D. in Physick Will. Constantine Esq Hen. Killegrew Esq Ric. King Esq John Dutton Esq Hen. Bret Esq Will. Chadwel Esq Sir Theobald Gorges John George Esq Sir Tho. Fanshaw Humf. Conningesby Esq Ri. Seaborne Esq Arth. Lord Ranelaugh Tho. Tomkins Esq Sir Sampson Evers Sir John Culpeper Jeffrey Palmer Esq Sir John Harrison Tho. Fanshaw Esq Sir Rog. Palmer Sir Orlando Bridgman Will. Watkins Esq John Smith Esq Sir Tho. Bludder Sir Ed. Littleton Sir Harvy Bagot Sir Ri. Leveson Sir Ri. Cave Ri. Weston Esq Sir Ri. Lee. Sir Tho. Whitmore Sir Ed. Acton C. Baldwin Esq R. Goodwin Esq Tho. Howard Esq Tho. Littleton Esq Sir Ro. Howard Sir John Meux Matthew Davis Esq Sir F. Cornwallis Tho. Jermyn Esq John Taylor Esq William Basset Esq Sir William Portman Sir Edw. Rodney Tho. Hanham Esq Ed. Phelips Esq John Digby Esq Ed. Kirton Esq Christ. Leuknor Esq Sir Edw. Alford John White Esq John Ashburnham Esq Will. Smith Esq Tho. Leedes Esq Sir Ja. Thynne W. Pleydell Esq Ro. Hyde Serjeant at Law Sir Ed. Griffin Sir Walter Smith Geo. Lawe Esq Ric. Harding Esq Sir Hen. Herbert End Porter Esq Sam. Sandys Esq John Bodvill Esq Will. Morgan Esq Will. Thomas Esq Jo. Mostyn Esq Hen. Bellasis Esq Sir Geo. Wentworth Will. Mallory Esq Ri. Aldburgh Esq John Salisbury Esq Will. Herbert Esq William Price Esq Sir John Price Sir Ri. Herbert Charles Price Esq Phil. Warwick Esq Tho. Cooke Esq Sir Rob. Crooke Herb. Price Esq John Whistler Esq These Peers following being disabled by several accidents to appear sooner have since attended the Service and concurred with us Viscount Cambden Lord Abergavenny Lord Arundell Lord Capell Lord Newport Peers imployed in His Majesty's Service or absent with leave Marquess of Winchester Marquess of Worcester Marquess of New-castle Earl of Darby Earl of Huntingdon Earl of Clare Earl of Marleborough V. Falconbridge L. Morly L. Darcy and Coniers L. Stourton L. Evers L. Daincourt L. Pawlet L. Brudenel L. Powys L. Herbert of Cherbury L. Hopton L. Loughborough L. Byron L. Vaughan L. Widderington Peers absent in the parts beyond the Seas Earl of Arundell Earl of St. Albans L. Viscount Montague L. Viscount Stafford L. Stanhope L. Coventry L. Goring L. Craven of Hamsted L. Craven of Ryton Peers in Prison for their Loyalty to His Majesty Earl of Chesterfield L. Mountague of Boughton Whoever views these numbers and considers how many Peers are at this time under Age will quickly know who and how many are privy or consenting to the Counsels at Westminster These Members of the Commons House following being disabled by several accidents to appear sooner have since attended the Service and concurred with us Peter Venables Esquire Sir John Pawlet Edward Bagshaw Esq Sir John Burlasey Francis Newport Esquire Anthony Hungerford Esq John Russel Esquire Thomas Chichley Esquire Earl of Cork Sir Gervase Clifton Sir Guy Palmes Robert Sutton Esquire Gervase Hollis Esquire Sir Patricius Curwen Sir Henry Bellingham Sir George Dalston Sir Thomas Sandford Sir William Dalston Michael Wharton Esquire Sir Robert Hatton James Scudamore Esq Sir John Brooke Sir John Stepney Imployed in His Majesty's Service or absent with leave or by Sickness Sir John Fenwick Hugh Potter Esquire Walter Kirle Esquire William Stanhope Esquire Sir William Carnaby Sir Thomas Danby John Fenwick Esquire Ralph Sneade Esquire Sir William Ogle Sir Thomas Jermyn Sir John Stowell Sir Robert Strickland Sir Philip Musgrave John Cowcher Esquire John Coventry Esquire Sir Henry Slingsby Sir John Mallory John Bellassis Esquire Sir Thomas Ingram Lord Mansfield Thomas Heblethwayte Esquire Sir Hugh Cholmely Sir George Wentworth Sir Walter Lloyd Sir Henry Vaughan Francis Lloyd John Vaughan Esquire Richard Ferrers Esq George Hartnoll Esq Sir William Vdall Robert Hunt Esquire Thomas May Esquire Sir Thomas Bowyer Sir Thomas Roe Whoever now considers how many have retired themselves unto several Counties and so are absent from Westminster and yet cannot through the danger of Travelling be present at Oxford how many have withdrawn themselves into the parts beyond the Seas how many of their own principal Instruments are Voted out of the House by themselves as Sir John Hotham and his Son Sir Alexander Carew Mr. Martin Mr. Fiennes and many others and how many now are Imprisoned by them how many Members from the beginning have been factiously kept from the House upon questions of Election and how many without any colour are kept in by not suffering their Elections to be reported and that there are Thirty five Members dead into whose rooms no new Persons are chosen how many since are become Barons by descent or Creation will easily conclude how small the number is which remains and of those how few in truth have Right in sit there CHARLES R. March 19. 1643. Our express Pleasure is That this Declaration of the Lords and Commons of Parliament assembled at Oxford be read by the Parson Vicar or Curate in every Church and Chapel within Our Kingdom of England and Dominion of Wales The Declaration of the Lords and Commons of Parliament assembled at Oxford according to His MAJESTY'S Proclamation Concerning their Endeavours since they came thither for the Peace of the Kingdom and the Reasons enforcing their Abscence from Westminster VVE the Lords and Commons of Parliament being upon just and important reasons absent from the City of Westminster whither we were Legally called or sent by the Power and Authority of His Majesty's Writ when He summoned His Parliament and being by His gracious Proclamation of the two and twentieth day of December convened at Oxford with full liberty to present our humble Advice to His Majesty for the preservation of the Religion Laws and Safety of the Kingdom thought it most agreeable to our Duty to God our zeal and tenderness of His Majesty's Honour and Safety and our Affection and Compassion of the bleeding condition of our miserable Country to use our utmost and earliest endeavours to prevent the effusion of more Christian English Blood and to close those Wounds through which this Kingdom is in danger in a short time to languish even to Desolation And finding the ill success which had attended all the Overtures of Treaty and Accommodation made by His Majesty His Majesty's most gracious Message from Nottingham being with so much contempt rejected which being sent by Members of both Houses those Messengers were not suffered to deliver it as Members or to sit in the House whilst the same was debated contrary to the Privilege of Parliament and that to the two last Messages sent by Him of the twelfth of April and nineteenth of May in both which are most gracious expressions of His Princely and passionate inclinations to Peace as may appear by those Messages herewith again re-printed there hath not been the least Answer returned to His Majesty but on the contrary His Messenger imprisoned and to this day detained and an Order that on pain of Death none should presume to come thither from His Majesty upon
