Assertions and I am sure this man in this particular if any man believe him must be beholden to his blind Credulity and not to his Skill in History Another thing I call this man to Account for is his bold asserting the Kings burning by the Hang-man his own Pacification with the Scots when he came to London which I refute by a Passage out of Bishop Burnets Memoirs of the two Hamiltons it is true the Figures are mistaken but the Story is truly related as it is in that Bishops Book but to convince the World of the Malice as well as Falseness of this Reflection I shall present them with a greater Authority than the Bishops and that is an Act of State against the Scots concerning a scandalous Paper dispersed by them which the Reader may find at large in the Council Table-Book On Sunday the Fourth of August 1639. His Majesty being in Council was pleased to acquaint the Lords with a Paper he had seen at Barwicke Entituled Some Conditions of His Majesties Treaty with his Subjects of Scotland which Paper being in most parts full of falshood dishonour and scandal to His Majesties Proceedings in the late Pacification All which Consider'd the whole Board unanimously became humble Petitioners to His Majesty that this false and scandalous Paper might be burnt by the Hang-man to which Petition the Earl of Pembrooke Salisbury and Holland afterward known Enemies to the King's Cause Consented And now I hope this will stop this mans and his Friends mouths as to this particular for the time to come though considering the Malice of the man to the Memory of King Charles I am apt to question it As to what he and I both say concerning the Proclamations about the Irish Rebellion I shall pass it by at present and refer thee Reader to the Vindication I make by two undoubted Papers of the King's Innocency as to that horrid Rebellion at the latter end of this Paper The last thing I assert in the behalf of this Great and Vertuous Prince is what he says himself upon the Scaffold as to the first beginning of that unhappy and indeed needless War on the Parliaments side where he Clears himself by calling GOD to Witness unto whom he was shortly to give an Account that they began the War with him for the Truth of which he refers to the Dates of both their Commissions to which I have not one Word of Answer from this bold Libeller but in a shuffling way talking of pawning Crown Jewels which for what ends it was done or designed to be done it is not fit for him and I to judge for the Actions of Princes are above our Reach and ought not to be so narrowly pryed into yet I dare say it was not to begin a War because the Good Man so often protests against any Intention of War because so small a Sum of Money in comparison would so little have answered an Undertaking against so great and powerful an Enemy as the Parliament then was and though the King afterwards made that use of the Money after the War was actually commenced against him yet that is no Argument That that was the Primary Design And now Reader having given thee these short Remarks upon this filthy and scurrilous Book I have little more to entertain thee withal than to tell thee That this Author has with a great deal of Boldness and Falshood declared notwithstanding the honest Account I have given of my self from the Age of Twenty One and of my being Ordained by the hands of Bishop Saunderson as soon as by Law I was capable namely at the Age of Twenty Three that I was a Presbyterian but to Answer this in short I do here declare in the Presence of God that I never was a Presbyterian in my Life and further by God's Grace that I never will be one for I neither like the Principles of that Government nor the Spirit of too many of that Party for I abhor all Bitterness and Cruelty As for what he repeats out of Manvel which were made against Dr. Parker I pray God forgive him it is a Description that belongs not at all to me as all those know who have been acquainted with the course of my Life nor yet do Dr. Wildes Verses against Dr. Lee reach me at all for I bless God ever since I came to a competent Understanding I have loved the Constitution of the Church of England and done what in me lay to promote its true Interest and which I will never cease to do as long as I have Tongue to speak and a Pen to write I shall conclude this part of my Discourse with hearty Prayers to God for my Adversary that God would open his Eyes and change his Heart before he dies that so this Iniquity may not be for his Eternal Ruine The Irish Rebellion falsly and scandalously imputed to King CHARLES the First TO make good which I onely desire thee Reader carefully to peruse the Two following Accounts The one is a Letter by that Kings own Order by the Hands of Secretary Vane to the Lords Justices of Ireland Borelase and Parsons above half a year before the Rebellion giving them to understand the Intelligence the King had from abroad of some dangerous Designs by the Popish Party against the Peace of that Kingdom that so they might be awakened to take all