quae ut reliqua habet omnia Siveritatem non habet obtinere nomen non Potest THE SECRET HISTORY OF King IAMES I. TIme which puts a period to all things under the Sun began now to sheaââ the Sword of War that had been long disputing the Controversie which Religion and Policy that Princes mix together had for many Years so fiercely maintained The wââring out of that old but glorious and most happy Piece of Soveraignty Queen Elizabeth bating the Spaâish Violence and ending with the Irish Rebellion and Submission of the great Earl of Tyrone as if the old Genius of Iron-handed War and a new one Crowned with a Palm of Peace had taken Possession of the English Nation Iames the Sixth King of Scotland was Proclaimed King of England For though Princes that find here a Mortal Felicity love not the noise of a Successor in their Life time yet they are willing for the Peace of their People to have one when they can hear no more of it That which this Blessed Queen could not endure from others She was pleased to express her self and bequeath in her last Will as a Legacy to this then happy Naâion He was Thirty Years of Age when he came to the Crown How dangerous the passage had been from his vâry Infancy to his middle Age is not only written in may Histories but the untamâd and untractable Spirits of many of that Nation are a sufficient Witness and Record The wise Queen found many petty Titles but none of that Power any other Hand that should have reacht for the Crown might have caught a Cloud of Confusion and those Supportârs and Props that held up Her Greatness loth to submit to Equals made Scaffolds to his Triumphs In the prosecution of wâat I shall remark relating to this Kingâ I shall avoid all unnecessary Severity and observe moâe Duty and Respect than may possibly be thought due by Posterity to the Person of a Prince that after so exact a Pattern as Queen Elizabeth left him did by debauching Parliaments and so often breaking his Word so far irritate no less than impoverish the Subject as his Son was forced to give Concession to one rendâred indissolvable but by their own Will A mischief never could have befallen England had King Iames left them in the same blessed Serene temper he found them at the Death of the Queen The News of which was brought him first by Cary after Earl of Monmouth who not able to satisfie such a concourse of Doubâs and Questionsâ as far more resolute Natures than His do oâten muster up on less occasâons the King stood as in a maze being more affected through the fear of Opposition than pleased with the present Report till by a lamer Post He was adverâised of His being joyâully Proclaimed in London by the Lord Mayor and Aldermen and of the unquestioned Recepâion His Title in all Places met with no less than that the Hopes of some and Feârs of the major part assisted by the prudent Carriage of the Treasurer and ranting Protestations of the Earl of Northumberland that in all Places vapoured he would bring Him in by the Sword had stopped their Mouths that desired he might be obliged to Articles Amongst these truly Noble Heroick and Publick Spirits was Sir Walter Rawleigh the Lord Cobham Sir Iohn Fortescue c. Who were all afâerwards ruined by the King and the Noble Sir Walter most Barbarously cât oâf This Prince held his Thoughts so intent upon Ease and Pleasure that to aâoid any interruption likely to impede any part of the Felicity he had possessed his imagination with from the Union of these Crowns and to fit an Example for his Neighbours imitation whom he desired to bring into the like Resolution he cast himself as it were blindfold into a Peace with Spain far more destructive to England than a War King Iames throughout his whole Reign contenting himself with the humble thought of being a Terror to his own People not valluing that himself or Nation should make any considerable Figure among Forreign Princes At his first coming he was long detained from Westminster by a Plague looked upon as the greatest till exceeded in that which broke out after his Death taken by the ill boding English for a presage of worse Days than they had already seen The good Government of Queen Elizabeth not being in probability likely to bear the Charges without falling into some destructive commotion of Two such Expensive Princes Succession without having one more popular to intervene After the Peace of too much concernment to his Catholick Majesty to afford him leisure to imagine much less to insert so rugged an Article as the performance of any Promise our King had âade âefore his Reception in case the Papists did not oppose which I have found Registred by many and so high as amounted to a Toleration at least if not an Establishing of Popery he then observed in prudence it could not be conceded by this new King having so many of his Subjects Protestants for one of the Romish Profession and being bâsides no more Zealous than other Princes that make use of a Religion only for a Fence to immure their Persons and Prerogatives but âsteem it a meer accident where reason of State drives on a Bargain