the K. the Prince were cōstrained to yeeld to the Lords A cōstrained consent is the consent of a Captiue not of a K. therefore there was nothing done there either legally or royally For if it be not properly a Parliament where the subiect is not free certainely it can be none where the King is bound for all Kingly rule was taken from the King and twelue Peeres appointed and as some writers haue it 24 Peeres to gouerne the Realme and therefore the assembly made by Iack Strawe other rebels may aswell bee called a Parliament as that of Oxford Principis nomen habere non est esse Princeps for thereby was the King driuen not only to cōpoūd all quarrels with the French but to haue meanes to be revenged on the rebell Lords but he quitted his right to Normādy Aniou Mayne COVNS But sir what needed this extremity seeing the Lords required but the confirmation of the former Charter which was not preiudiciall to the King to graunt IVST Yes my good Lord but they insulted vpon the King and would not suffer him to enter into his own castles they put downe the Purvey or of the meate for the maintenance of his house as if the King had beene a bankrupt and gaue order that without ready money he should not take vp a Chicken And though there is nothing against the royalty of a King in these Charters the Kings of England beeing Kings of freemen and not of slaues yet it is soe contrary to the nature of a King to bee forced euen to those thinges which may be to his advantage as the King had some reason to seeke the dispensation of his oath from the Pope and to drawe in strangers for his owne defence yea Iure saluo Coronae nostrae is intended inclusiuely in all oathes and promises exacted from a Soueraigne COVNS But you cānot be ignorant how dangerous athing it is to cal in other natiōs both for the spoile they make as also so because they haue often held the possession of the best places with which they haue beene trusted IVST It is true my good Lord that there is nothing so daungerous for a King as to be constrained and held as prisoner to his vassals for by that Edward the second and Richard the second lost their Kingdomes and their liues And for calling in of strangers was not King Edward the sixth driuen to call instrangers against the rebels in Norfolke Cornewall Oxfordshire and elsewhere Haue not the K s. of Scotland beene oftentimes constrained to entertaine strangers against the Kings of England And the King of England at this time had he not bin diuerse times assisted by the Kings of Scotlād had bin endāgered to haue bin expelled for ever COVNS But yet you knowe those Kings were deposed by Parliament IVST Yea my good Lord being Prisoners being out of possession and being in their hands that were Princes of the blood and pretenders It is an old countrey prouerbe that might overcomes right a weake title that weares a strong sword commonly prevailes against a strong title that weares but a weake one otherwise Philip the second had never bin Duke of Portugal nor Duke of Millayne nor K. of Naples Scicilie But good Lord Errores not sunt trah udi in exemplum I speake of regall peaceable and lawfull Parliaments The King at this time was but a King in name for Glocester Leycester and Chichester made choise of other Nyne to whom the rule of the Realme was committed the Prince was forced to purchase his liberty frō the Earle of Leycester by giuing for his ransome the County Pallatine of Chester But my Lord let vs judge of those occasions by their events what became of this proud Earle was hee not soone after slaine in Euesham was he not left naked in the field and left a shamefull spectacle his head being cut off from his shoulders his priuy parts from his body laid on each side of his nose And did not God extinguish his race after which in a lawfull parliament at Westminster confirmed in a following parliament of Westminster were not all the Lords that followed Leycester disinherited And when that foole Glocester after the death of Leycester whom he had formerly forsaken made himselfe the head of a second rebellion and called in strangers for which not lōg before he had cried out against the K. was not hee in the end after that hee had seene the slaughter of so many of the Barons the spoile of their castles Lordships constrained to submit himselfe as all the suruiuers did of which they that sped best payd their sines and ransomes the King reserving to his younger sonne the Earledomes of Leycester and Derby COVN Well sir we haue disputed this King to his graue though it be true that he outliued all his enimies brought them to confusion yet those examples did not terrifie their successors but the Earle Marshall and Hereford threatned King Edward the first with a new warre IVST They did so but after the death of Hereford the Earle Marshall repented himselfe and to gaine the Kings favour he made him heire of all his lands But what is this to the Parliament for there was never K. of this land had more giuen him for the time of his raigne then Edward the sonne of Henry the third had COVNS How doth that appeare IVST In this sort my good Lord in this kings third yeare he had giuen him the fifteenth part of all goods In his sixt yeare a twentith In his twelfth yeare a twentyeth In his fourteenth yeare hee had escuage to wit forty shillings of euery knights Fee in his eighteenth yeare hee had the eleventh part of all moueable goods within the kingdome in his nineteenth yeare the tenth part of all Church liuings in England Scotland and Ireland for sixe yeares by agreement from the Pope in his three twentith yeare he raised a taxe vpō wooll and fels on a day caused all the religious houses to be searched al the treasure in thē to be seized brought to his coffers excusing himselfe by laying the fault vpō his treasurer he had also in the end of the same yeare of algoods of all Burgesses of the Commons the 10 ◠part in the 25 ◠yeare of the Parliamēt of S t Edmūdsbury he had an 18 th part of the goods of the Burgesses and of the people in generall the tenth part Hee had also the same yeare by putting the Clergy out of his protection a fift part of their goods and in the same yeare he set a great taxe vpon wools to wit from halfe a marke to 40 ◠vpon euery sacke wherevpon the Earle Marshall and the Earle of Hereford refusing to attend the King into Flanders pretended the greeuances of the people But in the end the king hauing pardoned thē cōfirmed the great Charter he had the ninth penny of all goods from the Lords and
