well affected to Monarchy in general as well as the Memory of those two Princes are yet prone to suspect they might have some Inclinations that way and for their Satisfaction more especially it is I give them and my self this Trouble To shew therefore how little Ground there was or is for this Suspicion King Iames call'd Parliaments as often as any Prince ever did and courted them as much perhaps more than was requisite considering the Temper they were of And so did his Son at first as Ludlow owns 'T is true he call'd some in the first Years of his Reign But then makes this malicious Reflection The People soon perceiv'd he did it rather to empty their Purses than redress their Grievances The Truth of it is there was such a Spirit of Innovation and Faction got abroad such groundless Suspicions and Distrusts every where not only whisper'd but openly proclaim'd throughout the Nation as 't is equally unaccountable how Men should have the Confidence to forge such gross Untruths and the People suffer themselves to be so absurdly impos'd upon Altho as to this latter nothing can seem incredible to such as observ'd what a Fright the whole Nation was abus'd into the other Day as if between two and three thousand Irish for that was their utmost Number could fire all their Habitations and cut all their Throats Yet by such Artifices as these altogether as groundless and improbable the People were kept up in a continual Ferment so foolishly prejudic'd and so freakishly peevish as no Reason could be heard nor Truth prevail upon them whereunto both the foremention'd Kings were too forward to appeal and too condescending in giving an Account of themselves and Actions by frequent Proclamations Declarations c. considering they had to do with the most petulant malicious Generation ever any Age or Climate produc'd As to the present Charge of affecting Arbitrary Power I cannot but remark in the first place the different Method these two Kings are suppos'd to propound in order to bring about the same King Iames by Fraud King Charles by Force As to the former whatever King-Craft he pretended to every discerning Eye hath all along discovered him to be the most open easie Prince this Nation ever had studied nothing but his People's Peace and therein his own Quiet the Enjoyment of himself Such a bold I may say desperate Undertaking must have a Prince that is active daring and resolute of a subtile Head and hollow Heart understanding all the Arts of Dissimulation and Wheadle so as to fool the People out of their Mony and therewith maintain an Army to support his Usurpation with many such like bad Qualities as opposite to Iames's Temper and Genius as one Pole to the other For to speak freely he laboured under the contrary Extream wanted Courage to exert his just Rights stoop'd Majesty too low would expostulate and reason where he ought to have commanded which blind Side the Faction in his several Parliaments once finding out grew wresty thereupon would neither lead nor drive but their own Pace and Way What I remark in the second Place is the Inducement our Author assigns of King Charles's attempting the same by Violence the nearer View of a Despotick Power in his Iourny to France and Spain What will not a Republican's Rebel Spite catch hold of His Iourny was not in but thorough France which he consummated in ten or twelve Days and riding Post had great Opportunities of being taken with Glittering Shews and Imaginary Pleasures c. And his Business in Spain was of another Nature and took up so much Time as he had little Leisure to make Observations and less Reason to be enamour'd with any thing there observ'd to be sure upon Enquiry he could not but find that the several Courts or Councils there have as great a Restraint upon the Crown as our Parliaments have here though they are a sober wise Nation and seldom or never found to extend their Privileges beyond Right and Reason I shall not reflect upon the Prudence and Policy of that Design only observe it was hard for a young Amorous Prince to attend the tedious Delays of old Statesmen wherewith having been so long kept in Suspence this Adventure was thought the only Expedient for a final Issue Desperate enough which notwithstanding he manag'd so dexterously as to weather all Difficulties and come off with Honour and Safety contrary to the Expectation of the whole World I cannot forbear to mention the Account Rushworth gives of his Deportment there The Prince for his part had gain'd an universal Love and was reported by all to be a truly noble discreet well deserving Prince His grave Comportment suited with the very Genius of that Nation and he carryed it from the first to the last with the greatest Affability Gravity Constancy and at his Farewel with unparallell'd Bounty Yet this excellent Prince we murder'd and forc'd his Sons to travel for Security of their Lives