the middle of the Quire according to the Primitive Example And a Book supposed to be Written by Dr. Williams Bishop of Lincoln was Published to this purpose Several Gentlemen of Quality had refused to Pay the Ship-Money and among the rest Mr. Hamden of Buckingham-shire upon which the King refers the whole Business to the Twelve Judges in Michaelmas-Term 1636. Ten of whom that is Brampton Finch Davenport Denham Jones Trever Vernon Berkly Crowly Weston gave their Judgments against Hamden but Hutton and Crook refused it His Majesty desiring an Uniformity in England and Scotland in pursuance thereof enjoyned the Scots the use of the English Liturgy the Surplice and other Habiliments and began first in his own Chapple And in this Year 1637. Proclamation was made That the same should be used throughout all Churches wherewith the Bishops were contented but not the Kirk nor the People who were so inraged thereat that in Edinborough and divers other Parts of that Kingdom where the Liturgy was begun to be read committed very great Outrages and Violences against the Persons that read it and could not be appeased by the Power of the Magistrate And some time after the Scots entred into a solemn League and Covenant to preserve the Religion there Profest This Covenant the Scots were resolved to maintain and to that purpose they sent for General Lesly and other great Officers from beyond Sea providing themselves likewise with Arms and Ammunition After this they Elect Commissioners for the general Assembly whom they cite to move the Arch-Bishops and Bishops to appear there as Guilty Persons which being refused the People present a Bill of Complaint against them to the Presbitery at Edinbrough who accordingly warned them to appear at the next General Assembly At their Meeting the Bishops sent in a Protestation against their Assembly which the Covenanters would not vouchsafe to read And soon after they abolished Episcopacy and then prepared for a War On which the King of England prepares an Army for Scotland with which in the Year 1639. He Marched in Person into the North but by the Mediation of some Persons a Treaty of Peace was begun and soon finished but a while after broke by the Scots The King therefore resolved since fair means would not prevail to force the Scots to Reason And to that end considers how to make Provisions for Men and Money and calling a Secret Cabinet Council consisting only of Arch-Bishop Laud the Earl of Strafford and Duke Hamilton it was concluded That for the King's Supply a Parliament must be called in England and another in Ireland but because the Debates of Parliament would take up some time it was resolved That the Lords should Subscribe to Lend the King Money The Earl of Strafford Subscribed 20000 l. the Duke of Richmond as much The rest of the Lords Judges and Gentry contributed according to their Ability The Scots on the other side foreseeing the Storm prepared for their own Defence making Treaties in Sweeden Denmark Holland and Poland And the Jesuits who are never Idle endeavour to Foment the Differences to which end Con the Pope's Nuncio Sir Tob. Matthews Read and Maxwel Two Scots endeavoured to perswade the Discontented People That the King designed to Enslave them to his Will and Pleasure In the Year 1640. and the Sixteenth of the King's Reign a Parliament was called at Westminster April 13. In which the King presses them for a speedy Supply to Suppress the Violences of the Scots But whil'st the Parliament were Debating whether the Grievances of the People or the King's Supply should be first considered and Matters were in some hopeful Posture Secretary Vane either accidentally or on purpose overthrew all at once by declaring That the King required Twelve Subsidies whereas at that time he only desired Six which so enraged the House and made things so ill that by the advice of the Juncto the Parliament was Dissolved having only Sate Twenty Two Days Arch-Bishop Laud by his earnest Proceedings against the Puritans and by his strict enjoyning of Ceremonies especially reviving Old Ceremonies which had not been lately observed procured to himself much Hatred from the People That upon May 9. 1640. a Paper was fixed on the Gate of the Royal-Exchange inciting the Prentices to go and Sack his House at Lambeth the Monday after but the Arch-Bishop had notice of their Design and provided accordingly that at the time when they came endeavouring to enter his House they were Repulsed The King grew daily more offended against the Scots and calls a Select Juncto to consult about them where the Earl of Strafford delivered his Mind in such terms as were afterwards made use of to his Destruction War against them was resolved on and Money was to be procured one way or other The City was Invited to Lend but refused The Gentry contributed indifferent freely So that with their Assistance the Army was compleated The King himself being Generalissimo the Earl of Northumberland and the Earl of Strafford Lieutenant-Generals And Marching the Army into the North between New-Castle and Berwick