A DEFENCE OF THE PARLIAMENT of 1640. And the PEOPLE of ENGLAND AGAINST King Charles I. And his ADHERENTS CONTAINING A short Account of some of the many Illegal Arbitrary Popish and Tyrannical Actions of King CHARLES I. unjustly called the Pious Martyr together with the following Tracts c. 1. The Pope's Letter to King Charles 2. K. Charles's Letter in Ans. thereunto 3. The Articles of Marriage made in Favour of Papists with France 4. King Charles his Commission to the Irish Rebels And 5. Philem O Neal and Rorie Macquire's Declaration to the Irish thereupon 6. King Charles II's Letter to the â—â—urt of Claims of Ireland in behalf of that great Rebel the Marquess of Anâ—â—m to restore him to his Estate for â—t the said Marquess had made it apâ—r That what he acted in that Rebelâ— was done by the Express Orders 〈◊〉 Commands of Charles I. his Father 〈◊〉 King Charles I's Warrant by Secreâ— Nicholas to the King's Printer â—manding him to Print no more 〈◊〉 40 of those Proclamations that â—claim'd the Irish Rebels 〈◊〉 An Abstract of those strange Artiâ— of Peace King Charles I. made with â—rish Rebels 9. King Charles his two Letters to the Protestants of Rochel wherein he assured them of Relief against the French K. 10. The Misérable and Deplorable Remonstrance those poor Protestants made to him upon his Sacrificing them to the Mercy of the French King 11. The Earl of Anglesey's Memorandum Dr. Anthony Walker and Mrs. Gauden's Proofs That Eicon Basilice was not Writ by King Charles but by Dr. Gauden Bishop of Exeter 12. A Copy of the Kings and Pamelia's Prayers taken out of Eicon Basilice and Sir Phillip Sydny's Arcadia which agree almost in every Word 13. Twenty Articles against that wicked Prelate Lâ— 14. To give a clear Demonstration of this holy Martyr's Religion and Piety see his Declaration for the Lawfulness of Sports and Pastimes on the Lord's Day Printed at large in this Book LONDON Printed 1698. TO THE READER IT is not the least of Man's Unhappiness that he is the greatest Enemy of his own Interest having Opportunities for his own Advantage he lets them slip and by Brutish Incogitancy rather than Natural Impotency as our Parents at first he is soon cheated into his own Misery his present Contentment is his chiefest Atchievement and he will have his Will tho' it be his Woe He is apt to kill his Friends as the Jews did Christ for their Endeavours to Save him and to Court his Enemy as Eglon did Ehud whose Design was to Slay him The great Controversy between the Advocates for King Charles the First and his wicked Favourites and the Friends of the Parliament and People that were necessitated to Resist him could never have been spun out into above 40 Years length had the dim Eyes of dull People been clear'd up to a true discerning of their Friends from their Oppressive Foes How apt have the Idolizers of King Charles the First been with the Army of the Assyrians to travel to Samaria instead of Dothan and with the Jews to gratify Caesar in Crucifying their Saviour Whereas heretofore they generally reputed for Saints those faithful and couragious Barons who lost their Lives in the Field making a glorious War against Tyrants for the Common Liberty Such as Symon de Mamfort Earl of Leicester against Henry the Third Thomas Platagenet Earl of Lancaster against Edward the Second c. I cannot willingly ascribe the Love of Tyranny and Oppression to the Natural Disposition of an English Man but rather to two other Causes the first is the Clergy of all Ranks whose Pulpit Stuff from before 1640 till now hath generally been the Doctrine and perpetual Infusion of Servility and Wretchedness to their Hearers and their Lives most commonly the Types of Worldliness with a slender Pattern of Vertue Righteousness and Self-Denial in their whole Practice The Second is I attribute it to the factious Inclination of most Mendivided from the Publick Interest of their Country by several Selfish Ends and Humours of their Own who may truly be call'd Sacrificers of the Common Welfare of Mankind to their own private Advantage that they might thereby attain to their Ambitious Purposes Dryden as I am inform'd gives this true Character of these Sort of Men viz. Mark those which Dote on Arbitrary Power and you 'l find them either Hotbrain'd-Fools or Needy Bankrupts 'T is a wonderful and amazing thing to find so great a part of Mankind fondly and foolishly Doting nay which is more Unchristian with a sort of Idolatry Idolizing this Prince when they are not capable of giving to the World a clear Demonstration of one good Act he did designedly for the Benefit of his People Certainly if his Virtue and Piety towards God and his Country had been in the least conspicuous his mighty Adorers have been defective in their Panegerical Encomiums of him for I must with the greatest Assurance declare that neither by reading the Defences of him or Conversation with the greatest of his Advocates could I find the least Cause to Esteem him a Saint or to clear him from the Tyrannical Oppression nay from the Blood and Misery of