the eighteenth day of June in the eighteenth year of Our Reign 1642. Votes of the Lower House for raising an Army against the KING Die Martis 12 Julii 1642. Resolved upon the Question THAT an Army shall be forthwith raised for the Safety of the King's Person defence of both Houses of Parliament and of those who have obeyed their Orders and Commands and preserving of the true Religion the Laws Liberty and Peace of the Kingdom Resolved upon the Question That the Earl of Essex shall be the General Resolved upon the Question That this House doth declare that in this Cause for the Safety of the King's Person defence of both Houses of Parliament and of those who have obeyed their Orders and Commands and preserving of the true Religion the Laws Liberty and Peace of the Kingdom they will live and die with the Earl of Essex whom they have nominated General in this Cause MDCXLII Aug. 8. A Declaration of the Lords and Commons for raising of Forces against the KING Together with His MAJESTY'S Declaration in Answer to the same A Declaration of the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament for the raising of all Power and Force as well Trained Bands as others in several Counties of this Kingdom to lead against all Traitors and their Adherents and them to Arrest and Imprison and to Fight with Kill and Slay all such as shall oppose any of His Majesty's loving Subjects that shall be imployed in this Service by either or both Houses of Parliament WHereas certain Information is given from several parts of the Kingdom That divers Troops of Horse are imployed in sundry Counties of the Kingdom and that others have Commission to raise both Horse and Foot to compel His Majesty's Subjects to submit to the Illegal commission of Array out of a Traiterous intent to subvert the Liberty of the Subject and the Law of the Kingdom and for the better strengthening themselves in this wicked attempt do joyn with the Popish and Jesuitical Faction to put the Kingdom into a Combustion and Civil War by levying Forces against the Parliament and by these Forces to alter the Religion and the Antient Government and lawful Liberty of the Kingdom and to introduce Popery and Idolatry together with an Arbitrary Form of Government and in pursuance thereof have Traitorously and Rebelliously levied War against the King and by force robb'd spoil'd and slain divers of His Majesty's good Subjects travelling about their lawful and necessary occasions in the King's Protection according to Law and namely that for the end and purpose aforesaid the Earl of Northampton the Lord Dunsmore Lord Willoughby of Eresby Son to the Earl of Lindsey Henry Hastings Esquire and divers other unknown persons in the Counties of Lincoln Nottingham Leicester Warwick Oxford and other places the Marquess of Hartford the Lord Paulet Lord Seymour Sir John Stawel Sir Ralph Hopton John Digby Esquire and other their Accomplices have gotten together great Forces in the County of Somerset The Lords and Commons in Parliament duly considering the great Dangers which may ensue upon such their wicked and traitorous Designs and if by this means the Power of the Sword should come into the hands of Papists and their Adherents nothing can be expected but the miserable ruine and desolation of the Kingdom and the bloody massacre of the Protestants they do Declare and Ordain That it is and shall be lawful for all His Majesty's loving Subjects by force of Arms to resist the said several Parties and their Accomplices and all other that shall raise or conduct any other Forces for the ends aforesaid and that the Earl of Essex Lord General with all his Forces raised by the Authority of Parliament as likewise the Lord Say Lieutenant of Oxfordshire Earl of Peterborough Lieutenant of Northamptonshire Lord Wharton Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire Earl of Stamford Lieutenant of Leicestershire Earl of Pembroke Lieutenant of Wiltshire and Hampshire Earl of Bedford Lieutenant of Somersetshire and Devon Lord Brook Lieutenant of Warwickshire the Lord Cranborne Lieutenant of Dorsetshire the Lord Willoughby of Parham Lieutenant of Lincolnshire and all those who are or shall be appointed by Ordinance of both Houses to perform the place of Deputy-Lieutenants and their Deputy-Lieutenants respectively Denzil Hollis Esquire Lieutenant of the City and County of Bristol and the Mayors and Sheriffs of the City and Deputy-Lieutenants there and all other Lieutenants of Counties Sheriffs Mayors Deputy-Lieutenants shall raise all their Power and Forces of their several Counties as well Trained Bands as others and shall have power to conduct and lead the said Forces of the said Counties against the said Traitors and their Adherents and with them to fight kill and slay all such as by force shall oppose them and the Persons of the said Traitors and their Adherents and Accomplices to Arrest and Imprison and them to bring up to the Parliament to answer these their Traiterous and Rebellious Attempts according to Law and the same or any other Forces to transport and conduct from one County to another in aid and assistance one of another and of all others that shall joyn with the Lords and Commons in Parliament for the defence of the Religion of Almighty God and of the Liberties and Peace of the Kingdom and in pursuit of those wicked and Rebellious Traitors the Conspirators Aiders and Abettors and Adherents requiring all Lieutenants of Counties Sheriffs Mayors Justices of Peace and other His Majesty's Officers and loving Subjects to be aiding and assisting to one another in the Execution hereof And for so doing all the parties above-mentioned and all others that shall joyn with them shall be justified defended and secured by the Power and Authority of Parliament Die Lunae Aug. 8. 1642. Ordered that this Declaration be forthwith Printed and Published Hen. Elsinge Cler. Parl. D. Com. His MAJESTY's Declaration in Answer to a Declaration of the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament for the raising of all Power and Force as well Trained Bands c. AS much experience as We have had of the inveterate Rancour and high Insolence of the Malignant Party against Us We never yet saw any expression come from them so evidently declaring it as the Declaration entituled A Declaration of the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament for the raising of all Power and Force as well Trained Bands as others in several Counties of this Kingdom to lead against all Traitors and their Adherents c. In which that Faction hath as it were distilled and contracted all their Falshood Insolence and Malice there being in it not one period which is not either Slanderous or Treasonable And nothing can more grieve Us than that by their infinite Arts and Subtilty employed by their perpetual and indefatigable Industry and by that Rabble of Brownists and other Schismaticks declaredly ready to appear at their Call they should have been able so to draw away some and drive away others of Our good Subjects from Our