condemne the gathering of money from the Subject vnder title of a free gift whereas a fift a sixt a tenth c. was set downe and required But my good Lord though diuers Shires haue giuen to his Maiestie some more some lesse what is this to the Kings debt COVNS We know it well enough but we haue many other projects IVST It is true my good Lord but your Lordship will find that when by these you haue drawn many petty summs frō the subjects those sometimes spent as fast as they are gathered his Maiesty being nothing enabled thereby when you shal be forced to demand your great aide the countrey will excuse it selfe in regard of their former payments COVNS What meane you by the great aide IVST I meane the aide of Parliament COVNS By Parliament I would faine know the man that durst perswade the King vnto it for if it should succeed ill in what case were he IVST You say well for your selfe my Lord and perchance you that are louers of your selues vnder pardon do follow the advice of the late Duke of Alva who was euer opposite to all resolutions in businesse of importance for if the things enterprized succeeded wel the advice neuer came in question If ill whereto great vndertakings are commōly subiect he then made his advantage by remembring his countrey councell But my good Lord these reserued Polititians are not the best seruants for hee that is bound to adventure his life for his Master is also bound to adventure his advice Keep not backe councell saith Ecclesiasticus when it may doe good COVNS But Sir I speake it not in other respect then I think it dangerous for the King to assemble the three estates for thereby haue our former kings alwaies lost somwhat of their prerogatiues And because that you shall not thinke that I speake it at randome I will begin with elder times wherein the first contention began betwixt the Kings of this land and their subiects in Parliament IVST Your Lordship shall doe me a singular fauour COVNS You know that the Kings of England had no formal Parliament till about the 18 th yeare of Henry the first for in his 17 yeare for the marriage of his daughter the King raised a tax vpon euery hide of land by the advice of his privy councell alone But you may remember how the subiects soone after the establishment of this Parliament beganne to stand vpon termes with the King and drew from him by strong hand and the sword the great Charter IVST Your Lordship sayes well they drew from the King the great Charter by the sword and hereof the Parliament cannot be accused but the Lords COVNS You say well but it was after the establishment of the Parliament by colour of it that they had so great daring for before that time they could not endure to heare of S Edwards lawes but resisted the confirmation in all they could although by those lawes the Subjects of this Iland were no lesse free then any of all Europe IVST My good Lord the reason is manifest for while the Normans other of the French that followed the Conquerour made spoyle of the English they would not endure that any thing but the will of the Conquerour should stand for Law but after a discent or two when themselues were become English found themselues beaten with their own rods they then began to sauour the difference betweene subjection slauery insist vpon the law Meum Tuum to be able to say vnto themselues hoc fac vives yea that the conquering English in Ireland did the like your Lordship knowes it better than I. COVNS I thinke you guesse aright And to the end the subiect may know that being a faithfull seruant to his Prince he might enioy his own life and paying to his Prince what belongs to a Soueraigne the remainder was his own to dispose Henry the first to content his Vassals gaue them the great Charter and the Charter of Forrests IVST What reasō then had K. Iohn to deny the cōfirmatiō COVNS He did not but he on the cōtrary confirmed both the Charters with additions required the Pope whom he had thē made his superior to strengthē him with a goldē bul IVST But your honour knowes that it was not long after that he repented himselfe COVNS It is true he had reason so to do for the Barons refused to follow him into France as they ought to haue done and to say true this great Charter vpon which you insist so much was not originally granted Regally and freely for Henry the first did vsurpe the kingdome and therefore the better to assure himselfe against Robert his eldest brother hee flattered his Nobility and people with those Charters Yea King Iohn that confirmed them had the like respect for Arthur Duke of Britaine was the vndoubted heire of the crowne vpon whom Iohn vsurped And so to conclude these Charters had their originall from Kings de facto but not de iure IVST But King Iohn confirmed the Charter after the death of his Nephew Arthur when he was then Rex de iure also COVNS It is true for he durst doe no other standing accursed whereby few or none obeyed him for his Nobility refused to follow him into Scotland and he had so grieued the people by pulling downe all the Parke pales before harvest to the end his deere might spoyle the Corne And by seizing the temporalities of so many Bishoprickes into his hands and chiefly for practizing the death of the Duke of Brittaine his Nephew as also hauing lost Normandy to the French so as the hearts of all men were turned from him IVST Nay by your fauour my Lord. King Iohn restored K. Edwards Lawes after his absolution and wrote his letters in the 15 ◠of his reigne to all Sheriffes countermaunding all former oppressions yea this he did notwithstanding the Lords refused to follow him into France COVNS Pardon me he did not restore King Edwards Lawes then nor yet confirmed the Charters but he promised vpon his absolution to doe both but after his returne out of France in his 16 th yeare he denyed it because without such a promise he had not obtained restitution his promise being constrained and not voluntary IVST But what thinke you was hee not bound in honour to performe it COVNS Certainely no for it was determined the case of King Francis the first of France that all promises by him made whilst he was in the hands of Charles the fifth his enemie were voide by reason the Iudge of honour which tells vs he durst doe no other IVST But King Iohn was not in prison COVNS Yet for all that restraint is imprisonment yea feare it selfe is imprisonment and the King was subject to both I know there is nothing more kingly in a King than the performance of his word but yet of a word freely and voluntarily giuen Neither was the Charter of Henry the