and if during that Royal Exile they depended chiefly upon Papists for their Subsistence and observ'd how a Neighbour Prince weathering the like Storm from his three Estates as their Father met with for all Rebellions do not prosper as in England took the Government solely into his own Hand I say if upon these Obligations and Observations they return'd home less affected to the Protestant Religion and our Old Establishments of civil Government than could be wish'd Who can we blame but our selves Upon the Prince's Return home and making a Report to his Father what slippery Statesmen the Spaniards were especially as to his Sister 's Concerns King Iames at the earnest Request of the Parliament brake off that Match who engaging him in a War for Recovery of the Palatinate promis'd all the Assistance could be desired which was soon after by his Father's Death devolv'd upon King Charles and a Parliament thereupon summon'd de novo whom he bespake with all Affection and Tenderness imaginable acquainting them how The Eyes of all Europe were upon that his first Attempt and what a Blemish it would be to sustain a Foyl Hereupon a Supply was voted which serv'd the present turn and that was all For in the next Session which was at Oxon that unquiet Spirit which had been so troublesome most part of his Father's Reign began to let him see what little Hope there was of better Terms from them Immediately those old Cavils of Grievances evil Counsellers and what not were brought upon the Carpet and of these the first insisted upon was the Increase of Recusants the Growth of Popery which was presented in a Petition shewing the principal Causes of their Increase and properest Remedies to suppress them whereunto his Majesty gave an Answer so full and satisfactory that all undesigning Members were abundantly satisfied therewith and resolv'd to acquiesce therein and fell immediately upon a Supply which the adverse Party unable to oppose seemingly comply'd likewise but with a Back Blow
Generation as besides their many Abettors amongst the Common People were not unprovided of some in the House of Commons which Mr. Cambden tells us the Queen took Notice of and much dislik'd their unquiet Humor greedy of Novelty and forward to root up things well Established to prevent which for the future she commanded the Severity of the Laws to be every where put in Execution And sometime after procured two New Acts one against the Papists and another against the Puritans on purpose to restrain the insolency of both Factions and by which several of them were afterwards adjudg'd to Death But such Turbulent Spirits are not so easily quell'd the same Historian continues the Complaint in a following Parliament 85. But nothing so much irritated her great Mind as their Villanous Deportment in 88. for thinking they had the Queen at an Advantage upon the Rumor of a Foreign Invasion beset her with greater Importunities than ever and play'd their Affairs with so much Confidence as if of Confederacy with the Spaniard never as Cambden goes on with the Complaint did contumacious Impudency and contumelious Malepertness advance it self more insolently giving an account what Scandalous Books they writ Belching forth such Calumnies and Reproaches therein as the Authors seem'd rather to be Scullions in a Kitchen than followers of Piety The present Course she thought fit to take with such unnatural Beautifeus was only to secure some of the most busy and chief amongst them in Wisbich Castle where many of the leading Papists were likewise secur'd But as soon as that Storm was over she resolv'd upon a more effectual Course to keep a constant Calm at home for in Feb. 92. a Parliament was call'd amongst other things to Enact such Laws as might restrain those Insolencies wherewith the Patience of the State had been so long exercis'd Wherein the Puckering's Speech to both Houses of Parliament is very Remarkable which amongst other things lets them know that they were Especially commanded by her Majesty to take heed that no ear be given nor time afforded to the wearysom Solicitations of those that commonly be called Puritans wherewithall the last Parliaments have been exceedingly importun'd which sort of Men whilst in the Giddyness of their Spirit they labor and strive to advance a new Eldership they do nothing else but disturb the good repose of the Church and Commonwealth And as the Case standeth it may be doubted whether they or the Iesuit do offer more danger or be more speedily to be redress'd with much more to the same purpose even Prophetical of the Mischiefs they have since produc'd Hereupon followed that formidable Act Tricesimo Quinto Elizabethae which was so closely hook'd into the Nostrils of this Spiritual Leviathan as though frequently endeavour'd they were never able to get it out till they had at one desperate Plunge freed themselves from