Patience a Vertue not usual with Kings to whom the bounds of Equity seem a restraint and therefore are more restless in Injuries He did submit to the Will of His Eternal Soveregin He never murmured nor repined at that Providence which had given Him plenty of tears to drink But His Meditations still breath the Justice of God and the Holiness of all His waies with Him He would take Occasions from displeasing Occurrences to thank God that had fitted Him for the Condition he had brought Him unto For when he marched after His Carriage in pursuit of Essex into the West one of them broke in a very narrow Lane which made Him stop till an intolerable Showre of Rain came pouring upon Him from which that He might seek for a Shelter in the Neighbouring Village His Courtiers offered to hew Him out a way through the Hedge with their Swords but He refused and when they wondred at it He lifting up His Hat and Eyes to worship the Fountain of All Grace said As God hath given me Afflictions to exercise My Patience so He hath given me Patience to bear My Afflictions The Indignity He received from Hotham provoked no Curse from Him nor could the Injuries from Scotch and English move Him to any thing more than Prayers for God's sanctifying them to Him He wanted not Temptations to Passion from His own Party for in a Letter to the Queen He tells Her that She could not but pity Him in His Condition as to them yet He so managed their several Humours and so cherished their Expectations with Patience and Meekness that they quietly waited for a return of His Fortune When He was in His Captivity at Carisbrook under the strictest Restraint those that attended Him never almost observed Him but chearful and pleasant in His Discourses and sometimes breaking out into pleasing Reparties and Jests When in the Treaty at Newport where he had occasions of Passion daily administred by the Perverseness to Peace of the Party He was to deal with one of the Commissioners was importunate with Him for more Concessions and minded Him of His saying That if there were another Treaty it should not lie in the power of the Devil's Malice to hinder Peace the King answered It would be so when there was a Treaty but as for this it could not be thought a Treaty but He was like the man in the Play that cried out he had been in a Fray and when they asked him what Fray he replied there was a Fray and no Fray for there were but three blows given and He took them all so this is a Treaty and not a Treaty for there be many Concessions but I have made them all Another time when He met one of the Presbyterian Ministers near his Chamber enquiring for Captain Titus who then waited on Him and had been faithful to Him in that Service the King told him He wondred he would have any more to do either with Titus or Timothy since he fared so ill in medling with them in his Disputes about Episcopacy the day before These shewed how free His Soul was and uncontrolled in the greatest and most displeasing perplexities He would never take any indirect courses to avoid the Cross nay He scrupled at such expedients as some deemed most conducing to His great end For at the Treaty in the Isle of Wight there being offered to Him an expedient to secure His Conscience and satisfie the Commissioners in the Propositions about the Church and it being urged by a great and faithful Counsellor that He must grant what possibly He could to preserve His own Life for the good of the Church for it was said her safety depended on His with a present and pious indignation He replied Tell not Me what I should do for saving of My Life but what I may do with a safe Conscience God forbid that the Life or Safety of the Church should depend upon My Life or upon the Life of any mortal man and I thank God I have a Son whom I have reason to believe will love the Church as well as I do Another time a little after the Treaty was ended Dr Morley shewing to Him a Billet he had received by the Lady Wheeler the King's Laundress who often conveyed much Intelligence from an Officer of the Army that the King's Death was resolved on His Majesty answered I have done what I can to save My Life without losing of my Soul I can do I will do no more God's will be done In the Pomp of His Murther wherein He was made a Spectacle to the World Angels and Men no Trials were ever greater nor ever were any better born the Parricides found it was easie to take away His Life but impossible His Honour and Patience His Passions being then so low and quiet that the natural Infirmity of His Speech did not in the least measure appear which uses to be most evident in the smallest discomposure of the Spirit After the Regicides had passed their Decree for His Assassination and caused Him to be persecuted with all the Indignities of the fanatick Souldiers there fell from Him nothing like Passion or Indignation but that He gave the Authors of those Impieties the Title that was due to them for when my Lord of London came to Him which was not till eight a Clock on Saturday Night He told him My Lord that you came no sooner I believe was not your fault but now you are come because these Rogues pursue My Blood you and I must consult how I may best part with it Yet even this was spoken without any Fury or Violence for though all about Him was tumultuous with Horrour Destruction and Contempt His Soul seemed unconcerned enjoyed a Calm Serenity and was full of its own Majesty This Vertue made Him forget He was a Prince born to command and only consider that He was a Christian whose Calling obliges to Suffer He had found out a way to Glory by Humility For the Supream Power to which nothing can be added hath no better way to encrease than when secured of its own Greatness it humbleth it self And the Dignity of Princes is in nothing farther from Envy and Danger than in Humility He despised the converse of none though poor if honest He shewed to Sr Philip Warwick who had much of His Trust and Affections in the Isle of Wight a poor ragged Old Man and told him he was a very honest fellow and had been His best Company for two months together He would have those about Him converse rather with Himself than with His Majesty and with them would He mingle Discourses as One of the People none made an end of speaking till His own Modesty not Pride in the King thought it was enough and He never did contradict any Man without this mollifying Preface By your favour Sir His Discourse as it was familiar so it was directed to raise those that heard it to a nearer approach to