first so published that all men might plead it for their advantage but a Charter was left in deposito in the hands of the Archbishop of Canterbury for the time and so to his successours Stephen Langthon who was euer a Traytor to the King produced this Charter and shewed it to the Barons thereby encouraging them to make warre against the King Neither was it the old Charter simplie the Barons sought to haue cōfirmed but they presented vnto the King other articles and orders tending to the alteration of the whole common-wealth which when the King refused to signe the Barons presently put themselues into the field and in rebellious and outragious fashion sent the King word except he confirmed them they would not desist from making warre against him till he had satisfied them therein And in conclusion the king being betrayed of all his Nobility in effect was forced to graunt the Charter of Magna Charta and Charta de Forestis at such time as he was invironed with an Army in the meadowes of Staynes which Charters being procured by force Pope Innocent afterward disavowed threatned to curse the Barons if they submitted not themselues as they ought to their Soueraigne Lord which when the Lords refused to obey the King entertained an army of strangers for his own defence wherewith hauing mastered beaten the Barons they called in Lewes of France a most vnnaturall resolution to be their King Neither was Magna charta a law in the 19 th of Henry the 2◠but simply a Charter which hee confirmed in the 21 ◠of his reigne made it a law in the 25 th according to Littletons opinion Thus much for the beginning of the great Charter which had first an obscure birth from vsurpation and was secondly fostered shewed to the world by rebellion IVST I cannot deny but that all your Lordship hath said is true but seeing the Charters were afterwards so many times confirmed by Parliament made lawes that there is nothing in them vnequall or prejudicial to the King doth not your Honour thinke it reason they should be obserued COVNS Yes obserued they are in all that the state of a King can permit for no man is destroyed but by the lawes of the land no man disseized of his inheritance but by the lawes of the land imprisoned they are by the prerogatiue wherē the King hath cause to suspect their loyaltie for were it otherwise the King should neuer come to the knowledge of any conspiracy or treason against his Person or state and being imprisoned yet doth not any man suffer death but by the law of the land IVST But may it please your Lordship were not Cornewallis Sharpe Hoskins imprisoned being no suspition of treason there COVNS They were but it cost them nothing IVST And what got the King by it for in the conclusion besides the murmure of the people Cornewallis Sharpe Hoskins hauing greatly ouershot themselues and repented them a fine of 5 or 600 l was laid on his Maiesty for their offences for so much their diet cost his Maiestie COVNS I know who gaue the advice sure I am that it was none of mine But thus I say if you consult your memory you shall finde that those kings which did in their own times confirme the Magna Charta did not onely imprison but they caused of their Nobility and others to bee slaine without hearing or tryall IVST My good Lord if you will giue me leaue to speak freely I say that they are not well advised that perswade the King not to admit the Magna Charta with the former reseruations For as the King can neuer loose a farthing by it as I shall proue anon So except England were as Naples is and kept by Garrisons of another Nation it is impossible for a King of England to greaten and inrich himselfe by any way so assuredly as by the loue of his people For by one rebellion the King hath more losse then by a hundred yeares observance of Magna Charta For therein haue our Kings beene forced to compound with Roagues and Rebels and to pardon them yea the state of the King the Monarchie the Nobility haue beene endangered by them COVNS Well Sir let that passe why should not our kings raise mony as the kings of France doe by their letters and Edicts only for since the time of Lewes the 11 th of whom it is said that hee freed the French Kings of their wardship the French Kings haue seldome assembled the States for any contribution IVST I will tell you why the strength of England doth consist of the people and Yeomanry the Pesants of France haue no courage nor armes In France euery Village and Burrough hath a castle which the French call Chastean Villain euery good citty hath a good Cittadell the king hath the Regiments of his guards and his men at armes alwayes in pay yea the Nobility of France in whom the strength of France consists doe alwaies assist their King in those leavies because them selues being free they make the same leavies vpon their tennants But my Lord if you marke it France was neuer free in effect from ciuill warres and lately it was endangered either to be conquered by the Spaniard or to be cantonized by the rebellious French themselues since that freedome of Wardship But my good Lord to leaue this digression that wherein I would willingly satisfie your Lordship is that the kings of England haue neuer receiued losse by Parliament or preiudice COVNS No Sir you shall find that the subiects in Parliament haue decreed great things to the disadvantage and dishonour of our kings in former times IVST My good Lord to avoide confusion I will make a short repetition of them all and then your Lordship may obiect where you see cause And I doubt not but to giue your Lordship satisfaction In the sixt yeare of Henry the 3 rd there was no dispute the house gaue the King two shillings of euery plough land within England and in the end of the same yeare he had escuage paid him to wit for euery knights fee two markes in siluer In the fifth yeare of that King the Lords demaunded the confirmation of the Great Charter which the kings Councell for that time present excused alleadging that those priviledges were extorted by force during the Kings Minoritie and yet the King was pleased to send forth his writ to the Sheriffes of euery county requiring them to certifie what those liberties vvere and hovv vsed in exchange of the Lords demaund because they pressed him so violently the king required all the castles places which the Lords held of his had held in the time of his Father vvith those Manors Lordships vvhich they had heeretofore vvrested from the Crovvne vvhich at that time the King being provided of forces they durst not deny In the 14 th yeare he had the 15 th peny of all goods giuen him vpon condition to