all Regal Power as well as Ecclesiastical Discipline To be sure the remaining ten Years of this great Queen's Reign the swelling Humor of that haughty Faction was so taken down as they never made the least effort towards those Innovations either in Church or State which had been so uneasy to the Government before and so Fatal since In this Excellent Posture and Regular Subordination did this Prudent Princess leave an exact and practicable Model of the English Monarchy that her Successor as I observ'd before did not tread in the same steps take the same care and shew the like Courage Hinc Illae Lachrymae For coming to the Crown with a General Applause on every Side it was never considered that the brightest Sun-rise is soonest intercepted by a Cloud that Hosanna's from the Vulgar as well Great as Small naturally run into the contrary extream unless that Mercury of theirs be fix'd by such a well weigh'd Politick as knows how to temper them in both It was likewise no small Prejudice to our English Church that the King came accompanied with so great a Retinue of his own Country whose Kirk-Leven put our Puritans into a fresh Ferment made them Swell and Domineer with their usual insolence upon the least Countenance of Connivance from such as are in Power or have an Interest in the Government Upon this account I cannot but take Notice of a Passage in Hacket's Life printed before his Sermons He was born of Scotch Parents dwelling in London during the Queen's Time They were both true Protestants great Lovers of the Church of England constantly repairing to the Divine Prayers and Service thereof and would often bewail to their young Son after the coming in of their Country-men with King James the seed of Fanaticism then laid in the Scandalous neglect of the Publick Liturgy which all the Queen's time was exceedingly frequented the People then resorting as Devoutly to Prayers as they would afterwards to hear any famous Preacher about Town And his Aged Parents often observ'd to him that Religion towards God Iustice and Love amongst Neighbours gradually declin'd with the disuse of our Publick Prayers This Observation was made at first which we have since seen Fatally verify'd and cursedly Improv'd It was likewise no small prejudice to the Interest of our English Church that a Scotch Peer Top'd an Archbishop upon her no ways qualify'd with parts or principles for so great a Trust The Story stands thus Upon Bancroft's Death such as wish'd well to the Church Bishops and other great Men about Court recommended Bishop Andrews a Person every way unexceptionable to the King who approv'd so well of him as they thought their Business fix'd and neglected to press it further when the Earl of Dunbar a powerful Minister with the King saith my Author put in for his quondam Chaplain Abbot and got the King's Hand for passing the Instrument before the Matter was discover'd and then too late to prevent God grant Scotch Peers may never more recommend English Prelates Indeed the less any of them have to do with our Church the better although in this great Time of Tryal amongst them where all Religious Order is run into Enthusiasm and Madness there are several have signalis'd themselves with a Zeal truly Primitive not only to the spoyling their Goods but the loss of all their Fortunes and of some of their Lives For our New Metropolitan when in Place he fell very much short of what his own Admirers expected to be sure his Remiss Government and unexcusable Partiality towards the Puritans neglecting all those worthy Methods his two Predecessors Whitgift and Bancroft had prosecuted introduc'd those many Desolations Fractions and Schisms which the Church hath not yet and 't is a Question whether will be ever able to weather for whilst several worthy Prelates in his Time and his Successor who next came in Place endeavour'd to continue or revive such Articles Injunctions and Canons as had been fram'd in Q. Elizabeth's Time and to reduce the Church to the same Order and Regimen in which Abbot found it These forsooth must
thly What he Levyed was so effectually imploy'd to the Reputation and Interest of the Kingdom as they that found fault therewith must needs whilst doing it blush at their own Perverseness Especially for that 6 thly These pretended Redressers brake thorough all the Laws of God and Man and for every Pound he Levyed and so honourably expended in the Nation 's Defence and Security as impudently as unjustly extorted Thousands from the People to promote a most cursed and unnatural Rebellion Nec dum sinitur we are since come to Millions and justly deserve no better who made such a Muttering and Stir when he did not raise above Six Pence in the Pound and to so good Purposes as the Dominion of the Sea was never so well secur'd and Traffick so considerably advanc'd above what was ever known in the Nation before Had they