possible care to prevent them The other is an unfolding the whole Mystery of the pretended Commission with the King 's Broad Seal to it which the Enemies of that King have and do still charge that gracious Prince withal and by Vertue of which they do lay all the innocent Blood then so barbarously spilt at his door and consequently do endeavour thereby to render his Name odious to all succeeding Generations the Account is by Dr. Ker Dean of Ardagh and as I am assured by a considerable Dignitary of that Kingdom yet alive Sir Henry Vane's Letter to the Lords Justices concerning some Informations of Danger in Ireland Right Honourable HIS Majesty hath Commanded me to acquaint your Lordships with an Advice given him from abroad and confirm'd by his Ministers in Spain and elsewhere which in this Distemper'd Time and Conjuncture of Affairs deserves to be seriously consider'd and an especial care and watchfulness to be had therein which is That of late there have passed from Spain and the like may well have been from other Parts an unspeakable number of Irish Church-men for England and Ireland and some good old Souldiers under pretext of asking leave to raise Men for the King of Spain whereas it is observed among the Irish Friars there a whisper runs as if they expected a Rebellion in Ireland and particularly in Connaght Wherefore His Majesty thought fit to give your Lordships this notice that in your Wisdoms you might manage the same with that Dexterity and Secresie as to Discover and Prevent so pernicious a Design if any such there should be and to have
Paulo app their transgressions are like to bring them to that confusion of the Israelites when they had no King Judg. 21. every one did what seemed good in his own eyes because they feared not the Lord Jhos 10. they said What should a King do to us The young men presumed to be wiser than the elder Isai 3. the viler sort despised the honourable Lament ult and the very serving men ruled over them I profess when I saw these things so clearly I could not blame the King to be so backward in giving his assent to the settling of our Presbyterial discipline in that Kirke for the great inconveniences that might follow thereupon to Him and his Posterity there being so many strong Corporations in that Kingdom to lead on a Popular government such a number of people that have either no or broken estates who are ready to drive on any alteration and so weak and powerless a Nobility to hinder it Multos dulcedo proedarum plures Res angustoe veb ambiguoe domi alios scelerum Conscientia stimulabat C. Tacit. And now Madam I hope those Men who have of late so boldly ventured to throw the most Sticking Dirt in the Face of this Great Prince and Patient Martyr will by Repentance give glory to God and do so no more in hopes of which I after my Prayers and Earnest Wishes for the Preservation of your Ladyship and whole Family and particularly for the long life and health of your Noble Lord to whose good Counsels and indefatigable Labours we of the Church of England owe so much do take leave of your Ladyship and subscribe my self MADAM Your Ladyship most Humble and Faithful Servant Richard Hollingworth A Further Defence OF THE KINGS Book c. Reader THis Declaration of Mr. Henderson's was communicated to me some Weeks ago by the Reverend Mr. Lamplugh Son to the late Arch-bishop of York and it had been Reprinted before now but that I understood there was an Answer coming out against my Second Defence of King Charles I. and therefore I was resolved to stay a little longer that so if there was any thing in it worth Answering I might make but one Trouble of it and at last out it came with a Title as false as the greatest part of the Book it self Namely Ludlow no Lyar which I do not doubt but thou wilt be convinced of by that time thou hast read a little further The Truth of it is the whole Book is so full of Rancour and Malice of Unmannerliness and Railing of bald and false Assertions of Slander and base Reflections that it is a Shame to and a Confutation of it self and every Leaf of it stinks in the Nostrils of all the good and sober of all the wise and unprejudic'd Readers that I have either met with or can hear of and it is a Dishonour to the Cause of the Enemies of King Charles I. to have no better a Champion to throw down the Gauntlet in its behalf and there are no men about the City cry it up but the great Enemies of Monarchy and Episcopacy let their Hypocritical Professions be what they will The Book is Dedicated to a Reverend Kinsman of mine under the Name of Wilson from Yarmouth and what can we expect but Falsehood when he begins at this rate For my Kinsman assures me there is no man of that Name in Yarmouth but an ordinary Saylor and I hope the World will believe the Talent of such a Man lyes otherwaies than to write such Letters The short is the whole Book as appears by the Stile the Air and Scurrility of it all is writ by one and the same Pen and as so I shall Answer him The Party now so hotly engaged against Monarchy