there was some Action between the Two Armies in which the Scots had the Better A Treaty is then set on Foot and to that end the King receives a Petition from the Scots complaining of their Grievances To which He Answers by his Secretary of Scotland That he expects their particular Demands which he receives in Three days all tending to Call a Parliament in England without which there could be no Redress for them They had likewise before their March into England Published a Declaration called The Intentions of the Army viz. Not to lay down Arms till the Reformed Religion were settled in both Nations upon sure grounds and the Causers and Abettors of their present Troubles that is Arch-Bishop Laud and the Earl of Strafford were brought to Publick Justice in Parliament At the same time Twelve English Peers drew up a Petition which they delivered to the King for the Sitting of the Parliament To which the King condescends And now the time approaching for the Sitting of the Parliament who accordingly Met Novemb. 3. 1640. Mr. W. Lenthal was Chosen Speaker of the House of Commons And the King in a Speech tells them That the Scottish Troubles were the cause of their Meeting and therefore requires them to consider of the most expedient Means for casting them out and desired a Supply from them for the maintaining of his Army The Commons began with the Voting down all Monopolies and all such Members as had any Benefit by them were Vottd out of the House They then Voted down Ship-Money with the Opinion of the Judges thereupon to be Illegal and a Charge of High-Treason was ordered to be Drawn up against Eight of them and they resolved to begin with the Lord-Keeper Finch December 11th Alderman Pennington and some hundreds of Citizens presented a Petition Subscribed by Fifteen thousand Hands against Church-Discipline and Ceremonies and a while after
THE Secret History OF K. JAMES I. AND K. CHARLES I. Compleating the Reigns OF THE Four last Monarchs By the Author of the Secret History of K. Charles II. and K. James II. Printed in the Year 1690. THE PREFACE THO' we ought not rashly to rake into the Ashes of Princes and expose either their Personal Miscarriages or their Failures in Management of the Government yet no doubt but the making them Publick may sometimes contribute not a little to the General Good This is evident from the Effects of our Secret History of the Two last Monarchs since by it the most wilfully Blind may be convinced how infinitely Happy we are under their present Majesty's Government beyond what we were in the late Reigns which were but a very inconsiderable matter if any thing below the French Tyranny and by setting the unparallel'd Vertues that are so Resplendent in our Gracious Soveraigns in opposition to those Ignominious Vices that reigned in the Other we may with all the reason in the World assure our selves of a lasting Peace and as much Happiness under Them Now as we had Troubles and Confusions under the Former For Their Religion Integrity and Moderation which must always be in conjunction with Princes that are truly Patres Patriae are as Notorious to the World so that Their greatest Enemies cannot deny them as were the Atheism and furious Bigottism of the Two former Reigns Vices much of the same pernicious Consequences to a Kingdom if the latter be not the more dangerous since the greatest Villanies that ever were perpetrated in the World have been Masqued with seeming Zeal for Religion But since there are not a few who tho' they seem to decry the Tyrannies of the Two late Kings yet approve of much the same Actions of the Two that Preceded Them One of whom some Men have Vainly if not Blasphemously compared to the King of Kings I thought it not amiss to Communicate a few Passages of Their Reigns that do not so commonly occur especially since they laid the Foundations of that Tyranny which the Others brought to so great a Perfection As to the former of Them viz. K. James I. it will easily appear from this following History what great steps He made towards Tyranny It is certain That the reason He gave for setting up Episcopacy in Scotland was That He might have so many Friends to rely upon in Parliament i. e. That by them as the Dead-Weight He might the better carry on His Designs there And herein His Politicks did not deceive Him for by their Means He and his Successors found it no hard matter to reduce that Kingdom to as great Slavery as any Europe hath groaned under of late Years How great a Proficient He was in the Art of Dissimulation or King-Craft will be no less apparent I shall only insert one Instance of it Here which I omitted in the History especially because I think it may not be ungrateful to the Reader viz. That after His return from Denmark to Scotland seeming mightily satisfied with the Care the Kirk-Party had taken to preserve the Kingdom in Peace during his Absence He was pleased to express himself thus in a general Assembly That He blest God that He was Born at sike a Time of the Gospel and to be King of sike a Kirk the purest Kirk in the World The Kirk of Geneva