who pretended greater Right to raise Money taken a greater or equal Care in disposing thereof to the Kingdoms and Peoples Good all must have gon well but to act like the Dog in the Manger resolve to do nothing themselves yet keep away barkat and Quarrel all others to whom it more properly belong'd was the Extremity of Baseness Mischief for Mischiefs sake And which is still worse that mischievous Humour 't is to be fear'd we shall never get quit of there being several Curs nay whole Packs of that Old Breed which continue on the Cry and are so wholly bent upon their Common-wealth Confusions as to prefer them before any thing of a Monarchy not excepting the Kingdom of Heaven whereof having but small Hopes they may think to oblige the Devil by bringing Hell upon Earth CHAP. XII Of King James's Death I Have had some little Dispute with my self whether it was requisite to take Notice of Iames's Death especially as relating to this Excellent Prince his Son but finding the Calumny impudently improv'd as well from the former Age to this as by the several Libellers now every one striving to out-do the other in this Villanous Forgery till the last hath brought it to such an Impossibility as every Child may discover and see thorough I must trouble both the Reader and my self with the Examination of this Abominable Nothing King Iames had an ill Habit of Body very unwiel'dy and full of gross Humours which improv'd the more upon him for that he was so uneasy as to the Regiment of his Health either from his Own or Physicians Observation whereupon falling into a Tertian Fever at Theobalds 't was thought by most Men amongst the rest him himself that Crasy Constitution of his would not be able to withstand its frequent Assaults and it happen'd accordingly Soon after his Death it was whisper'd about Court that the Duke had recommended something of a Cure for his Ague without the Physicians advice which doing no good must be presum'd to do hurt this coming to the Duke's Ear he concern'd himself so far as to have the Matter examin'd by the Physicians where the Lady appear'd and disclos'd that great secret of an Ague-Cure few of that Quality amongst their Country Neighbours for she was a Country an Essex Lady being without something of that kind which was only a Plaster of Methrydate with a Posset Drink of Harts-Horn and Marygold Flowers This for that time put an end to the Rumour but about two Years after in the Second Parliament it was Reviv'd again and made an Article against the Duke which they that please may Consult with his Reply and perhaps be satisfied therewith if not I shall only add further Lord Keeper Williams perform'd the last Offices of a Divine to King Iames continued with him several Days and Nights before his Death so that had he observ'd or suspected any such foul Play there is no doubt but it would have made a sufficient Noise both in Parliament and elsewhere when the Duke caus'd the Seal to be taken from him and the Author of his Life who relates the one would not have been sparing to discover the other And now to show how Artificially the Master was brought in as concern'd with what the Servant never did when the Articles were Exhibited against the Duke Sir Dudly Diggs who as Foreman manag'd the Prologue and gave a Summary of the whole Charge was reported to have said these Words That he was commanded by the House concerning the Plaister apply'd to the King that he did forbear to speak farther in regard to the King's Honour or Words to that Effect whereupon the King ordered him to be Committed and Sir Dudly Carlton Remonstrated the same to the Commons but upon his own and the Two Houses Compurgation that no such nor such like Words were spoken he was again discharg'd yet whoever Consults that Eloquent Harangue as Recorded by Rushworth will find it very scurvily tending that Way and thus for 20 Years following it was wholly laid asleep no one harbouring so groundless a Thought But when God curs'd this Nation with a Successful Rebellion whereby the Army got the King into their Clutches and so purg'd the House as consisting only of their own Properties they pass'd that Preludium to his Murder their Votes of no more Addresses wherein amongst many other Villanous Forg'd Accusations indeed whatever the Devil or Devils of Men could assist them withal this of King Iame's Death was one and 't is very remarkable what a doughty Topick they have to make it out delivered down by our as doughty Authors He Dissolv'd the Second Parliament to prevent their Enquiry into his Father's Death says Ludlow p. 2. And Roger Coke to the same purpose King Charles rather than this Charge should come to an Issue dissolv'd the Parliament The Defence to out-lye all that went before him tells you Divers Parliaments were dissolv'd upon that Account whereas there was but one more and this Business never mention'd therein