hither I do stand more for the Liberty of My People than any here that come to be My pretended Judges and therefore let Me know by what lawful Authority I am seated here and I will answer it otherwise I will not answer it Bradshaw Sir how really you have managed your Trust is known your way of Answer is to interrogate the Court which beseems not you in this Condition You have been told of it twice or thrice KING Here is a Gentleman Lieutenant Colonel Cobbet ask him if he did not bring Me from the Isle of Wight by force I do not come here as submitting to the Court. I will stand as much for the Privilege of the House of Commons rightly understood as any man here whatsoever I see no House of Lords here that may constitute a Parliament and the King too should have been Is this the bringing of the King to His Parliament Is this the bringing an end to the Treaty in the Publick Faith of the World Let Me see a Legal Authority warranted by the Word of God the Scriptures or warranted by the Constitutions of the Kingdom and I will answer Bradshaw Sir you have propounded a Question and have been answered Seeing you will not answer the Court will consider how to proceed In the mean time those that brought you hither are to take charge of you back again The Court desires to know whether this be all the Answer you will give or no. KING Sir I desire that you would give Me and all the World satisfaction in this Let Me tell you It is not a slight thing you are about I am sworn to keep the Peace by that Duty I owe to God and My Countrey and I will do it to the last breath of My body And therefore you shall do well to satisfie first God and then the Country by what Authority you do it If you do it by an usurped Authority you cannot answer it There is a God in Heaven that will call you and all that give you Power to account Satisfie Me in that and I will answer otherwise I betray My Trust and the Liberties of the People and therefore think of that and then I shall be willing For I do avow That it is as great a Sin to withstand Lawful Authority as it is to submit to a Tyrannical or any otherways unlawful Authority And therefore satisfie God and Me and all the World in that and you shall receive My Answer I am not afraid of the Bill Bradshaw The Court expects you should give them a final Answer Their purpose is to adjourn till Monday next If you do not satisfie your self though we do tell you our Authority we are satisfied with our Authority and it is upon God's Authority and the Kingdoms and that Peace you speak of will be kept in the doing of Justice and that 's our present Work KING For Answer let Me tell you you have shewn no Lawful Authority to satisfie any reasonable man Bradshaw That 's in your apprehension we are satisfied that are your Judges KING 'T is not My apprehension nor yours neither that ought to decide it Bradshaw The Court hath heard you and you are to be disposed of as they have commanded So commanding the Guard to take Him away His Majesty only replied Well Sir And at His going down pointing with His Staff toward the Ax He said I do not fear that As He went down the stairs the People in the Hall cried out God save the King notwithstanding some were there set by the Faction to lead the clamour for Justice O yes being called they adjourn Westminster-Hall Monday Jan. 22. Afternoon SVnday being spent in Fasting and Preaching according to their manner of making Religion a pretence and prologue to their Villanies on Monday afternoon they came again into the Hall and after Silence commanded called over their Court where Seventy persons being present answered to their Names His Majesty being brought in the People gave a shout Command given to the Captain of their Guard to fetch and take into his custody those who make any Disturbance Then their Solicitor Cook began May it please your Lordship my Lord President I did at the last Court in the behalf of the Commons of England exhibite and give into this Court a Charge of High Treason and other high Crimes against the Prisoner at the Bar whereof I do accuse him in the name of the People of England and the Charge was read unto him and his Answer required My Lord he was not then pleased to give an Answer but in stead of answering did there dispute the Authority of this High Court My humble motion to this High Court in behalf of the Kingdom of England is That the Prisoner may be directed to make a Positive Answer either by way of Confession or Negation which if he shall refuse to do that the matter of Charge may be taken pro confesso and the Court may proceed according to Justice Bradshaw Sir you may remember at the last Court you were told the occasion of your being brought hither and you heard a Charge read against you containing a Charge of High Treason and other high Crimes against this Realm of England you heard likewise that it was prayed in the behalf of the People that you should give an Answer to that Charge that thereupon such proceedings might be had as should be agreeable to Justice you were then pleased to make some scruples concerning the Authority of this Court and knew not by what Authority you were brought hither you did divers time propound your Questions and were as often answer'd That it was by the Authority of the Commons of England assembled in Parliament that did think fit to call you to account for those high and capital Misdemeanours wherewith you were then charged Since that the Court hath taken into consideration what you then said they are fully satisfied with their own Authority and they hold it fit you should stand satisfied with it too and they do require it that you do give a positive and particular Answer to this Charge that is exhibited against you They do expect you should either confess or deny it If you deny it is offered in the behalf of the Kingdom to be made good against you Their Authority they do avow to the whole World that the whole Kingdom are to rest satisfied in and you are to rest satisfied with it and therefore you are to lose no more time but to give a positive Answer thereunto KING When I was here last 't is very true I made that Question and if it were only My own particular Case I would have satisfied My self with the Protestation I made the last time I was here against the Legality of this Court and that a King cannot be tried by any superior Jurisdiction on Earth But it is not My Case alone it is the Freedom and the Liberty of the People of England and do you pretend what