says He keep Yeul and Pasch What have they from the Word of God for that And for our Neighbour Kirk of England What is their Service but an ill said Mass in English And concluded with the Solemnest Promises to Maintain Preserve the Kirk when in the mean while He was taking all underhand Methods to Supplant it as He did a few Years after And as to His Successor tho' a Kalender'd Saint yet after all the lying Insinuations of Self-designing and ridden Persons of that Princes singular Religion that very Act of Instituting Plays and Sports on the Lord's-Day is no extraordinary Proof of it Nay it would be as easie to perswade a Person of any Religion to believe that the Alcharon is the Word of God as that a Prince of any Religion could be guilty of so Irreligious an Act as that was But I will not weary the Reader 's Patience with a large Preface since the very Subject of the following History will recommend it self sufficiently to the Perusal of all Lovers of ouâ— English Liberties THE Secret History c. QUEEN Elizabeth of Glorious and Happy Memory Dying the 24th of March 1602 about Three in the Morning to the great grief of all Her loving Subjects in general About Nine in the Morning of the same day was Proclaimed King James by the Name of JAMES the First And now many post into Scotland for to get Preferment by â—urchasing Friends with their Purses Gold and Silver being a precious Commodity in that Climate and would obtain any thing which did â—rocure Suits Honours and Offices â—o any that first came And now all Preparations was made to meet the KING in York that he might in that Northern Metropolis appear like a King of England and take that State on him there which was not known in Scotland There met Him all the Lords of the Council and there did they all make Court to the Scotch-Men that were most in Favour with the King and there did the Scotch Courtiers lay the first Foundation of their English Fortunes the chief of them was Sir George Hewme a kind of Favorite but not such as after appeared with young Faces and smooth Chins but one that for his Wisdom and Gravity had been in some Secret Counsels with his Master which created that dearness between them and the chief of those Secrets was that of Gowry's Conspiracy though that Nation gave little credit to the Story but would speak both slightly and despitefully of it and those the Wisest of that Nation knowing indeed there was no such Conspiracy yet that the World might be still abused they continued to Mock Almighty GOD by a Weekly Commemoration in the Tuesday's Sermon and an Anniversary-Feast as great as it was possible for the Kings Preservation ever on the Fifth of August And I wish the effects of those Sermons in the Father's time were not one cause of God's Anger towards the Son Sir Robert Cecil by the means of Sir George Hewme the Favorite contrary to most Peoples expectations not only gets into the Favour of King James but in such dearness and privacy with the King as if he had been his Faithful Servant for many Years his Friends Wit or Wealth did not raise him so much as some believ'd as the ill Offices done by him to this Nation in discovering the Nature of the People and shewing the King the way how to enhance his Prerogative so above the Laws that he might Enslave the Nation which though it took well then yet it hath been of sad and dangerous consequence in after-times for first he caused great
especially in his Journies was his Partiality used towards the Scots which hung like Horse-leeches on him till they could get no more falling then off by retiring into their own Country or living at ease leaving all chargable attendance to the English The Harvest of the Love and Honour he reaped being suitable to the ill Husbandry he used in the unadvised distribution of his Favours for of a number of empty Vessels he filled to compleat the measure of our Infelicity unless such as by reason of their vast runnings out had need daily of a new supply and amongst these the Earl of Carlisle was one of the Quorum that brought in the vanity of Anti-Suppers not heard of in our Fore-Fathers time and for ought I have read or at least remember unpractised by the luxurious Tyrants The manner of which was to have the Board covered at the first enterance of the Guests with Dishes as high as a tall Man could well reach filled with the choicest and dearest Viands Sea or Land could afford and all this once seen and having feasted the Eyes of the Invited was in a manner thrown away and fresh set on to the same height having only this advantage of the other that it was hot I cannot forget one of the Attendance of the King that at a Feast made by this Monster in Excess eat to his single share a whole Pye reckoned to my Lord at Ten Pounds being composed of Ambergrease Magesterial of Pearl Musk c. And after such Suppers huge Banquets no less profuse a Waiter returning his Servant home with a Cloak-Bag full of dried Sweat-Meats and Confects valued to his Lordship at more than Ten Shillings the Pound This Lord lay always under the comfortable Aspect of King