England so justly laid to his Charge by the Parliament of 1640 and those worthy Patriots that join'd with them Let the Advocates for Tyranny and Arbitrary Power say what they will to the contrary I am confident the People of England have a great Esteem and Value for a King that Governs according to Law and in all his Actions aims at his People's Good equal with his own and if at any time they betake themselves to Arms against their Prince 't is his and not their Fault Neither is it rational to believe that the Generality of the Nobility Gentry and Commonality of England would without an apparent Cause and Necessity engage in a Bloody Civil War and thereby run the hazard of their Lives and Fortunes And he that shall consider impartially in a Civil or Religious Sense the Quality of those that espoused that King against their Native Country will find the Parliament and those that joined with them did infinitely exceed in all respects the Party that assisted that King For it is notoriously known that the Popish and Superstitious People throughout the Kingdom were united as one Man for the King against the Parliament and if we consider them in a Civil respect were not all the Pattentees Monopolizers Cruel Usurping Oppressors but Lords Knights and Gentlemen the Pillars of the Star-Chamber Councel-Table High Commission Court c. were not these the great Abettors and Supporters of that Bloody War against the Parliament and People of England Were not his Clergy for the generality of them a wretched Parcel of Court Sycophants that gave vent to those Plaguy-Doctrines of Non-Resistance Absolute and Arbitrary Government after the Mode of France in Loans Free-Quarter Ship-money Monopolies c. during the Oppressive Ministery of Buckingham Stafford and Laud that countenanced
thought himself oblig'd to promise him that Bishoprick tho' when it became Void gave it to an other 1. There is Letter from Sir Edward Nicholas Secretary of State to Dr. Gauden dated January 1660 wrote by the King's Command intimating the King had received his Letter and that he should not have Cause to complain of his removal from Bocking 2. In the Bishops Letter to Chancellor Hide dated 28. December 1661 and his Petition to the King the Bishop sets forth That he had an high Rack The Bishoprick of Exeter but Empty Manger and declares what hazards he had run of Life and Estate and what great Advantage had accrued to the Crown by his Service That what he had done was for Comforting and incouraging of the King's Friends Exposing his Enemies and converting c. He pleads that what was done like a King should have a King-like Retribution and Instances in the Cases of Joseph Mordecai and Daniel who were Honoured and Rewarded for the Service they did to the Respective Princes tho' as he observes they were Captives in a strange Land 3. The Bishops Letter to the Duke of York dated the 17th of January 1661 Strongly urges the great Services he had done and Importunately Begs his Royal Highness to intercede for him with the King 4. There is an Original Letter from the Lord Chancellor Hide all of his own hand writing to the Bishop of Exeter dated 13th of March 1661 importing that the Chancellor had received several Letters from him That he was uneasy under the Bishop's Importunity excuses his not being yet able to serve him Speaks of annexing a Commendum to his Bishoprick and towards the close it hath this remarkable Expression The Particular you mention has indeed been imparted to me as a Secret I am sorry I ever knew it and When it ceases to be a Secret it will please none but Mr. Milton This is Subscribed Edw. Hide C. 5. Mrs. Gauden after the Death of the Bishop writes to her Son Mr. John Gauden That she had sent him an Hogshead of Cyder and Orders some Pictures to be sent her by the same Man In this Letter she speaks of the Book commonly call'd the Kings she calls it the Jewel and tells her Son that her Husband hoped to make a Fortune by it and wonders it should be doubted whether her Husband wrote it but says She has a Letter of a very Great Man 's that will clear it up 6. There is also a long Narrative of Mrs. Gauden's Hand-writing shewing that her Husband wrote the Book This she sent to her Son with the Letter wherein she said She had sent it that she might be a Clavis to him The Narrative sets forth That after her Husband had wrote the Book He shewed it to the Lord Capel who approved it and was for the printing of it but wished the King might have a Sight of it That an Opportunity was taken to Convey it to his Majesty by the Lord Marquiss of Hertford when He went to the Treaty at the Isle of Wight That the Marquiss after his Return from thence told her Husband that he gave the Book to the King and his Majesty did not like it but was for putting it out not as his own but another's But it being Urged That CROMWEL and others of the Army having got a great Reputation with the People for Parts and Piety it would do best to be in the King's Name His Majesty took time to consider of it That the Marquiss told her Husband He knew