and Episcopacy which they strike at thro' the sides of King Charles I. I know are very much enraged at my Defence of King Charles's Holy and Divine Book and therefore take all Courses to buoy up Dr. Walkers Credit and to lessen or else to attempt to prove false the Authorities I have named and to how good purposes this Answerer has done it I now come to shew I tell the World pag. 7. of my Defence the Intercourse betwixt Sir John Brattle and my self about that Book and that he assur'd me that he helped his Father in 47 to Methodize the Papers that so far as they were then drawn up by the King that made up the greatest part of that Book all writ with the Kings own hand and I also assert That Sir John has owned the same since not only to my self but many others of my Friends To which he Replies That Sir John who he agrees with me is a very worthy Person never told me nor any other Person that the Papers he spoke of were writ with the King 's own hand and though the stress of the Evidence does not lye in that for if they were writ in 47 Dr. Gauden's Claim is out of doors for Dr. Walker acknowledges they were not sent to the King till the Treaty in 48 and that Treaty too upon which the Troubles came so fast upon the King which was about a year after yet for all that I do venture to tell him that what he asserts of Sir John Brattle is false and Sir John sent me word that he was a Damnable Lyar and is pleas'd with great Resentment and Indignation to declare he never told any man any such thing and that what he told me and my Friends as to the Kings hand is all true and therefore he must be a Knight of the Post that will venture to give his Oath for such a thing which indeed I shall not wonder at considering what sort of Men there are in the world and what designs are carrying on by that sort of Men at this time The next thing I assert is the Account of Mrs. Simmonds whom he owns to appear a good and discreet Woman and in earnest he saies he is assured her Reverend Husband was so too which I am glad to hear from him for then I am sure he would not dye with a Lye in his mouth and if he did not I know what Dr. Walker did I say Mrs. Simmonds told me her Husband declared to the last the Book to be the Kings Did she deny this to his Friend that waited upon her Not a word of it in his Letter only I concealed the whole Truth because I did not say he dyed of the Small-Pox which I never asked her nor she never told me and whether he did or no it was not material to my business in hand nor casts any Reflection upon what I say unless a Man cannot confess a Truth when he lies a dying of the Small-Pox Risum teneatis I but Mrs. Simmonds says she never heard of her Husbands being in a Shepherds Habit and therefore Mr. Clifford's Evidence is quite ruin'd certainly now Reader take Notice This is but a Circumstance in Mr. Clifford's Account and no doubt is
and Influence that they found it had amongst and upon all the wise and considering men of the Kingdom and therefore I expect to hear no more of this base Story for the time to come or if they will take the boldness to raise it again I hope Reader I have furnished thee with a sufficient Answer to it Some short Remarks upon a Lewd Book called Ludlow no Lyar. Reader AFter a certain bold Libeller had sent into the World a Second Arraignment of King Charles the First by way of Letter to my self I being touch'd with the Sence of the ill Effects that Book might have upon the credulous and unthinking part of the Nation did think it convenient to let the world know the false Imputations he had laid at the King's door and therefore in order to it did consult and make use of such Authorities as I thought unquestionable and I am sure are for the most part so except one which I have been but lately Convinced of and which is one of their own and which they make no little use of but let the Authorities be what they will this Wicked Man is resolved to be in the right as long as there is any rude Vote or scandalous Libel Remonstrance or false Story to be found in print and to be communicated to this present Age and neither Friend nor Enemy if they write any thing in behalf of the great King ought to be believed if he may have his Will and let what Acts of Parliament be quoted for the Justification of that Prince yet he still was a Tyrant and a Man neither of Honour nor Religion But to my main design in which I promise to be very short First Reader I must desire thee to take Notice That I have Dedicated my Second Defence to the Arch Bishops Bishops Nobility Gentry Clergy and Commons of the Nation in which I tell them of the Books that have been Printed since this last Revolution against the Constitution both of Church and State which did sufficiently shew the Design on Foot to which not one Word of Answer is this Libel I further tell them what Destruction this Spirit once backed with power will make of them and all they have of which no Notice taken for which indeed I do not blame him for he knows in his Conscience all I say is