James's favour though he was never found in his Bosome a place reserved for younger Men and of more endearing Countenances and these went under the appellation of his Favourites or Minions who like Burning-Glasses were daily interposed between Him and the Subject multiplying the heat of Oppressions in the general opinion tho in his own he thought they screened them from reflecting on the Crown Now as no other reason appeared in his choice but handsomness so the love the King shewed was as amorously conveyed as if he had mistaken their Sex and thought them Ladies which Somerset and Buckingham did labour to resemble in the Effeminateness of their Dressings though in W looks and wanton gestures they exceeded any part of Woman-kind Nor was his Love or what else the World will please to call it carried on with a discretion sufficient to cover a less scandalous Behaviour for the King kissing them after so lascivious a Mode in Publick and upon the Theatre as it were of the World prompted many to imagine things done in the Tiring-House that exceed my Expressions no less than they do my Experience and therefore left floating upon the Waves of Conjecture which hath tossed them from one side to another It 's generally said That the Earl of Holland and some others refused his Majesties favour upon those conditions They subscribed to who filled that place in his Affections Holland losing that opportunity his curious Face and complexion afforded him by turning aside and spitting after the King had slabâ—â—red his Mouth who though numbred among the Gods upon Earth yet any that will be so inquisitive as to â—ake in his Dust may find as many â—railties as ever Man stood charged with of which this was none of the â—east doubling the weight of his Oppression for the setting up of these Golden Calves cost England more than Queen Elizabeth spent in all her Wars Nor will the Story of the Lord Treasurer Buckhurst fall in improperly here who being a very corrupt Man or much abused did lay claim to some part of the Kentish Lucy's Lands thaâ— lay contiguous to his own and mistrusting the Integrity of any other oâ— more legal Tryal did by the highnesâ— of his Hand bring it to the Councilâ— Table where about that time many Causes were shamefully carried anâ— from whence the most excellent Chancellor for parts that ever sate in thaâ— Court might derive the most Capitaâ— of his faults and after some Debatâ— the Treasurer standing up and offering to pull out of his Bosome Paperâ— that were pretended for their Lordships full and final satisfaction he feâ— down Dead as called to Answer at â— Higher Tribunal Neither has any since ever questioned Lucy's Land iâ— the quiet Possession of which he waâ— thus miraculously Estated The Treasurer was much given to Bribery anâ— Women in the general Opinion afteâ— whom these Verses were sent it beinâ— the fashion of the Poets in those days to sum up great Mens Virtues or Vices on their Graves These with many more to a like sense belonged to this Gentleman Discourteous Death that would'st not once confer Or daign to Parley with our Treasurer Had he been Thee or of thy fatal Tribe He would have spar'd a Life to gain a Bribe Another Here lies a Lord that Wenching thought no Sin And bought his Flesh by selling of our Skin His Name was Sackvile and so void of Pity As he did Rob the Country with the City The Match King James made between Elizabeth his Eldest Daughter and the Elector of the Rhyne contrary to the grain of many and the particular desires of her Mother who looked upon it so much below her as she could not refrain to call her Good Wife Palsgrave before she had put off her Wedding Shoes Now whether it was hope or fear according to the Opinion of the Catholicks and Polititians or a supine carelesness and desire to be rid of her with the least Expence as all the Ladies Friends suggested or pure Zeal to Religion as some simple people thought or what was most probable a Composition of all the three first mentioned Passions induced the King to accept of such mean Conditions I leave the Reader to Judge and only observe that although in Relation to Person and Vertue she might deservedly hold a Room in the greatest Princes Bed in Europe yet God was not pleased to afford her any outward Blessing but a multitude of Children of which the Eldest was unfortunately Drowned not withouâ— some reproach to the Father and a diminution of the rest in the opinion of the People that do though not seldom without a cause over-value any thing irrecoverably lost and at last cast her into an Ocean of Calamities in which she remained a floating Example to other Princes of the instability of Fortune as she did in Prosperity for Civility and Goodness And though none need seek for Reasons why Judgments should fall upon the Children of Princes yet her Behaviour was throughout so blameless as amongst the worst Reports the Papists could raise nothing appear'd to prove her so great an Actor in Ill as she was â—ound a Patient in Misery which makes me in Charity think it came rather by Descent than Purchase