confirme the great Charter For by reason of the vvars in France the losse of Rochell hee vvas then enforced to coÌ„sent to the Lords in all they demanded In the 10â—â— of his reigne hee fined the citty of London at 50000 markes because they had receiued Lewes of France In the 11 th yeare in the Parliament at Oxford he revoked the great charter being granted vvhen he vvas vnder age gouerned by the Earle of Pembroke the Bishop of Winchester In this 11 th yeare the Earles of Cornevvall Chester Marshall Edward Earle of Pembroke Gilbert Earle of Gloucester Warren Hereford Ferrars Warwicke others rebelled against the King constrained him to yeeld vnto them in vvhat they demaunded for their particular interest vvhich rebellion being appeased he sayled into France in his 15 th yeare he had a 15 th of the temporality a disme a halfe of the Spirituality and vvithall escuage of euery Knights fee. COVNS But what say you to the Parliament of Westminster in the 16 th of the king where notwithstanding the wars of France and his great charge in repulsing the Welsh rebels he was flatly denyed the Subsedie demaunded IVST I confesse my Lord that the house excused themselues by reason of their pouerty and the Lords taking of Armes in the next yeare it was manifest that the house was practised against the king And was it not so my good Lord thinke you in our two last Parliaments for in the first euen those whom his Majestie trusted most betrayed him in the vnion in the secoÌ„d there were other of the great ones ran counter But your Lordship spake of dangers of Parliaments in this my Lord there was a deniall but there was no danger at all But to returne where I left what got the Lords by practizing the house at that time I say that those that brake this staffe vpon the K. were ouerturned with the counterbuffe for hee resumed all those lands which hee had given in his minority hee called all his exacting officers to accompt hee found them all faulty hee examined the corruption of other magistrates and from all these he drew sufficient mony to satisfie his present necessity whereby hee not onely spared his people but highly contented them with an act of so great Iustice Yea Hubert Earle of Kent the chiefe justice whom hee had most trusted and most advanced was found as false to the King as any one of the rest And for conclusion in the end of that yeare at the assemblie of the States at Lambeth the King had the fortith part of euery mans goods given him freely towards his debts for the people who the same yeare had refused to giue the King any thing when they sawe hee had squeased those spunges of the common wealth they willingly yeelded to giue him satisfaction COVNS But I pray you what became of this Hubert whoÌ„ the King had favoured aboue all men betraying his Majestie as he did IVST There were many that perswaded the King to put him to death but he could not be drawne to consent but the King seized vpon his estate which was great yet in the end hee left him a sufficient portion and gaue him his life because hee had done great service in former times For his Majestie though hee tooke advantage of his vice yet hee forgot not to haue consideration of his vertue And vpon this occasion it was that the King betrayed by those whom hee most trusted entertayned strangers and gaue them their offices and the charge of his castles and strong places in England COVNS But the drawing in of those strangers was the cause that Marshall Earle of Pembroke moued warre against the King IVST It is true my good Lord but hee was soone after slaine in Ireland and his whole masculine race ten yeres extinguished though there were fiue sonnes of them Marshall being dead who was the mouer and ring-leader of that warre the King pardoned the rest of the Lords that had assisted Marshall COVNS What reason had the King so to doe IVST Because he was perswaded that they loued his person only hated those corrupt Counselours that then bare the greatest sway vnder him as also because they were the best men of warre hee had whom if he destroyed hauing warre with the French he had wanted Commanders to haue served him COVNS But what reason had the Lords to take armes IVST Because the King entertayned the Poictouiâ—s were not they the Kings vassals also Should the Spaniards rebell because the Spanish King trusts to the Neopolitans Portagues Millanoies and other nations his vassals seeing those that are governed by the Vice-royes and deputies are in pollicy to be well entertayned and to be employed who would otherwise devise how to free themselues whereas beeing trusted and imployed by their Prince they entertaine themselues with the hopes that other the Kings vassals doe if the King had called in the Spaniards or other Nations not his Subjects the Nobility of England had had reason of griefe But what people did euer serue the King of England more faithfully then the Gascoynes did even to the last of the conquest of that Duchy IVST Your Lordship sayes wel I am of that opinion that if it had pleased the Queene of Eng. to haue drawne some of the chiefe of the Irish Nobility into Eng. by exchange to haue made them good freeholders in Eng. shee had saued aboue 2. millions of pounds which were consumed in times of those rebellions For what held the great Gascoigne firme to the Crowne of England of whom the Duke of Espernon married the inheritrix but his Earldome of Kendall in England whereof the Duke of Espernon in right of his wife beares the title to this day And to the same end I take it hath Iames our Soueraigne Lord given lands to divers of the Nobility of Scotland And if I were worthy to advise your Lordship I should thinke that your Lordship should do the King great service to put him in mind to prohibite all the Scottish nation to alienate and sell away their inheritance here for they selling they not only giue cause to the English to complaine that the treasure of England is transported into Scotland but his Majesty is thereby also frustrated of making both Nations one and of assuring the service and obedience of the Scots in future COVNS You say well for though those of Scotland that are advanced and enriched by the Kings Majesties will no doubt serue him faithfully yet how their heires successours hauing no inheritance to loose in England may be seduced is vncertaine But let vs goe on with our Parliament And what say you to the deniall in the 26 â— yeare of his reigne even when the King was invited to come into France by the Earle of March who had married his mother and who promised to assist the King in the conquest of many places lost IVST It is true my