true and I hope the Body of the Nation for the time to come will be so wise and provident as not to let things run so far as to make a Second Tryal of that Spirit by which they have suffered and that so smartly already In the beginning of my Defence I do honestly upbraid him for taking upon him the Name of that Traytor Ludlow and tell him that he ought to suffer in his stead being so forward to Represent him and Vindicate those Actions for which he stands Condemned and this he is pleased to pass by too no doubt being convinced if he had his due he would quickly be put out of Capacity of poysoning the Nation with such Infamous Pamphlets The next thing I shall make a few Remarks upon is the Letter of the Prince of Wales to the Pope I tell him in my Defence that as the Letter is in Rushworth his Accusations of that Great Prince from that Letter are false and made up of Lyes upon which he grows great in his own eyes and triumphs over me as if he had got a compleat Victory leaving me dead upon the spot for he produces another Letter in which is contained all he Charges upon the Prince The Truth is I had heard a little before his Libel came out from a Reverend Neighbour of mine that Mr. Rushworth in his First Edition Dedicated to Rich. Cromewel then called Protector had put in this Letter of his but afterwards in those Editions after the Restoration not being able to justifie the Letter put this in the room of it both which I have good Reason to believe are alike true that is they are both of them spurious and I Challenge this bold Writer or any of his Party to name a man that ever saw or took either of these Letters out of any Archive or Publick Record at Rome Madrid or London that there was a Letter sent to the Pope I grant but that it was pleasing to the Pope I deny and that for this very Reason because the Pope did so greatly delay the Dispensation for the Marriage which I dare say he would not have done if he had had such hopes of making England Catholick as they call it again as such a Letter as this from such a Person that was next to the Crown did give him The Pope of Rome knew England so well and the Advantages of it to the Papal Chair that I am sure he would have granted an hundred Dispensations at first asking for such an opportunity as this But good Reader I must entreat thee to observe that this Libeller though he makes such a Noise about a Letter which could not all Circumstances considered be avoided yet he takes no Notice of what I assert as to the Princes answering the Spanish Favourite that he came for a Wife and not for a Religion nor of Mr. Rushworths Attestation of his steadiness to his Religion nor of Mr. Johnsons Account of his fixedness to his Principles notwithstanding all the Applications of the Priests to him No no these things do not answer the ends of this man and his Party which in short are to destroy Church and State and therefore not one Word of them or any other Vertues of this Prince I will warrant you and therefore the Old Cry of one of his Judges is still among them Blacken him blacken him as this man has done to purpose with his Lyes and false Accusations As for the Story of Prynne Bastwicke and Burton with whose Sufferings he endeavours to bespatter the Reign and Spirit of King Charles I. I will onely answer him over and above what I said in my Answer to his lewd Libel with this true Account which I promise to make good when ever called to it by my Superiours Namely That Mr. Prynne being in discourse with a Friend of mine after the Happy Restoration told him to this purpose That the Crimes of himself and his Fellow Sufferers were so great that if the Justice of the Nation had cut off their Heads instead of their Ears they had had nothing but what was due to them by which Mr. Prynne who knew his and their Deserts better than this Defender of them either does or will shewed himself a true Penitent and one that would have scorned as well as grieved for such an Advocate as this wicked man is The next thing he falls foul upon me is for speaking favourably of Arch-bishop Laud whom he treats with all the scurrility imaginable now I must confess though I believe that great and learned Man was mistaken in the temper of the Nation and did somethings with too great an
a watchful Eye on the Proceedings and Actions of those who come thither from abroad on what pretext soever and so herewith I rest White-Hall March the 16th 1640. Your Lordships most Humble Servant Henry Vane Dr. Ker Dean of Ardagh his Deposition concerning the Calumny thrown upon King Charles the Martyr for giving a Commission to the Rebels in Ireland I John Ker Dean of Ardagh having occasionally discoursed with the Right Honourable George Lord Viscount Lanesborrough concerning the late Rebellion of Ireland and his Lordship at that time having desired to certifie the said Discourse under my Hand and Seal do declare as followeth That I was present in Court when the Rebel Sir Phelim Oneal was brought to his Tryal in Dublin and that he was Tryed in that Court