justice of their Seclusion and of the hurt that could follow upon their re-admission and it was granted After long Conference the General finding the Rumps pretences unreasonable and ambitious declar'd himself with the City for a free Parliament and came to Westminster with the secluded Members whom he had appointed to meet and stay for him at Whitehall and re-placed them in the House among the Rumpers so that now the same Cattel that were in the House of Commons in 1640. except those that were dead and those that went from them to the late King at Oxford are all there again B. But this methinks was no good service to the King unless they had learnt better Principles A. They had learnt nothing the major part was now again Presbyterian 'T is true they were so grateful to General Monk as to make him General of all the Forces in the three Nations They did well also to make void the Engagement but it was because those Acts were made to the prejudice of their Party but recalled none of their own Rebellious Ordinances nor did any thing in order to the good of the present King but on the contrary they declar'd by a Vote that the late King began the War against his two Houses B. The two Houses considered as two Persons were they not two of the King's Subjects If a King raise an Army against his Subject is it lawful for the Subject to resist with force when as in this case he might have had Peace upon his submission A. They knew they had acted vilely and sottishly but because they had always a greater than ordinary wisdom and godliness they were loth to confess it The Presbyterians now saw their time to make a Confession of their Faith and presented it to the House of Commons to shew they had not changed their Principles which after six Readings in the House was voted to be printed and once a year to be read publickly in every Church B. I say again this re-establishing of the Long Parliament was no good service to the King A. Have a little patience they were re-established with two Conditions one to determine their sitting before the end of March another to send out Writs before their rising for new Elections B. That qualifies A. That brought in the King for few of the Long-Parliament the Country having felt the smart of their former service could get themselves chosen again This new Parliament began to sit in April 25. 1660. How soon these called in the King with what Joy and triumph he was receiv'd how earnestly His Majesty pressed the Parliament for the Act of Oblivion and how few were excepted out of it you know as well as I. B. But I have not yet observ'd in Presbyterians any Oblivion of the former principles we are but return'd to the state we were in at the beginning of the Sedition A. Not so for before that time though the Kings of England had the right of the Militia in virtue of the Soveraignty and without dispute and without any particular Act of Parliament directly to the purpose yet now after this bloody dispute the next which is the present Parliament in proper and express terms hath declar'd the same to be the right of the King only without either of his Houses of Parliament which Act is more instructive to the people than any Arguments drawn from the Title of Soveraignty and consequently fitter to disarm the ambition of all seditious Haranguers for the time to come B. Pray God it be so howsoever I must confess that this Parliament has done all that a Parliament can do for the security of our peace which I think also would be enough if our Preachers would take heed of instilling evil Principles into their Auditory I have seen in this Revolution a circular motion of the Soveraign Power through two Usurpers from the late King to this his Son for leaving out the power of the Council of Officers which was but temporary and no otherwise owned by them but in trust it moved from King Charles the First to the Long-Parliament from thence to the Rump from the Rump to Oliver Cromwel and then back again from Richard Cromwel to the Rump thence to the Long-Parliament and thence to King Charles the Second where long may it remain A. Amen And may he have as often as there shall be need such a General B. You have told me little of the General till now in the end but truly I think the bringing of his little Army entirely out of Scotland up to London was the greatest Stratagem that is extant in History FINIS