In Answer to all which false and groundless Presumptions I shall only Request them to Consult their Friend Rushworth where they will find that Parliaments Dissolution did not in the least proceed from this or any other Articles Exhibited against the Duke who had given in his Reply and press'd for a Rejoynder that they would come to the Proof of their Common-Fame Charge wherein there appear'd not much forwardness The King on the other hand was in great Expectation of those Subsidies they had Voted and indeed only Voted for though that was done the 27 th of March yet had not the Bill been once read the 9 th of Iune by which delays his Majesties Designs with his Allies abroad were Frustrated and Honour expos'd for want of supplying them according to Treaty whereof giving Notice in a Letter they had so little regard as to fall to preparing a Remonstrance in reference to Tonage and Poundage and other such like unseasonable and unreasonable Cavils which the King understanding and esteeming as he had Cause to be a denyal of the promised Supply and finding that no
Admonition could move no Reasons or Perswasions prevail when the Time was so far spent that they had put an impossibility upon themselves to perform their Promise whereof they esteemed all Gracious Messages to them to be but Interruptions His Majesty upon mature Advisement dissolv'd them This is the Account the King himself gives in his Declaration of their unkind Dealing and his too just Provocation for that Act otherways would they have comply'd with him in those his urgent Necessities there should have been no Obstruction upon the Duke's Account they might have gon on with their Articles and been certainly Baffled as to that of King Iames's Death and perhaps most of the rest But I must not break off here without my promis'd Remark upon the Defence who by adding another most Impossible Story renders that aforemention'd yet more Improbable There are few will believe because he brings none That for many Reasons it was concluded King Charles had no small share in that abominable Act of Poysoning his own Father King James I. But to add and that Good Man Prince Henry his Son is such a Stretch as nothing but one by a Halter can keep pace with and they deserve to go together That Prince Henry was thought to have something of foul Play Sir W's Libel does insinuate but no Man of Sense or History ever believed a Syllable thereof and that Answer Intituled Aulicus Coquinariae clearly makes appear it was right down Libel that is absolutely false and as there was no ground to place it where Sir A's Baseness design'd so for this unthinking Blockhead to transfer it upon that poor innocent Child his Brother let the most prejudic'd Fanatick judge when told that at Henry's Death this his younger Brother was not Twelve Years Old having been all along of a weak unhealthy Constitution liv'd a Studious retir'd Life with very little Conversation but that of Books and Tutors which was indeed of great Advantage to his future Accomplishments but kept him then from making any Figure at Court or entring upon any Intrigue there which the most Active Princes of that Age have seldom been known to engage in much less to carry on such an Unnatural Enterprize Yet doubtless this is as true as the other and whoever for the Time to come relate either may the same Fate attend them as did Horace's Planus a Lying Cheat not to be believ'd when they speak Truth tho their Lives depend thereupon Nulla fides damnis verisque doloribus adsit Roger Coke hath another the prettyest Maggotty Reason to prove King Iames could not dye a Natural Death because all the five James 's his Predecessors in Scotland were carryed off otherwise I will not concern my self with what was done in Scotland but dare be the Courts Compurgator for all of that Family which have dy'd since it came into England although none have gon off without some such ill-natur'd and ill-grounded Suggestion I wish I could say as much for the Parliament or rather a Rump of it which out-did whatever hath been done in Scotland or any where else upon the Face of the whole Earth And further to provoke Divine Vengeance we have got a Generation of Villains which at this Hour dare to justify it and no Notice taken thereof Nay these eager Blood-hounds are so delighted with that sort of Game as when they cannot come at it themselves will needs have it done by others for so it was confidently mutter'd of the last which went off by Death and if God curse us with continuing this Set of Men will pass for an Authentick Story 50 or 60 Years hence it was enough at present to found it in a Whisper especially since the Physicians and amongst them Dr. L a great Confident of theirs declar'd that upon inspecting the Brain there was so clear Evidence of an Apoplexy as 't was impossible to think of any other Cause However there is nothing