which is now the High Court of Chancery and that his Judges were Judge Donelan afterwards Sir James Donelan Sir Edward Bolton Knight sometimes Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer Dungan then called Judge Dungan and another Judge whose name I do not now remember And that amongst other Witnesses then brought in against him there was one Joseph Travers Clerk and one Mr. Michael Harrison if I mistake not his Christian name and that I heard several Robberies and Murthers proved against him the said Sir Phelim he having nothing material to plead in his own defence And that the said Judge whose name I remember not as abovesaid Examined the said Sir Phelim about a Commission that the said Sir Phelim should have had from Charles Stuart as the said Judge then called the late King for levying the said War That the said Sir Phelim made Answer That he never had any such Commission and that it was proved then in Court by the Testimony of the said Joseph Travers and others that the said Sir Phelim had such a Commission and did in the beginning of the said Irish Rebellion sâ—… the same unto the said Joseph and several others then in Courts Vpon which the said Sir Phelim confessed that when he surprised the Castle of Charle-mount and the Lord Caulfield that he Ordered the said Mr. Harrison and another Gentleman whose name I now do not remember to cut off the King 's broad Seal from a Patent of the said Lord's they then found in Charle-mount and to affix it to a Commission which he the said Sir Phelim had ordered to be drawn up And that the said Mr. Harrison did in the face of the whole Court confess that by the said Sir Phelim's order he did stitch the Silk Cord or Label of that Seal with Silk of the Colours of the said Label and so fixed the Label and Seal to the said Commission and that the said Sir Edward Bolton and Judge Donelan urging the said Sir Phelim to declare why he did so deceive the People He did Answer That no Man could blame him to use all means whatsoever to promote that Cause he had so far ingaged in And that upon the second day of his Tryal some of the said Judges told him that if he could produce any material proof that he had such a Commission from the said Charles Stuart to declare and prove it before Sentence should pass against him and that he the said Sir Phelim should be restored to his Estate and Liberty But he answered That he could prove no such thing nevertheless they gave him time to consider of it till the next day which was the third and last day of his Tryal Vpon which day the said Sir Phelim being brought into the Court and urged again he declared again that he never could prove any such thing as a Commission from the King And added that there were several Outrages committed by Officers and others his aiders and abettors in the management of that War contrary to his Intention and which now pressed his Conscience very much and that he could not in Conscience had to them the unjust Calmniating the King though he had been frequently solieâ—ted thereunto by fair Promises and great Rewards while he was in Prison And proceeding further in this discourse that immediately he was stopt before he had ended what he had further to say the sentence of death was pronounced against him And I do further declare That I was present and very near to the said Sir Phelim when he was upon the Ladder at his Execution and that one Marshal Peake and another Marshal before the said Sir Phelim was cast came riding towards the place in great haste and called aloud stop a little and having passed through the throng of the spectators and guards one of them whispered a prety while with the said Sir Phelim and that the said Sir Phelim answered in the hearing of several hundreds of People of whom my self was one I thank the Lieutenant General for his intended mercy but I declare good People before God and his Holy Angels and all of you that hear me that I never had any Commission from the King for what I have done in Levying or Prosecution of this War and do heartily beg your Prayers all good Catholicks and Christians that God may be merciful unto me and forgive me my sins More of his Speech I could not hear which continued not long the Guards beating off those that stood near the place of Execution All that I have written as above I declare to be true and am ready if thereunto required upon my Corporal Oath to attest the truth of every particular of it And in Testimony thereof do hereunto Subscribe my Hand and affix my Seal this 28th day of February 1681. John Ker Locus Sigilli And now Reader having vindicated the Honour Piety and all other Vertues of this Great Prince from the Death-bed Declaration of one that was once his greatest Enemy having cleared the Truth of his Book beyond Contradiction having proved the Counterfeit Ludlow a great Lyar and also defended the King from the base and false Imputation of the Irish Rebellion I have no more to say than only to tell thee That if the present Faction cannot employ a more modest and