Court Your Lordship was pleased to give him a further day to consider and to put in his Answer which day being yesterday I did humbly move that he might be required to give a direct and positive Answer either by denying or confession of it But my Lord he was then pleased for to demur to the Jurisdiction of the Court which the Court did then over-rule and command him to give a direct and positive Answer My Lord besides this great delay of Justice I shall now humbly move your Lordship for speedy Judgment against him My Lord I might press your Lordship upon the whole that according to the known rules of the Law of the Land That if a Prisoner shall stand as contumacious in contempt and shall not put in an issuable Plea guilty or not guilty of the Charge given against him whereby he may come to a fair Tryal that as by an implicite confession it may be taken pro confesso as it hath been done to those who have deserved more favour than the Prisoner at the Bar has done But besides my Lord I shall humbly press your Lordship upon the whole fact The House of Commons the Supreme Authority and Jurisdiction of the Kingdom they have declared That it is notorious that the matter of the Charge is true as it is in truth my Lord as clear as Crystal and as the Sun that shines at noon day which if your Lordship and the Court be not satisfied in I have notwithstanding on the People of England's behalf several Witnesses to produce And therefore I do humbly pray and yet I must confess it is not so much I as the innocent blood that hath been shed the Cry whereof is very great for Justice and Judgment and therefore I do humbly pray that speedy Judgment be pronounced against the Prisoner at the Bar. Bradshaw went on in the same strain Sir you have heard what is moved by the Counsel on the behalf of the Kingdom against you Sir you may well remember and if you do not the Court cannot forget what dilatory dealings the Court hath found at your hands You were pleased to propound some Questions you have had your Resolution upon them You were told over and over again that the Court did affirm their own Jurisdiction That it was not for you nor any other man to dispute the Jurisdiction of the supreme and highest Authority of England from which there is no Appeal and touching which there must be no dispute yet you did persist in such carriage as you gave no manner of Obedience nor did you acknowledge any authority in them nor the High Court that constituted this Court of Justice Sir I must let you know from the Court that they are very sensible of these delays of yours and that they ought not being thus authorized by the supreme Court of England to be thus trifled withal and that they might in Justice if they pleased and according to the rules of Justice take advantage of these delays and proceed to pronounce Judgment against you yet nevertheless they are pleased to give direction and on their behalfs I do require you that you make a positive Answer unto this Charge that is against you Sir in plain terms for Justice knows no respect of Persons you are to give your positive and final Answer in plain English whether you be guilty or not guilty of these Treasons laid to your Charge The King after a little pause said When I was here yesterday I did desire to speak for the Liberties of the People of England I was interrupted I desire to know yet whether I may speak freely or not Bradshaw Sir you have had the Resolution of the Court upon the like Question the last day and you were told That having such a Charge of so high a nature against you your work was that you ought to acknowledge the Jurisdiction of the Court and to answer to your Charge Sir if you answer to your Charge which the Court gives you leave now to do though they might have taken the advantage of your Contempt yet if you be able to answer to your Charge when you have once answered you shall be heard at large make the best Defence you can But Sir I must let you know from the Court as their Commands that you are not to be permitted to issue out into any other discourses till such time as you have given a positive Answer concerning the matter that is charged upon you KING For the Charge I value it not a rush It is the Liberty of the People of England that I stand for For Me to acknowledge a new Court that I never heard of before I that am your King that should be an Example to all the People of England for to uphold Justice to maintain the old Laws indeed I do not know how to do it You spoke very well the first day that I came here on Saturday of the Obligations that I had laid upon Me by God to the maintenance of the Liberties of My People the same Obligation you spake of I do acknowledge to God that I owe to Him and to My People to defend as much as in Me lies the ancient Laws of the Kingdom therefore until that I may know that this is not against the Fundamental Laws of the Kingdom by your favour I can put in no particular Charge If you will give Me time I will shew you My Reasons why I cannot do it and this Here being interrupted He said By your favour you ought not to interrupt Me. How I came here I know not there 's no Law for it to make your King your Prisoner I was in a Treaty upon the Publick Faith of the Kingdom that was the known two Houses of Parliament that was the Representative of the Kingdom and when that I had almost made an end of the Treaty then I was hurried away and brought hither and therefore Bradshaw Sir you must know the pleasure of the Court. KING By your favour Sir Bradshaw Nay Sir by your favour you may not be permitted to fall into those discourses you appear as a Delinquent you have not acknowledged the Authority of the Court The Court craves it not of you but once more they command you to give your positive Answer Clerk Do your Duty KING Duty Sir The Clerk reads Charles Stuart King of England you are accused in the behalf of the Commons of England of divers high Crimes and Treasons which Charge hath been read unto you the Court now requires you to give your positive and final Answer by way of Confession or Denial of the Charge KING Sir I say again to you so that I might give satisfaction to the People of England of the clearness of My Proceeding not by way of Answer not in this way but to satisfie them that I have done nothing against that Trust that hath been committed to Me I would do it but to acknowledge a new Court against their