In the eleuenth yeare hee had given him by parliament a notable relief the one halfe of the woolls throughout England and of the Cleargy all their wools after which in the end of the yeare hee had granted in his parliament at Westminster forty shillings vpon every sacke of wool and for every thirty wool fels forty shillings for every last of leatherne as much and for all other merchandizes after the same rate The king promising that this yeares gathering ended he would thenceforth content himselfe with the old custome he had ouer and aboue this great ayde the eight part of all goods of all citizens and Burgesses and of others as of forreigne Marchants such as liued not of the gaine of breeding of sheepe and cattell the fifteenth of their goods Nay my Lord this was not all though more then euer was granted to any king for the same parliament bestowed on the king the ninth sheafe of all the corne within the lande the ninth fleece and the ninth lambe for two yeares next following now what thinke your Lordship of this parliament COVNS I say they were honest men IVST And I say the people are as loving to their king now as euer they were if they bee honestly and wisely dealt withall and so his Majestie hath found them in his last two parliaments if his Majestie had not beene betrayed by those whom he most trusted COVNS But I pray you Sir who shall a king trust if he may not trust those whom he hath so greatly advanced IVST I will tell your Lordship whom the king may trust COVNS Who are they IVST His owne reason and his owne excellent judgement which haue not deceived him in any thing wherein his Majestie hath beene pleased to exercise them Take councell of thine heart saith the booke of Wisedome for there is none more faithfull vnto thee then it COVNS It is true but his Majestie found that those wanted no judgement whom hee trusted and how could his Majestie divine of their honesties IVST Will you pardon mee if I speake freely for if I speake out of loue which as Salomon saith covereth all trespasses The trueth is that his Majestie would never beleeue any man that spake against them and they knew it well enough which gaue them boldnesse to do what they did COVNS What was that IVST Even my good Lord to ruine the kings estate so farre as the state of so great a king may be ruin'd by men ambitious and greedy without proportion It had beene a braue increase of revenue my Lord to haue raysed 50000′ land of the kings to 20000′ revenue and to raise the revenue of wards to 20000′ more 40000′ added to the rest of his Majesties estate had so enabled his Majestie as hee could never haue wanted And my good Lord it had beene an honest service to the king to haue added 7000′ lands of the Lord Cobhams woods and goods being worth 30000′ more COVNS I know not the reason why it was not done IVST Neither doth your Lordship perchance knowe the reason why the 10000′ offer'd by Swinnerton for a fine of the French wines was by the then Lord Treasurer conferr'd on Devonshire and his Mistris COVNS What moued the Treasurer to reject crosse that raising of the kings lands IVST The reason my good Lord is manifest for had the land beene raised then had the king knowne when hee had given or exchanged land what hee had giuen or exchanged COVNS What hurt had that beene to the Treasurer whose office is truely to informe the King of the value of all that he giveth IVST So hee did when it did not concerne himselfe nor his particular for hee could neuer admit any one peece of a good Manour to passe in my Lord Aubignes booke of 1000′ land till hee himselfe had bought then all the remaining flowers of the Crowne were culled out Now had the Treasurer suffer'd the Kings lands to haue been raised how could his Lordshippe haue made choice of the old rents as well in that book of my Lord Aubigne as in exchange of Theobalds for which hee tooke Hatfield in it which the greatest subject or favorite Queene Elizabeth had never durst haue named vnto her by way of gift or exchange Nay my Lord so many other goodly Mannors haue passed from his Majestie as the very heart of the kingdome mourneth to remember it and the eyes of the kingdome shedde teares continually at the beholding it yea the soule of the kingdome is heavy vnto death with the consideration thereof that so magnanimous a Prince should suffer himselfe to be so abused COVNS But Sir you knowe that Cobhams lands were entayled vpon his Cosens IVST Yea my Lord but during the liues and races of George Brooke his children it had beene the kings that is to say for euer in effect but to wrest the king and to draw the inheritance vpon himselfe he perswaded his Majestie to relinquish his interest for a petty summe of money and that there might be no counterworking he sent Brooke 6000 l to make friends vvhereof himselfe had 2000 l backe againe Buckhurst and Barwicke had the other 4000 l and the Treasurer and his heires the masse of land for euer COVNS What then I pray you came to the king by this great confiscation IVST My Lord the kings Majestie by all those goodly possessiōs vvoods goods looseth 500 l by the yere which he giueth in pension to Cobham to maintaine him in prison COV Certainly even in conscience they should haue reserved so much of the land in the Crowne as to haue giuen Cobham meate and apparell not made themselues so great gainers and the King 500 l per annum looser by the bargaine but it 's past Consilium non est eorum quae fieri nequeunt IVST Take the rest of the sentence my Lord Sed consilium versatur in iis quae sunt in nostra potestate It is yet my good Lord in potestate Regis to right himselfe But this is not all my Lord And I feare mee knowing your Lordships loue to the King it would put you in a feaver to heare all I will therefore goe on vvith my parliaments COVNS I pray doe so and amongst the rest I pray you what say you to the Parliament holden at London in the fifteenth yeare of King Edward the third IVST I say there was nothing concluded therein to the prejudice of the King It is true that a litle before the sitting of the house the King displaced his Chancellour and his Treasurer and most of all his judges and officers of the exchequer and committed many of them to prison because they did not supplie him with mony being beyond the seas for the rest the states assembled besought the King that the lawes of the two Charters might bee obserued and that the great officers of the Crowne might bee chosen by parliament COVNS But what successe had these petitions IVST The Charters were observed as before