without it These neglects of the Kings of Spain and England the first remaining as careless of his Faith as the other did of the performance of his Word put the Roman Câtholicks for the present into so great a Despairâ that led them into that damned Conspiraây called the Gun powder Treason the account of which in general is so well known that I need not here ânlarge only give some hints concerning it which is not common to be met with The French Ambassador then resident at Court affirming to some Persons of Quality his Intimates That the first Intimation of the Powder Tâeason came from his Master who received it from the Jesuiâs of his Faction to the end he might share in our Ruines The Kingdom of England being in the Pope's own Judgment at that time too great an addition to that of Spain where though it was first coined some say during the days of Queen Elizabeth â yet the Priests that undertook the promoting of it sought to render it the most beneficial they could to their respective Patrons And here I cannot omit that after this happy Discovery his Majesty sent an Agent on purpose to Cougratulate King Iames's great Preservation A Flattery so palpable as the Pope could not refrain laughing in the Face of Cardinal D' Ossat when he first told it him nor he forbear to inform his King of it as may be found in his Printed Letters it being notorious that at King Iames's first assumption to the Throne of England none sought his Destruction more cordiâlly than the Spaniard till a continued Tract of Experience had fully acquaiâted him with his Temper Nor was our King himself backward in âomenting
and White-Hall that the King fearing their Intentions thought fit to withdraw to Hampton-Court The next day the Five Members were Triumphantly guarded to Westminster by a great number of Citizens and Sea-men with Hundreds of Boats and Barques About this time the Parliament had notice that the Lord Digby and Coll. Lunsford were raising Troops of Horse at Kingston where the Country Magazine was lodged Whereupon they Order That the Country Sheriffs Justices of the Peace and the Trained Bands shall take care to Secure the Countries and their Magazines Lunsford was Seised and sent to the Tower but Digby escaped beyond Sea The King removed to Royston and Ianuary 20. He sends a Message to the Parliament proposing the Securiây of his own Rights and Prerogative and as to matter of their Grievances He would equal or excâed the most Indulgent Princes in Compliance with them After this the House of Commons importune the King to put the Militia and Command of the Tower inâo their Hands as the only available Means for the removal of their Fears and Jealousies But the King not willing to Comply with their desire signified to them that He thought the Militia to be lawfully subject to no Command but his own and therefore would not let it go out of his Hands it being derived to Him from his Ancestors by the Fundamental Laws of the Kingdom The King bâing now at HamptonâCâurt sent for the Earl of Essex aâd Holland and other Membârs of both Houses that were his Domesticks but they refused to come In the mean time Mr. Pym at a Conferânce complaining of the general sâocking of Papists into Iâelând affirmed That since the Lieutenant had ordeâed a stop upon the Ports against all Irish Papists many of the chiâf Commanders now at the Hââd of the Râbels had been Licensed to pass thither by the King 's immediate Warrant The King was highlyâ offended at this Speech which he signified to thâ House wâo in their Answâr to his Messageâ justifie Mr. Pym's words to be the sence of the Houseâ and that they had yet in safe Custody the Lord Delvin Sir G. Hamilton Collonel Butler and Mr. Nettervil To which the King replys That the afore-mentioned Persons had their Passages granted before He knew of the Parliaments Order of Restraint therefore expected their Declaration for his Vindication from that odious Calumny of Conniving or under-hand Favouring that horrid Rebellion But the King's Desire proved fruitless for they next moved to have Sir I. Byron tnrned out from being Lieutenant of the Tower and at their nomination Sir I. Coniers succeeded They then proceed to Name fit Persons sor Trust of the Militia of the several Counties particularly that for the Defence of the City of London the Parliament the Tower to be Commanded by Major General Skipton The King had deferred His Answer to their Petition for settling the Miâitia of the Counties according to the Nomination till his Return from Dover where he took leave of his Wife and Daughter and so returned to Greenwich where he being Arrived sends his Answer to the Petition about the Militia That He was willing to divest Himself of the Power of the County Militia for a limited time but not of London and other Cities and Corporations This Answer did not in the least satisfie so that the Breach growing every day wider the King declined these Parts and the Parliament and moved to Theobald's About the beginning of March He receives a Petition from the Parliament wherein they require the