mannerly Champion than this man is I have done for I do not love to be put to the trouble so often of raking in sinks and stinking dunghils and if he wants employment and will be Scribling again I desire him gravely and seriously without railing and buffooning to Answer these following Quaeries I. Whether King Charles I. dyed by the hands of Justice or was actually Murdered II. Whether those that abet his Death now are not vertually as guilty of it as his Judges were III. Whether they that vindicate that Death can be true and steady Subjects to King William and Queen Mary IV. Whether this mans and others asserting the Justice of the War against the King and crying up his Death be not to prepare the People to do the same thing against and upon others when Time and Opportunity shall serve V. Whether he is to be believed in any thing he says and does not deserve a Pillory that tells so horrid a Lye as that the King sent to Sir William Balfour to cut off the Lord Lowdens Head by Nine of the Clock next Morning without any Process of Law VI. Whether he does not deserve a severe Censure that belyes my Lord Strafford with Words spoke at the Cabinet-Council notwithstanding the Marquess Hamilton Earl of Northumberland Lord Treasurer and Lord Cottingten upon their Honours declared being present at the same Council they heard no such Words VII Whether they are not great Fools or designing K that believe any thing this Libeller writes against King Charles the First VIII Whether he hath not done me a greater Honour than ever I could expect or can deserve to belye defame and abuse me with the same Pen he has abus'd King Charles the First and that purely for His sake Lastly Whether that Holy and Renowned Martyr Arch-Bishop Cranmer and that stout Reformer Martin Luther would not appear worse Men than this Scribler has made King Charles I. if we should believe nothing of them but what their grand Enemies the Priests and Jesuites have writ against them After I had finished the Defence of the King's Book I received this Letter from a Reverend Minister of Ipswich in Suffolk which deserves to be taken Notice of SIR SOME years after the Kings Tryal Major Huntington at Ipswich assured me That so much of the said Book as contained His Majesties Meditations before Naseby Fight was taken in the Kings Cabinet and that Sir Thomas Fairfax delivered the said Papers unto him and ordered him to carry them to the King and the Major affirmed that he read them over before he delivered them and that they were the same for Matter and Form with those Meditations in the Printed Book and that he was much affected with them and from that time became a Proselyte to the Royal Cause He also told me That when he delivered them to the King His Majesty appeared very joyful at the receiving of them and said he esteemed them more than all the Jewels he had lost in the Cabinet Also I remember when I waited upon my Lord Vicount Hereford into Holland who was sent by the Parliament with other Lords to bring home King Charles II. my Lord sent me to Dr. Earl then at the Hague to request his Knowledge whether the King was Author of the said Book the Dr. told me as sure as he knew himself to be the Translator of it into Latin so certain he was King Charles was the Author of the Original in English For my part I am apt to believe no Person was able to frame that Book but a Suffering King and no Suffering King but King Charles the Martyr Your Humble Servant Cave Becke FINIS
Heat and Zeal yet upon reading his Story I do believe that as he was a great Scholar so he was a very pious Man and a thousand times more abus'd by a Generation of men than he did deserve he lived strictly and dyed with a Courage Comfort and Satisfaction of Mind suitable to his holy and severe Life and for the Proof of this I desire thee Reader to read over his Speech he made in defence of himself upon his Tryal before the few Lords that took upon them to be his Judges and that holy Discourse he made upon the Scaffold just before that fatal Blow that severed his Head from his Body And whereas he stands in his Assertion That Bishop Laud sent the Common-Prayer-Book to the Pope and Cardinals for their Approbation and quotes one Gage a Fryar for the Truth of it I must beg thy leave Reader to tell thee that I do not believe the Story and that because such a man as Gage reports it and especially at that time when Usurpers were in the Chair and with whom as other Popish Converts were wont to do he was resolved to curry favour and I believe this man the less because he was so silly and so spiteful as to vindicate Bishop Lauds Death as just when he could not but know if he understood any thing of our Legal Constitution that Bishop Laud was cut off by a Warrant that no Law of England justifies for it was done without the Kings Consent or Hand and consequently in plain terms that he was murder'd and he that Vindicates the Breach of the Sixth Commandment his Testimony shall have no Credit with me nor will I am sure with any good and undesigning