the subsedy Bookes wee found the summe but smal whē the 30 ◠men were left out In the beginning of his fourth yeare a tenth with a fifteene vvere granted vpon condition that for one vvhole yeare no subsedies should bee demaunded but this promise vvas as suddenly forgotten as made for in the end of that yeare the great subsedy of Poll mony vvas granted in the Parliament at Northampton COVNS Yea but there follovved the terrible Rebellion of Baker Straw and others Leister Wrais and others IVST That vvas not the fault of the Parliament my Lord it is manifest that the subsedy giuen vvas not the cause for it is plaine that the bondmen of England began it because they vvere grieuously prest by their Lords in their tenure of Villenage as also for the hatred they bare to the Lavvyers Attorneyes for the story of those times say that they destroyed the houses Mannors of men of lavv and such Lavvyers as they caught slevv them beheaded the Lord chiefe Iustice which commotion being once begun the head mony was by other Rebels pretended A fire is often kindled with a litle straw which oftentimes takes hold of greater timber consumes the whole building And that this Rebellion was begun by the discontented slaues whereof there haue beene many in Elder times the like is manifest by the Charter of Manumission which the King granted in haec verba Rich. Dei gratia c. Sciatis quòd de gratia nostrâ spirituals manumissimus c. to which seeing the King was constrained by force of armes hee revoked the letters Pattents and made them voide the same revocation being strengthened by the Parliament ensuing In which the King had giuen him a subsedy vpon wools called a Maletot In the same fourth yeare was the Lord Treasurer discharged of his Office and Hales Lord of S Iohns chosen in his place In his fift yeare was the Treasurer againe changed and the Staffe giuen to Segraue and the Lord Chancellour was also changed and the staffe giuen to the Lord Scroope Which Lord Scroope was againe in the beginning of his sixt yeare turned out and the King after that he had for a while kept the Seale in his own hand gaue it to the Bishop of London from vvhom it vvas soone after taken bestovved on the Earle of Suffolke vvho they say had abused the king and converted the kings Treasure to his ovvne vse To this the King condiscended and though saith Walsingham he deserued to loose his life and goods yet he had the fauor to goe at liberty vpō good sureties because the K. vvas but yong that the reliefe granted vvas committed to the trust of the Earle of Arundell for the furnishing of the Kings Navy against the French COVNS Yet you see it vvas a dishonor to the K. to haue his beloued Chancellour remoued IVS. Truly no for the K. had both his fine 1000 lāds a subsedy to boot And though for the present it pleased the K. to fancy a man all the vvorld hated the K s passiō ouercōming his Iudgmēt yet it cānot be cal'd a dishonor for the K. is to belieue the general coūsel of the kingdom to prefer it before his affection especially vvhen Suffolk vvas proued to be false euen to the K for were it otherwise loue and affection might bee called a frenzie and a madnesse for it is the nature of humane passions that the loue bredde by fidelity doth change it selfe into hatred when the fidelity is first changed into falshood COVNS But you see there were thirteene Lords chosen in the Parliament to haue the oversight of the government vnder the King IVS No my Lord it was to haue the oversight of those Officers which saith the Story had imbezeled lewdly wasted and prodigally spent the Kings treasure for to the Cōmission to those Lords or to any six of them joyn'd with the Kings Counsell was one of the most royall and most profitable that euer he did if hee had bin constant to himself But my good Lord man is the cause of his own misery for I wil repeate the substance of the commission granted by the K confirmed by Parliament which whether it had bin profitable for the K. to haue prosecuted your Lordship may judge The preamble hath these words Whereas our Sovereigne Lord the King perceiveth by the greivous complaints of the Lords Commons of this Realme that the rents profits revenues of this Realme by the singular and insufficient Councell and evill gouernment aswell of some his late great Officers and others c. are so much withdrawen wasted eloyued giuen granted alienated destroyed and evill dispended that he is so much impoverished and void of treasure and goods and the substance of the Crown so much diminished and destroyed that his estate may not honorably be sustained as appertayneth The K. of his free will at the request of the Lords and Commons hath ordayned Williā Archbishop of Canterbury and others with his Chancellour Treasurer keeper of his privy seale to survey and examine as well the estate and governance of his house c. as of all the rents and profits and revenues that to him appertayneth and to be due or ought to appertaine and be due c. And all manner of gifts graunts alienations and confirmations made by him of lands tenements rents c. bargained and sold to the preiudice of him and his Crowne c. And of his iewels goods which were his Grandfathers at the time of his death c. and where they be become This is in effect the substance of the commission which your Lordship may reade at large in the booke of Statutes this commission being enacted in the tenth yere of the Kings reigne Now if such a commission were in these daies granted to the faithfull men that haue no interest in the sales gifts nor purchases nor in the keeping of the jewells at the Queenes death nor in the obtaining graunts of the Kings best lands I cannot say what may be recouered justly recovered and what say your Lordship was not this a noble acte for the King if it had beene followed to effect COVNS I cannot tell whether it were or no for it gaue power to the Commissioners to examine all the graunts IVST Why my Lord doth the King graunt any thing that shames at the examination are not the Kings graunts on record COVNS But by your leaue it is some dishonour to a King to haue his judgement called in question IVST That is true my Lord but in this or vvhensoever the like shall be graunted in the future the Kings judgement is not examined but their knavery that abused the K. Nay by your favour the contrary is true that vvhen a King will suffer himselfe to bee eaten vp by a company of petty fellowes by himselfe raised there in both the judgement and courage is disputed And if your Lordship vvill disdaine it at your own servants