Militia more fervently than before affirming That in ease of denial the eminent dangers would cânstrain them to dispose of it by the Authority of Parliament desiring also That He wnuld make his Abode near London and the Parliament for the better carrying on of Affairs and preventing the Peoples Jealousies and Fears All which being refused they presently oâder That the Nation be put into a posture of Defence in such a way as was agreed upon by Parliament and a Committee to prepare a publick Declaration from these Heads 1. The just Causes of the Fears and Jealousies given to the Parliamentâ at the same time clearing themselves from any Jealousies conceived against Himself 2. To consider of all Matters arising from His Majesties Message and what was fit to be done And now began our Troubles and all the Miseries of a Civil War The Parliament every day entertaining new Jealousies and Suspitions of the King's Actions They now proceed on a sudden to make great Preparations both by Sea and Land And the Earl of Northumberland Admiral of England is commanded to Rig the Kings Ships and fit them for Sea And likewise all Masters and Owners of Ships were perswaded to do the like The Beacons were prepared Sea-marks set up and extraordinary Postings up and down with Pacquets All sad Prognosticks of the Calamities ensuing August 22. 1642. The King comes to Nottingham and there erects his Standard to which some Numbers resorted but âar shot of what was expected And three days after the King sends a Message to the Parliament to propose a Treaty which was accepted but quickly broke off again The War being now begun the New raised Soldiers committed many Outrages upon the Country People which both King and Parliament upon complaint began to Rectifie The King himself was now Generalissimo over his own and the Earl of Essex for the Parliament The King's Forces received the first Repulse at Hull by Sir I. Hotham and Sir I. Meldram and the King takes up his Quarters at Shrewsbury Portsmouth was next Surrendered to the Parliament and presently after Sir I. Biron takes Worcester for the King In September the two Princes Palatines Rupert and Maurice Arrived in England who were presently Entertained and put into Command by the King This uncivil Civil-War was carried on in general with all the Ruines and Desolations immaginable wherein all Bonds of Religion Alliance and Friendship were utterly destroyed Wherein Fathers and Children Kindred and Acquaintances became unnatural Enemies to each other In which miserable Condition this Nation continued for near Four Years viz. From August the 22. 1642. the time the King set up his Standrrd at Nottingham to May the 6. 1646. the time when the King quitting all Hopes put himself into the Protection of the Scotch Army at Newark During this Process of time several Mâssagâs past divers Treaties set on Foot and other Overtures of Accommodation but all came to no effect The War in England being now aâter so much Bloodshed and âuine brought to some end the Parliament were at leisure to dispute with the Scots concerning the keeping of the King who fâaring least Fairfax should fall upon them and compel them to deliver him up Retreated further Noâthwaâdâ towards New-Castle The Parliament sent an Invitation to the Prince of Wales to come to âondon with Promise of Honour and Safety but he did not think fiâ to venture The King sends from New-Casâle to the Army about a Treaty
by an Enacted Law And no leâs frankly they Surrendred the Power of the Militia into his Hands of both which Acts being done in haste they had leisure enough afâerwards to repent But notwithstanding all the great Kindness of this Parliament and their more than extraordinary Liberality to the King of several Millioâs of the Peoples Money which was with the same Profusion wasted upon his Pleasures and the carrying on his Designs for the Introducing of Popery and French not a Penty hardly to the good of the Nation while âhâ Sâamen were sed with a Bit and a Knock and the Merchants that supplied the Stores of the Navy were Cheated of their Money and never paid to this day with what Scorn and Contempt he âsed them and how far from that Esteem and Veneration he profesâed to have for them while he was wheedling for his Restauration is apparent to all the Kingdom 'T is true the King continued them till all Men of impartial Knowledge and Judgment thought them Dissolved by Law and âill that they were Dissolv'd by himself the 25th of Ianuary 1678. not that they Sat so long but were discontinued and contemptuously spared from Meeting to Meeting many times by the inâimated Ordeâs and to promote the Designs of the French King and âever suffered them to Sir but when the King was in extreâm necessity of Money Among the rest oâ those Prorogaâions there was one at a time when the greatest urgency in Affairs the greaâest danger that threatned the Eâglish Nation required their Sittlng when they were diving into the Bottom of the Popish Plot and endeavâuring to bring to condign Punishment the chief Instruments which the King had made