wish that they may repent for indeed they have committed a great Sin in that particular I pray God with Saint Stephen that this be not laid to their charge Nay not only so but that they may take the right way to the Peace of the Kingdom For My Charity commands me not only to forgive particular men but My Charity commands Me to endeavour to the last gasp the Peace of the Kingdom So Sirs I do wish with all My Soul and I do hope there is some here will carry it further that they may endeavour the Peace of the Kingdom Now Sirs I must shew you both how you are out of the way and will put you in a way First you are out of the way For certainly all the way you ever have had yet as I could find by any thing is in the way of Conquest Certainly this is an ill way For Conquest Sir in My opinion is never just except there be a good just Cause either for matter of Wrong or just Title and then if you go beyond it the first quarrel that you have to it that makes it unjust at the end that was just at the first But if it be only matter of Conquest then it is a great Robbery as a Pirate said to Alexander that He was the great Robber he was but a petty Robber And so Sir I do think the way that you are in is much out of the way Now Sir for to put you in the way believe it you will never do right nor God will never prosper you until you give God his Due the King his Due that is My Successors and the People their Due I am as much for them as any of you You must give God his due by regulating rightly his Church according to his Scripture which is now out of order For to set you in a way particularly now I cannot but only this A National Synod freely called freely debating among themselves must settle this when that every Opinion is freely and clearly heard For the King indeed I will not Then turning to a Gentleman that touched the Axe He said Hurt not the Axe that may hurt Me. For the King the Laws of the Land will clearly instruct you for that therefore because it concerns My Own particular I only give you a touch of it For the People And truly I desire their Liberty and Freedom as much as any body whomsoever but I must tell you that their Liberty and Freedom consists in having of Government those Laws by which their Life and their Goods may be most their own It is not for having share in Government Sir that is nothing pertaining to them a Subject and a Soveraign are clear different things And therefore until they do that I mean that you do put the People in that Liberty as I say certainly they will never enjoy themselves Sirs It was for this that now I am come here If I would have given way to an Arbitrary way for to have all Laws changed according to the power of the Sword I needed not to have come here and therefore I tell you and I pray God it be not laid to your charge that I am the Martyr of the People In troth Sirs I shall not hold you much longer for I will only say this to you That in truth I could have desired some little time longer because that I would have put this that I have said in a little more order and a little better digested than I have done and therefore I hope you will excuse Me. I have delivered My Conscience I pray God that you do take those courses that are best for the good of the Kingdom and your own Salvation Then the Bishop said Though it be very well known what Your Majesty's affections are to the Protestant Religion yet it may be expected that You should say somewhat for the Worlds satisfaction in that particular Whereupon the King replied I thank you very heartily My Lord for that I had almost forgotten it In troth Sirs My Conscience in Religion I think is very well known to all the World and therefore I declare before you all That I die a Christian according to the Profession of the Church of England as I found it left Me by My Father and this honest man I think will witness it Then turning to the Officers he said Sirs Excuse Me for this same I have a good Cause and I have a gracious God I will say no more Then to Colonel Hacker He said Take care that they do not put Me to pain And Sir this and it please you But a Gentleman coming near the Axe the King said Take heed of the Axe pray take heed of the Axe And to the Executioner He said I shall say but very short Prayers and when I thrust out My hands Then He called to the Bishop for His Cap and having put it on asked the Executioner Does My Hair trouble you Who desired Him to put it all under His Cap which as he was doing by the help of the Bishop and the Executioner He turned to the Bishop and said I have a good Cause and a gracious God on My side The Bishop said There is but one Stage more which though turbulent and troublesome yet is a very short one You may consider it will soon carry You a very great way it will carry You from Earth to Heaven and there You shall find to Your great joy the prize You hasten to a Crown of Glory The King adjoyns I go from a corruptible to an incorruptible Crown where no disturbance can be no disturbance in the world Bishop You are exchanged from a Temporal to an Eternal Crown A good Exchange Then the King asked the Executioner Is My Hair well And taking off His Cloak and George He delivered His George to the Bishop saying Remember Then putting off His Doublet and being in His Wast-coat He put on His Cloak again and looking upon the Block said to the Executioner You must set it fast Execut. It is fast Sir KING It might have been a little higher Execut. It can be no higher Sir KING When I put out My hands this way then Then having said a few words to Himself as He stood with hands and eyes lift up immediately stooping down He laid His Neck upon the Block and the Executioner again putting His Hair under His Cap His Majesty thinking he had been going to strike bad him Stay for the Sign Execut. Yes I will and it please Your Majesty After a very short pause His Majesty stretching forth his hands the Executioner at one blow severed His Head from His Body Which being held up and shewed to the People was with His Body put into a Coffin covered with black Velvet and carried into His Lodging His Blood was taken up by divers persons for different ends by some as Trophies of their Villany by others as Reliques of a Martyr and in some hath had the