hands much more ought the great heart of a King to disdaine it And surely my Lord it is a greater treason though it vndercreepe the law to teare from the Crowne the ornaments thereof And it is an infallible maxime that hee that loues not his Majesties estate loues not his person COVNS How came it then that the acte was not executed IVS. Because these against vvhom it was graunted perswaded the King to the contrary As the Duke of Ireland Suffolke the chief Iustice Trisilian others yea that which vvas lawfully done by the King and the great Councell of the kingdome was by the mastery which Ireland Suffolke and Tresilian had ouer the Kings affections broken and disavowed Those that devised to relieue the King not by any private invention but by generall Councell were by a private and partiall assemblie adjudged traytors and the most honest Iudges of the land enforced to subscribe to that judgment In so much that Iudge Belknap plainely told the Duke of Ireland and the Earle of Suffolke when hee was constrained to set to his hand plainely told these Lords that he wanted but a rope that he might therewith receiue a reward for his subscription And in this Councell of Nottingham vvas hatched the ruine of those which governed the King of the Iudges by them constrained of the Lords that loued the King and sought a reformation and of the King himselfe for though the King found by all the Shreeues of the shires that the people would not fight against the Lords whom they thought to bee most faithfull vnto the King when the Citizens of London made the same answere beeing at that time able to arme 50000◠men told the Major that they would never fight against the Kings friends and defenders of the Realme when the Lord Ralph Basset who was neere the K. told the King boldly that hee would not adventure to haue his head broken for the Duke of Irelands pleasure vvhen the Lord of London told the Earle of Suffolke in the Kings presence that he was not worthy to liue c. yet vvould the King in the defence of the destroyers of his estate lay ambushes to entrap the Lords when they came vpon his faith yea when all was pacified and that the King by his Proclamation had clear'd the Lords and promised to produce Ireland Suffolke the Archbishop of Yorke Tresilian Bramber to answer at the next Parliament these men confest that they durst not appeare and when Suffolke fled to Callice and the Duke of Ireland to Chester the King caused an army to be leavied in Lancashire for the safe conduct of the Duke of Ireland to his presence when as the Duke being encountered by the Lords ranne like a coward from his company fled into Holland After this vvas holden a Parliament which vvas called that vvrought vvonders In the eleuenth yeare of this King wherein the forenamed Lords the Duke of Ireland the rest were condemned and confiscate the Chiefe Iustice hang'd with many others the rest of the Iudges condemned banisht a 10 th and a 15 th given to the King COVNS But good Sir the King was first besieged in the Tower of London and the Lords came to the Parliament no man durst contradict them IVST Certainly in raising an army they committed treason and though it did appeare that they all loued the King for they did him no harme hauing him in their power yet our law doth construe all leavying of war without the kings commission and all force raised to be intended for the death destruction of the K. not attending the sequell And it is so judged vpon good reason for every vnlawfull and ill action is suppos'd to be accompanied with an ill intēt And besides those Lords vsed too great cruelty in procuring the sentence of death against diuers of the Kings servaunts who were bound to follow and obey their Master and Soveraigne Lord in that hee commaunded COVNS It is true and they were also greatly to blame to cause then so many seconds to be put to death seeing the principalls Ireland Suffolke and Yorke had escaped them And what reason had they to seeke to enforme the State by strong hand was not the Kinges estate as deere to himselfe as to them He that maketh a King know his errour manerly and priuate and giues him the best aduice hee is discharged before God and his owne conscience The Lords might haue retired themselues when they saw they could not prevaile and haue left the King to his owne wayes who had more to loose then they had IVST My Lord the taking of Armes cannot be excused in respect of the law but this might be said for the Lords that the K. being vnder yeres being wholly governed by their enimies the enimies of the kingdome because by those evill mens perswasiōs it was aduised how the Lords should haue bin murthered at a feast in London they were excusable during the kings minority to stand vpō their guards against their particular enemies But we will passe it ouer and go on with our parliaments that followed whereof that of Cambridge in the K s 12 th yeare was the next therein the K. had giuen him a 10 th a 15 th after which being 20. yeares of age rechāged saith H. Kinghton his Treasurer his Chancellor the Iustices of either bench the Clerk of the priuy seale others tooke the gouernment into his own hands Hee also tooke the Admirals place frō the Earle of Arundell in his roome hee placed the Earle of Huntingdon in the yeare following which was the 13 th yeare of the K. in the Parliament at Westminster there was giuen to the King vpon every sacke of wooll 14 s and 6 d in the pound vpon other marchandize COVNS But by your leaue the King was restrained this parliament that he might not dispose of but a third part of the money gathered IVST No my Lord by your fauour But true it is that part of this mony was by the Kings consent assigned towards the wars but yet left in the Lord Treasurers hands And my Lo it would be a great ease a great sauing to his Maiestie our Lord and Master if it pleased him to make his assignations vpon some part of his revenewes by which he might haue 1000◠vpon every 10000◠and saue himselfe a great deale of clamour For seeing of necessity the Nauy must be maintained that those poore men aswell Carpenters as ship keepers must be paid it were better for his Maiesty to giue an assignation to the treasurer of his nauy for the receiuing of so much as is called ordinary then to discontent those poore men who being made desperate beggers may perchance be corrupted by them that lye in waite to destroy the K s estate And if his Maiesty did the like in all other payments especially where the necessity of such as are to receiue cannot possible giues daies