use oââo compâss his Arbitrary and Popish Design Very remarkable is the Actions of the Preceding Night which was follow'd by the Morning Prorogations the relation of which is so gross that we think to draw a Curtain over it lest common Fame should lead us into an Error in any particular However this is certain that Prince Rupert the next Morning understanding what Resolutions were taken pressed the King with all the vehemency imaginable that Argument and Reason could enforce but at the same time the Duke of York stuck close to his Proâher telling him That his Cousin Rav'd c. so that the Duke that advised for the Ruine of the Nation was believed but the Priâce that spoke his Mind freely for the Good of the Kingdom was dismisled for a Mad-man So well did the King Act his Part that when his well-meaning Counsellors lent their assisting hands to prevent the Consequences of French and Popish Dictates they were mistaken in the Man and gave their wholsome Advice to him that was not âound to take it During this Sessions of Parliament many foul things came to light for while the King had raised an Army and prâssed the Parliament for Money to maintain them under pretence of making a War with France which was the earnest desire of all the Protestant pârt of the Kingdom The Parliamenâ were âully informed that while the King boasted of the Alliaâces which he had made for the Preservation of Flanders and the Protestant Religion both at home and abroad he was secrâtly entred into Treatiâs and Alliâncâs at the same time with the French King and Mr. Garroway of the House of Commons had gotten a Copy of the private Treâty between the King of England and the French King at the same Instânt that the Secretary and the others of the Court Parây cried out a War iâsomuch that several that were then in the House of Commons began to blush when they saw the Cheat so palpably discerned It was farther discovered That a great Favoueite of the Dukes had been sent over into France under a pretence oâ Expostulating and requiring Satisfaction for the Injuries which the English had received from the French but in reality to carry the Project of Articles for the Peace and to the setâle and confirm all things fasâ about the Money that was to come from France and to agree the Methods for Shamming the Conâederates about their expected Alliances They found themselves cheated of all the Pole Bill Money which they had given so little a while before upon the Assurance of a War intended against France â the greatest part of which they perceiv'd was immediately tho appropriated to the French War only converted to other Uses as the paying of old Debts so that very little was left for paying any Necessaries bought or to be bought towards the pretended War with France Nor were they ignorant of the real Design for which the King had raised his Army and what care the King and his Brother took that there should be no other Officers in that Army than what were fit for the Work in Hand which was to introduce Popery and French Government by main force The greater part being downright Papists or else such as resolved so to be upon the first Inâimation The Duke recommending all such as he knew âit for the Turn and no less than an hundred Commissions were Signed to Irish Papists to raise Forces noâwithstanding the Act by which means both the Land and Naval Forces were in safe Hands And to compleat the Work hardly a Judge Justice of the Peace or any Officer in England but what was of the Dukes promotion Nor were they ignorant of the private Negotiations of the Duke carried on by the Kings Connivance with the Pope and Cardinal Norfolk who had undertaken to raise Money from the Church sufficient to supply the King's Wants till the Work werd done in case the Parliament should smoke their Design and refuse to give any more Nor was the Parliament ignoranâ what great Rejoicing there was in Rome it self to hear in what a posture His Majesty was and how well provided of an Army and Money to begin the Business The Parliament also understood while they were labouring the War with France and to resist âhe growth of Popery and Arbitrary Power That the King underthand assisted the French with Mân and Ammunition of all sorts and soon after that a Câssation was concluded both at Nimeguen and Paris That the King had got some Money from France for that Job by which the French King was now sure to hold all his Conquests âbroâd which had England been real to the Coââedârates might have been easily wrested out of his Hands But it seems it was not so muâh Money as our King expected which made him Angry so that he began to threaten That if the Fâench King did not perform his Promise of 300000 l. Annuity for Three Years he would undo all thaâ he had done against the next Parliament But the French King derided those vain Threatâ menacing in his turn That if the King of England would not be content with his Târms and do and say to the Parliament according to his Directions he would discover both him and hiâ Correspondents in betrayiâg the Nâtion and discover all