Extraordinary in all this besides the grosseness of the Fiction there are few Historians relate the Death of Princes without something of a real or imaginary Force But to bury them alive by Supposititious Births is altogether Modern an Advance of this present Age with how much Interest or Honour the next may Judge CHAP. XIII His Government before the Rebellion THese be the most tho' not all for all it is impossible to Enumerate and therefore let it be all the most considerable Exceptions false Clamors and frontless Cavils wherewith the wide-mouth'd Factions blackned the King and Trumpetted up Rebellion into which dismal and bloody Scene before we enter Let us take a general View of his Government during the Twelve Years Interstitium or if you will Interregnum of Parliaments for they were never quiet till Supream and then least of all where we shall find this true Father of his Country so tenderly Provident for a crooked and perverse Generation Nurtur'd them up in so much Peace and Plenty such a continued Affluence of all Things requisite to Humane Welfare as never any Nation enjoy'd a greater and very few have equall'd them therein That he Hated or had any Prejudice against Parliaments is so far from being True as if there were any Mistake it appear'd rather at First on the other Side he Caress'd them a little too much To be sure it was by his Inducement the Duke of Bucks made that Narrative relating to the Spanish Match and Treaty to both Houses of Parliament in Iames's Last whereto as occasion serv'd he gave his Attestation which so pleas'd their Popular aspiring Humour as the Duke was then the Whitest Boy and his Master the Hopefullest Prince in the World And he doubtless intended to have gon on in that Sincere plain-dealing Way represented Things as they really were and expected they should have met him half Way in all reasonable Returns But his more Experienc'd Father understood better told them both how short-liv'd such Caresses would be as they should find too soon Which immediately upon his coming to the Crown most Prophetically fell out in his first Parliament where making a small Complement of Two Subsidies they return'd to their Old Vomit Evil Counsellors Grievances and the like must be the only Subject of Debate after which they made so strict a Search as such another Set of Busy Men according to the Latin Adage would for a Knot in a Bulrush yet hereupon the Breach so gradually widned Three several Parliaments as to part at last in a final Separation Whereunto after all is say'd never Prince had greater or juster Provocation Nevertheless I cannot find in his Proclamation set out upon the last Dissolution or any where else that it was declared Criminal for the People to speak any more of Parliaments as Ludlow with his usual Impudence affirms p. 2. The King as I say'd finding the Factions so prevalent in all Elections as it was impossible to get a Parliament would either hearken to Reason or Act with Temper
would undertake the Fleet might be much better manag'd both as to Conduct and Charge and thereupon fell most rudely upon the Duke not sparing his Majesty in some By-reflections who perceiving their Heats to rise every Day higher than other and that no Supply was to be had unless he yielded to their unreasonable Cavils which no body could foresee how far they would extend or where end He sent a Commission to some of the House of Lords and dissolv'd them That he was not without great Regret forc'd upon this 't is easie to imagine considering the Posture of his Affairs and that Want of timely Supply detain'd his Fleet from going out till it should have been return'd into Harbor And indeed the Delays he met with where there was least Reason to expect them had they considered the Honor and Interest of the Kingdom not to say of the King tho they pretended much to both was the chief if not sole Cause of several Miscarriages which according to the Genius of that Age were otherwise very well design'd However giving some strict Orders about Recusants and whatever else there was any Shadow of an Exception against as likewise hoping on the other side those fiery Spirits might be somewhat cool'd and brought to a sober Consideration of their own and the Nation 's Reputation Another Parliament was call'd within the same Year which prov'd no Changlings beginning where they left off with Miscarriages Misgovernment Misimployment in short they would have all amiss whereas there was nothing so but themselves Neither could his Majesty's Letter to the Speaker have any Influence upon them tho' most passionately representing his pressing Occasions and how unfit it was to depend any longer upon Uncertainties whereby the whole Weight of the Affairs of Christendom was like to break in upon us on the suddain to the Dishonor and Shame of the Nation assuring them moreover that having satisfied his