will answer to Almighty God in that Day when He shall make inquisition for all the Blood that hath and may yet be spilt in this unnatural War as you tender the preservation and establishment of the true Religion by all the Bonds of Duty and Allegiance to your King or Compassion to your bleeding and unhappy Country and of Charity to your selves that you dispose your hearts to a true sense and imploy all your faculties in a more serious Endeavour together with His Majesty to set a speedy end to these wasting Divisions and then He shall not doubt but that God will yet again give the Blessing of Peace to this distracted Kingdom Given at the Court at Oxford the fifteenth of December 1645. His MAJESTIES Message to both Houses with Propositions From Oxford Dec. 26. 1645. For the Speaker of the House of Peers pro tempore to be communicated to the two Houses of Parliament at Westminster and the Commissioners of the Parliament of Scotland CHARLES R. NOtwithstanding the strange and unexpected Delays which can be precedented by no former times to His Majesties two former Messages His Majesty will lay aside all Expostulations as rather serving to lose time than to contribute any remedy to the evils which for the present do afflict this distracted Kingdom Therefore without further Preamble His Majesty thinks it most necessary to send these Propositions this way which He intended to do by the Persons mentioned in His former Messages though He well knows the great disadvantage which Overtures of this kind have by the want of being accompanied by well instructed Messengers His Majesty conceiving that the former Treaties have hitherto proved ineffectual chiefly for want of Power in those Persons that Treated as likewise because those from whom their Power was derived not possibly having the particular informations of every several Debate could not give so clear a Judgment as was requisite to so important a business if therefore His Majesty may have the engagement of the two Houses at Westminster the Commissioners of the Parliament of Scotland the Mayor Aldermen Common-Council and Militia of London of the chief Commanders in Sir Fairfax's Army as also of those in the Scots Army for His Majesties free and safe coming to and abode in London or Westminster with such of His Servants now attending Him and their Followers not exceeding in all the number of 300. for the space of forty days and after the said time for His free and safe repair to any of His Garrisons of Oxford Worcester or Newark which His Majesty shall nominate at any time before His going from London or Westminster His Majesty propounds to have a Personal Treaty with the two Houses of Parliament at Westminster and the Commissioners of the Parliament of Scotland upon all matters which may conduce to the restoring of Peace and Happiness to these miserably-distracted Kingdoms and to begin with the three Heads which were Treated on at Vxbridge And for the better clearing of His Majesties earnest and sincere intentions of putting an end to these unnatural Distractions knowing that point of security may prove the greatest obstacle to this most blessed Work His Majesty therefore declares That he is willing to commit the great Trust of the Militia of this Kingdom for such Time and with such Powers as are exprest in the Paper delivered by His Majesties Commissioners at Vxbridge the sixth of February last to these Persons following viz. the Lord Privy-Seal the Duke of Richmond the Marquess of Hartford the Marquess of Dorchester the Earl of Dorset Lord Chamberlain the Earl of Northumberland the Earl of Essex Earl of Southampton Earl of Pembroke Earl of Salisbury Earl of Manchester Earl of Warwick Earl of Denbigh Earl of Chichester Lord Say Lord Seymour Lord Lucas Lord Lexington Mr. Denzill Hollis Mr. Pierrepont Mr. Henry Bellassis Mr. Richard Spencer Sir Thomas Fairfax Mr. John Ashburnham Sir Gervase Clifton Sir Henry Vane junior Mr. Robert Wallop Mr. Thomas Chichely Mr. Oliver Cromwell Mr. Philip Skippon supposing that these are Persons against whom there can be no just exception But if this doth not satisfie then His Majesty offers to name the one half and leave the other to the election of the two Houses of Parliament at Westminster with the Powers and Limitations before mentioned Thus His Majesty calls God and the World to witness of His sincere Intentions and real Endeavours for the composing and settling of these miserable Distractions which He doubts not but by the Blessing of God will soon be put to a happy Conclusion if this His Majesties offer be accepted otherwise He leaves all the World to judge who are the continuers of this unnatural War And therefore He once more conjures you by all the bonds of Duty you owe to God and your King to have so great a Compassion on the bleeding and miserable estate of your Country that you joyn your most serious and hearty endeavours with His Majesty to put a happy and speedy end to these present Miseries Given at the Court at Oxford the 26. of December 1645. The Answer of both Houses to His MAJESTIES two former Messages of the 5. and 15. of Decemb. brought by Sir Peter Killegrew Decemb. 27. May it please your Majesty THE Lords and Commons assembled in the Parliament of England at Westminster have received Your Letters of the fifth and fifteenth of this instant December and having together with the Commissioners of the Parliament of Scotland taken the same into their serious consideration do humbly return this Answer They have in all their Actions manifested to Your Majesty and the World their sincere and earnest desires that a safe and well-grounded Peace might be settled in Your three Kingdoms and for the obtaining so great a Blessing shall ever pray to God and use their utmost endeavours and beseech Your Majesty to believe that their not sending a more speedy Answer hath not proceeded from any intention to retard the means of putting an end to these present Calamities by a happy Peace but hath been occasioned by the Considerations and Debates necessary in a business of so great importance wherein both Kingdoms are so much concerned As to Your Majesties desire of a safe Conduct for the coming hither of the Duke of Richmond the Earl of Southampton John Ashburnham and Jeffrey Palmer Esquires with Propositions to be the foundation of a happy and well-grounded Peace they finding that former Treaties have been made use of for other Ends under the pretence of Peace and have proved dilatory and unsuccessful cannot give way to a safe Conduct according to Your Majesties desire But both Houses of the Parliament of England having now under their Consideration Propositions and Bills for the settling of a safe and well grounded Peace which are speedily to be communicated to the Commissioners of the Kingdom of Scotland do resolve after mutual agreement of both Kingdoms to present them with all speed to Your Majesty Westminster the 25.