not what was become of the Papers and said God knows what will become of the King That her Husband not hearing the King's pleasure about it and finding Danger hastening on him he having kept a Copy by him sent it by one Mr. Symmonds a persecuted Minister to the Press together with a Letter That Mr. Royston was the Painter but did not know but the King wrote it That part of it was seized in the Press together with her Husband's Letter and Mr. Symmonds was taken Nevertherless the Work was carried on and finished a few days after his Majesty's death That when it was published the Parliament was Enraged and her Husband conceiving his Life and Estate to be in danger fled to Sir John Wennworth's near Yarmouth intending thence to pass the Seas But Mr. Symmonds falling sick and dying soon after not having been Examin'd and it not being discovered that her Husband was concern'd in it the Letter which had been taken having no Name to it he altered his purpose and returned home That there was an Epistle at first intended That the first Title was Suspisia Regalia but changed to Eicon Basilice and that there were two Chapters added That the Marquiss of Hertford the Lord Capel Bishop Duppa and Bishop Morley were at first the only Persons privy to it That after the King's Restoration Dr. Morley told her Husband That his Merit was such that he could Ask nothing but he could receive it That Duppa Bishop of Winchester being very sick her Husband went to the King and acquainted him that He was the Author of the Book and for the Truth thereof appealed to Bishop Duppa his Majesty's Tutor who was yet living and made an Apology for printing it without his Majesty's Father's Order or his but pleaded the Circumstances of Time and the King's danger That His Majesty told her Husband That till then He never knew that he wrote it but thought it was his Father's yet wondred how he could have time And observed That it was wrote like a Scholar as well as like a King and said that if it had been published sooner it might have saved his Fathers Life That at the same time the King gave him a Promise of the Bishoprick of Winchester That when he afterwards acquainted the Duke of York That he was the Author of that Book yet went under his Father's Name the Duke answered He thought his Father Wrote it That her Husband then told his Highness that the King had promised him the Bishoprick of Winchester and that his Highness assured him of his Favour That Bishop Duppa dying her Husband apply'd to the King upon his Promise but Dr. Morley who had told her Husband that he might have what he would ask got it and her Husband was made Bishop of Worcester but having enjoy'd it but about half a Year fell Sick and Dyed That She Petitioned the King setting forth That her Husband left her a Widdow with four Sons and a Daughter That it cost her Husband 200 l. to remove from Exeter to Worcester and pray'd his Majesty to bestow the half Years Rents upon her which he denied and gave them to another Reader take Notice This is the Substance tho' not perhaps the Express Words of Mrs. Gaudens Papers and it could be wished that the Papers themselves were made Publick then this short account would be fully justified I cannot dismish this matter without admiring the remarkable Providence of God
by the charitable Protestants of England for their relief in Equipping Ships to be sent to the Assistance of the French King against the poor Protestants of the Isles of Rhee and Rochell 18. That without doubt had a great hand in the Notorious Irish Rebellion wherein above 150 thousand poor Protestant Souls were most Barbarously Murthered and this will more plainly appear by reading the Commission given by this King in the 17th Year of his Reign dated from Edinborough and also the Commission thereupon of Peilem Oneale and Rorie Macguire to all the Papists both English and Irish within the Kingdom of Ireland both which for the Readers better satisfaction are Printed at large in this Book and also a sheet of Paper call'd Murther will Out containing King Charles II's Letter to the Court of Claims in Ireland 1663. Requiring the then Commissioners to restore the Earl of Antrim to his Estate for that he had made it appear he had acted nothing but by Order and Commission from King Charles I. read the Letter at large Take notice this Earl of Antrim had been a very great Rebell yet restored for serving that King in murthering his Protestant Subjects neither can any impartial Men think that King Innocent of this Wicked Act if they consider how Treacherously and Basely he delt with the Protestants of England of the Palatinate of the Isles of Rhee and Rochell What Articles he made with France in favour of Popery upon his Match what a mighty Influence his Popish Queen had over him how he employed in great Places of Trust not only great Favourers of Popery but also many profest Papists and was very much Advised and Govern'd by their Counsels to the great Sorrow and Misery of his poâ—r Protestant Subjects as also that in the Summer before that dreadful