his Maiesty might then in a litle rowle behold his receipts and expences hee might quiet his heart when all necessaries were provided for and then dispose the rest at his pleasure And my good Lord how excellently and easily might this haue bin done if the 400000◠had beene raised as aforesaid vpon the Kings lands and wards I say that his Maiesties house his navy his guards his pensioners his munition his Ambassadors and all else of ordinary charge might haue beene defrayed and a great summe left for his Maiesties casuall expences and rewards I will not say they were not in loue with the Kings estate but I say they were vnfortunately borne for the King that crost it COVNS Well Sir I would it had beene otherwise But for the assignments there are among vs that will not willingly indure it Charity begins with itselfe shall wee hinder our selues of 50000◠per annum to saue the King 20 No Sir what will become of our New-yeares gifts our presents and gratuities We can now say to those that haue warrants for money that there is not a penny in the Exchequer but the king giues it away vnto the Scots faster then it comes in IVST My Lord you say well at least you say the trueth that such are some of our answeres and hence comes that generall murmure to all men that haue money to receiue I say that there is not a penny giuen to that nation be it for seruice or otherwise but it is spread over all the kingdome yea they gather notes and take copies of all the priuy seales and warrants that his Maiesty hath given for the money for the Scots that they may shew them in Parliament But of his Maiesties gifts to the English there is no bruite though they may be tenne times as much as the Scots And yet my good Lord howsoeuer they be thus answered that to them sue for money out of the Exchequer it is due to them for 10 or 12 or 20 in the hundred abated according to their qualities that sue they are alwaies furnished For conclusion if it would please God to put into the Kings heart to make their assignations it would saue him many a pound and gaine him many a prayer and a great deale of loue for it grieueth every honest mans heart to see the abūdance which euen the petty officers in the Exchequer and others gather both from the king and subiect and to see a world of poore men runne after the King for their ordinary wages COVNS Well well did you never heare this old tale that when there was a great contention about the weather the Seamen complaining of contrary windes when those of the high Countreyes desired raine and those of the valleyes sunshining dayes Iupiter sent them word by Mercury then when they had all done the weather should be as it had bin And it shall euer fall out so with them that complaine the course of payments shall be as they haue beene what care we what petty fellowes say or what care wee for your papers haue not we the Kings eares who dares contest with vs though we cannot be revenged on such as you are for telling the trueth yet vpon some other pretence wee 'le clap you vp and you shall sue to vs ere you get out Nay wee 'le make you confesse that you were deceiued in your proiects and eate your owne words learne this of me Sir that as a little good fortune is better then a great deale of vertue so the least authority hath advantage ouer the greatest wit was he not the wisest man that said the battaile was not to the strongest nor yet bread for the wise nor riches to men of vnderstanding nor fauour to men of knowledge but what time chance came to them all IVST It is well for your Lordship that it is so But Qu Elizabeth would set the reason of a meane man before the authority of the greatest Councellor she had and by her patience therein shee raised vpon the vsuall and ordinary customes of London without any new imposition aboue 50000◠a yeare for though the Treasurer Burleigh and the Earle of Leicester and Secretary Walshingham all three pensioners to Customer Smith did set themselues against a poore waiter of the Custome-house called Carwarden and commaunded the groomes of the privy Chamber not to giue him accesse yet the Queene sent for him and gaue him countenance against them all It would not serue the turne my Lord with her when your Lordships would tell her that the disgracing her great officers by hearing the complaints of busie heads was a dishonour to herselfe but shee had alwaies this answere That if any man complaine vniustly against a Magistrate it were reason he should be severely punished if iustly shee was Queene of the small aswell as of the great and would heare their complaints For my good Lord a Prince that suffereth himselfe to be besieged forsaketh one of the greatest regalities belonging to a Monarchie to wit the last appeale or as the French call it le dernier resort COVNS Well Sir this from the matter I pray you go on IVST Then my Lord in the kings 15 th yeare he had a tenth and at fifteene graunted in Parliament of London And that same yeare there was a great Councell called at Stamford to which diuerse men were sent for of diuerse counties besides the Nolility of whom the K. tooke advice whether he should continue the war or make a finall end with the French COVNS What needed the king to take the advice of any but of his owne Councell in matter of peace or warre IVST Yea my Lord for it is said in the Prouerbes where are many counsellers there is health And if the king had made the warre by a generall consent the kingdome in generall were bound to maintaine the warre and they could not then say when the King required ayde that he vndertooke a needlesse warre COVNS You say well but I pray you go on IVST After the subsedy in the 15 yeare the King desired to borrow 10000 l of the Londoners which they refused to lend COVNS And was not the King greatly troubled therewith IVST Yea but the King troubled the Londoners soone after for the king tooke the advantage of a ryot made vpon the Bishop of Salisbury his men sent for the Maior and other the ablest cittizens committed the Maior to prison in the Castle of Windsor and others to other castles and made a Lord VVarden of this citty till in the end what with 10000 l ready money and other rich presents insteed of lending 10000 l it cost them 20000 l. Betweene the fifteenth yeare and twentith yeare hee had two aydes giuen him in the Parliaments of VVinchester and VVestminster and this later was given to furnish the Kings iourney into Ireland to establish that estate which was greatly shaken since the death of the Kings Grandfather who receiued thence yearely 30000 l and during the