perfecting of these Concessions as also for such other things as may be proposed by the two Houses and for such just and reasonable demands as his Majesty shall find necessary to propose on his part he earnestly desires a Personal Treaty at London with his two Houses in Honour Freedom and Safety it being in his Judgment the most proper and indeed only means to a firm and settled Peace and impossible without it to reconcile former or to avoid future misunderstandings All these things being by Treaty perfected his Majesty believes his two Houses will think it reasonable that the Proposals of the Army concerning the Succession of Parliaments and their due Elections should be taken into consideration As for what concerns the Kingdom of Scotland his Majesty will very readily apply himself to give all reasonable satisfaction when the Desires of the two Houses of Parliament on their behalf or of the Commissioners of that Kingdom or of both joyned together shall be made known unto him From the Isle of Wight Novemb. 17. 1647. His MAJESTIES Declaration at the Isle of VVight Novemb. 19. 1647. CHARLES R. HIS Majesty doth declare That he came from Hampton-Court for no other cause but for the preservation of His Person which was as He apprehended in such danger that He could not with Safety continue longer there That if He could have been there with Safety He would not have departed thence nor from the Army And that He chose this place rather than any other when He was at liberty to have gone whither He pleased that He might still continue under the protection of the Army Colonel Hammond being a Member thereof and that He might have conveniency of free intercourse between Himself and the Parliament for the settlement of a general Peace to which He professes a very great inclination and desire and that there shall be nothing wanting on His part that may be reasonably expected from Him And His Majesty doth further Declare That in case these Gentlemen be taken from Him and punished as evil doers for counselling Him not to go out of the Kingdom but rather to come to the place where He now is for the ends aforesaid and for their endeavouring accordingly in attending Him hither He cannot but Himself expect to be dealt with accordingly His case being the same Carisbrooke Castle Novemb. 19. 1647. His MAJESTIES Letter to Sir THOMAS FAIRFAX from Carisbrooke Novemb. 26. 1647. For Sir Thomas Fairfax General CHARLES R. HAving left Order at Our remove from Hampton-Court that a Copy should be given you of what We had then written to both Houses of Parliament touching the causes of Our withdrawing and the continuance of Our Resolutions to improve every occasion of the satisfaction of all chief Interests that so a happy Peace may be settled in Our Dominions in pursuance whereof We have lately sent a Message to both Houses from this place and a Copy of it to you and being desirous in order to that blessed Work to give you Our present sense upon the condition of Affairs as they now stand We have thought fit to appoint Sir John Barkley to repair unto you and to communicate the same to you and We shall be glad by him to receive a mutual communication of your sense also upon this Subject not doubting but you easily perceive by the late Disorders into what a depth of Confusion the Army and the Nation will fall if timely and effectual preventions be not used And therefore We have now again proposed as the only Expedient a Personal Treaty for the composing of all differences and fulfilling the desires of all Interests to which if you will imploy your Credit as you cannot but expect the Blessings of God upon your endeavours therein so you may justly look for the best return that ever Our Condition shall be able to make you Given at Carisbrooke Castle the 26. day of Novemb. 1647. His MAJESTIES Message to both Houses from Carisbrook Castle Dec. 6. 1647. To the Speaker of the House of Peers pro tempore to be communicated to both Houses of Parliament at Westminster and the Commissioners of the Parliament of Scotland CHARLES R. HAD His Majesty thought it possible that His two Houses could be imployed in things of greater concernment than the Peace of this miserable distracted Kingdom He would have expected with more patience their leisure in acknowledging the receit of His Message of the 16. of November last But since there is not in nature any consideration preceding to that of Peace His Majesties constant tenderness of the welfare of His Subjects hath such a prevalence with Him that He cannot forbear the vehement prosecution of a Personal Treaty which is only so much the more desired by His Majesty as it is superior to all other means of Peace And truly when His Majesty considers the several complaints He daily hears from all parts of this Kingdom that Trade is so decayed all Commodities so dear and Taxes so insupportable that even natural subsistence will suddenly fail His Majesty to perform the Trust reposed in Him must use His uttermost endeavours for Peace though He were to have no share in the benefit of it And hath not His Majesty done His part for it by devesting Himself of so much Power and Authority as by His last Message He hath promised to do upon the concluding of the whole Peace And hath He met with that Acknowledgment from his two Houses which this great grace and favour justly deserves Surely the blame of this great retarding of Peace must fall somewhere else than on His Majesty To conclude If ye will but consider in how little time this necessary good Work will be done if you the two Houses will wait on His Majesty with the same Resolutions for Peace as He will meet you He no way doubts but that ye will willingly agree to this His Majesties earnest desire of a Personal Treaty and speedily desire His presence amongst you where all things agreed on being digested into Acts till when it is most unreasonable for His Majesty or His two Houses to desire each of other the least Concession this Kingdom may at last enjoy the blessing of a long-wisht-for Peace From Carisbrook Castle Decemb. 6. 1647. MDâ—XLVII Dec. 24. The Four Bills sent to the King to the Isle of VVight to be passed Together with the Propositions sent unto Him at the same time which upon the passing of those Bills were to be Treated upon THE Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament have commanded us to present to Your Majesty these Four Bills which have passed the two Houses of Parliament thus severally Entituled viz. An Act concerning the raising settling and maintaining Forces by Sea and Land within the Kingdoms of England and Ireland and Dominion of Wales the Isles of Gernsey and Jersey and the Town of Barwick upon Tweed An Act for justifying the Proceedings of Parliament in the late War and for declaring all Oaths Declarations