man throughout the Kingdom Another thing I Answer his former vile Paper withal is what is said by Mr. Whitelock concerning the Scotch Rebellion who tells us though a Friend to the Party what Condescentions the King made how He kept his Word and the Rebels broke theirs after a solemn Agreement betwixt them both who tells us of their Signing a Letter to the French King to come in to their Aid against their lawful Soveraign And what says my Adversary to these things Why he quotes several Defences they made nothing to the purpose as to what Mr. Whitelock asserts and indeed such things as any Rebels may say for themselves and he knows there never yet was so bad a Cause but Wit and Malice could invent and draw up something that dazzled the eyes of the Vulgar and served to keep ignorant or designing men in a Body together But good Reader I pray take Notice That whereas I give an Account from Mr. Whitelock how far Cardinal Richelieu interested himself in this Rebellion of the Scots and how he sent Chamberlaine his Chaplain and Hepburn his Page to blow up the Coals both in England and Scotland amongst the Puritans yet my Adversary is pleased here to be utterly silent and to pass it by no doubt because it was so notorious and villainous a Correspondence as would admit of no manner of Justification The next thing I Advocate for this Great King for are his many and gracious Favours and Condescentions in passing so many Bills for the first Year of the Parliaments sitting down which he would make the World believe were no Favours but what he was bound to do and consequently for which no Thanks were due to him by which he takes off all Obligations to Their Present Majesties and their Successors from the People as to any future Acts of Grace they grant for which I am sure he deserve no Thanks from the Crown and indeed for which he ought to be look'd upon as a downright Enemy to the future Intercourse and good Understanding betwixt Their Majesties and their People and I doubt not but this saucy Assertion will be so thought of both by King and People and the Loyalty of him and his pretending Party will be looked upon accordingly I further in my Defence vindicate the King's Scruple of Conscience as to the Execution of the Earl of Strafford and to shew the reasonableness of the Scruple which he basely makes sport withal recite and print the Preamble of the Act of Parliament by which the Attainder of that Great Man and White Soul as Bishop Vsher who attended him upon the Scaffold calls him was taken off in which they acquit him of Treason And what says this Pamphleteer to this Not a Word but according to his usual Modesty calls him Traytor and consequently Arraigns the Wisdom and Justice of the Nation which indeed to me is no wonder considering the Venemous Spirit of the man throughout his whole Book Further I Vindicate the King and that from his own Declaration which I have printed in words at length from any design of bringing up the Army to plunder the City of London which Declaration he says little or nothing to but flies presently to a Committee and their Examinations of the thing which truly considering how at that time some men were allured with hopes others affrighted with Frown and Threats I can give but little heed to and I will be so hardy as to tell the World that I will believe the Assertions of King Charles I. before Twenty Committees of those days considering the designs then on foot and the resolutions to carry them on and I must confess ever since I read Whites Centuries the Witnesses received and the ruine of so many Families upon such Testimonies I have had but a very slender Value for what was printed from those Committees let this man answer what the King says upon this Account in his own Defence and what the Officers of the Army say in their Petition in their behalf and then he will act like a clear Answerer and deserve a further Consideration Another thing I Charge this modest and mannerly Gentleman withal is his false Account he gives in his former Libel of the Rabble running down to Westminster in a riotous and tumultuous manner who he says went only armed with Petitions in their hands in a peaceable way as to which I tell him and that truly that he contradicts all the Historians of that Age and that they were so far from such a decent Carriage as he asserts that they with Clubs and Staves in their hands cryed out they would have no Groom-Porters-Lodge at Whitehall but would speak with the King himself when they pleased that they beset the House of Lords door and cryed Justice Justice that they broke the Organ and tore the Vestments of the Church of Westminster in pieces threw stones at the Bishops and endangered the Bishop of Durham's Life And what says he to these things in his Reply Why truly not one Word but still sillily and against all Truth would make the World believe the King was not at all affronted and had no Reason to leave Whitehall which he must be a great Stranger to Matters of Fact that gives any Credit to such bold