reasonable Demands he would continue them together at this Time as long as the Season will permit and call them shortly again to apply fit and seasonable Remedies to such just Grievances as they shall present unto him in a dutiful and mannerly way without throwing an ill Odor upon our present Government or upon the Government of our late blessed Father and if there be yet who desire to find fault we shall think him the wisest Reprehender of Errors past who without reflecting backward can give us Counsel how to settle the present Estate of things and provide for the future Safety and Honour of the Kingdom This was very much to the purpose but withal too home and true to meet with that Reception it ought to have had Neither had the Lords better Success in a Message they sent desiring them to take into Consideration the Safety of the Kingdom receiving this grough Answer That they desire to have a good Understanding with their Lordships and will be ever careful of the Safety and Defence of the Kingdom and maintain their own Privileges as is fitting And having sent this they immediately fell upon the Duke of Buckingham in order whereunto we find one Turner a Doctor of Phisick and Member of the House made the Factions Tool or rather Log to break the Ice by starting six Quaeres against the Duke grounded only upon common Fame and this produc'd another Quaere indeed a very requisite one Whether an Accusation upon common Fame be a Parliamentary Way And thereupon it was resolv'd That common Fame is a good way of proceeding for this House from whence alone that great Body of Articles was usher'd up to the Lords with as much Pomp and Rhetorick as give them their Due that House ever was or will be Masters of Yet no more than requisite to supply the Place of Argument for whoever considers impartially the Duke's Answer will find it so clear and apposite to every Particular alledg'd so consistent with the Reason of Things and Series of Affairs there mention'd as'tis more than probable their Impeachment was design'd only as a Ducquoy to get him into the Tower and then instead of proving their Articles would have proceeded by Bill of Attainder and voted it accumulative Treason as we know it was afterwards most barbarously done in the Earl of Strafford's Case In the mean while commend me to any Man or Body of Men who can have the Confidence to declaim against Arbitrary Power and yet proceed upon common Fame which was ever thought hard and therefore discontinued both in Civil and Canon Law where for some time it took place especially in an Age where Calumny and Slander were so scandalously rise as no honest Man could escape the devouring Words of their false Tongues Methinks such a Proceedure as this has some Affinity with that old Land Story of the Cook serving his Dog who said he would not hang him only give him an ill Name and thereupon threw him into the Street and cry'd a Mad Dog which made all the Rabble of two as well as four legg'd Curs fall upon and worry him to Death Yet how far this way of Prosecution might have been brought into Practice had these Gentlemen continued Rex no one can tell to be sure in the next Parliament when Neal Bishop of Winton and Laud of London were inveigh'd against by Sir Iohn Eliot and others an honest Gentleman stood up and said Now we have nam'd these Persons let us think of some Causes why we did it whereunto Sir Edward Coke reply'd Have we not nam'd my Lord of Buckingham without shewing Cause and may we not be as bold with them Common Fame would do the Business thoroughly But to return to the Duke they thought it enough to shew their Teeth for surely if they could have bit they would not have postpon'd the making good their Articles against him when he press'd them so earnestly thereto which notwithstanding they did as well as the King's Supply and fell to hammering a new Remonstrance which his Majesty having notice of anticipated by their Dissolution We shall have Occasion hereafter to observe what pass'd between this and the next Parliament which was March 17 th 1627. when his Majesty at their first assembling plainly told them That if his present calling them together did not answer the Quality of his Occasions they did not their Duties and he must rest content in the Conscience of doing his and take other Courses for which God had impower'd him to save that which the Folly of particular Men might hazzard to lose Hereupon they fell into long and tedious Debates whether a Supply or Grievances should first take place At length the former had the Preference out of Complement though last consummated for that Vote was no sooner pass'd but the People's Liberty must immediately be consider'd which produc'd the so much celebrated Petition of Right wherein the King humour'd them to every Punctilio though nothing but a Spirit of Opposition could have excepted against his first