October 1641. a Committee of the most Active Papists all afterwards in the head of the Rebellion were in great favour at White-Hall and admitted to many private Consultations there with the King in the Queens Presence and those Irish Priests departed not thence till within two Months before that Bloody Rebellion and Massacre It was at that time I morally believe that King Charles favoured the Irish Massacre and the Irish Papists were so well assured of it that they called themselves the Queen's Army and said they had good Warrant in Black and White for their Proceedings and cryed out against the Parliament of England as the King's Enemies He that has a desire of being satisfied how great a favourer King Charles was of Papists let him read Mr. Pinn's Book called The Royal Court Favourite He was very much advised by the then Parliament to send early Relief to the poor Protestants of Ireland but it is notoriously known how backward he was therein and that he suffered them to be Sacrificed to the cruel Mercy of the Irish Cut-Throats It is also plain that the Parliament had long and often requested the King to Declare the Irish Rebels yet was this rare Protestant Martyr so Tender of the Poor Catholicks Reputation for Acting according to his Commands that no less than three Months past before he would gratifie the House of Commons with Proclaiming them Rebels and when he had against his real inclination thus done he was resolved That but a small number should be Printed and Published and in order thereunto the following Warrant was sent to the King's Printer from his Secretary of State IT is His Majesty's Pleasure that you forthwith Print in very good Paper and send unto Me for his Majesties Service Fourty Copies of the Proclamation inclosed leaving convenient space for his Majesty to Sign above and to affix the Privy Signet underneath And His Majesties Express Command is That you Print not above the said Number of Copies and forbear to make any further Publication of them till his Pleasure be further Signified for which this shall be your Warrant White-Hall Jan. 2. 1641. Edward Nicholas See here what special care was taken that a few only should come to the knowledge of this Proclamation when at the same time it was well observed he dealt far otherwise by the Scots for they were more sharply Proclaimed and those Proclamations with great care and dilligence dispersed throughout the whole Kingdom and ordered to be read in all Churches accompanied with Publick Prayers and Execrations But his Aversion to the Proclaiming and Proceeding against the Irish Rebels is not to be much wondred at for they call themselves The Queen's Army and declared that they Rose to maintain the King's Prerogative and the Queen's Religion against the Parliament much more might be collected from divers Authors of this Tragical Story which for Brevity Sake I shall now omit 19. That to his Eternal Infamy against all Laws both Humane and Divine caused A Declaration to be Published concerning the Lawfulness of Sports Pastimes c. on the Lord's Day and gave Archbishop Laud an Order under his Hand to see that this Declaration was Printed Read the Order and Declaration Printed at large in this Book and also King Charces II's Declaration after his Restoration It is a wonderful and amazing thing that there can be found amongst us such Clergymen and Gentlemen that against all Reason and Truth shall make a Saint nay a Martyr of this as you see Pious King How these Men at the Great Day of Judgment will be able to Answer for the many abominable Lies and Blasphemies they have been Guilty of in Defending this King's Tyrannies and Oppressions and Deifying him after a most scandalous Rate is a Mystery to me The Publication of this Licentious Book was so apparently destructive to Religion and so dishonourable to God and the King That the Pious and Sober Clergy of that time absolutely refused either to Read it or to permit it the said abominable Declaration to be Read and how barbarously and unchristianly they were used for their Refusal is too well known 20 That gave Wicked Arbitrary and Tyrannical Orders Instructions and Commissions to the Earl of Strafford Lord Lieutenant of Ireland all which the said Earl took such care to Execute that the Parliament which was made up of Grave Able and discerning Persons fell so severely upon him that they caused him to be Committed to the Tower Impeached him and soon after caused him to be according to his deserts Beheaded He pleaded the King's Authority for what he had done but the Commons saw no reason to acquit him 'T was observed that tho the King and Queen would not publickly Solicite for his Relief yet several secret Instances were made by them both to save him that had obeyed their Commands c. But the just Cries of the People c. necessitated the King against his Will to sign the Warrant for his Execution And having now given a short account of the Earl of Strafford I think it proper for the satisfaction of all those good People that desire to be rightly informed for what Laud