regret the Hard Usage which the Protestants meet with in other Countries and wish they were but as well treated there as the Roman-Catholicks are here Before I have done I beg leave to take notice of a Pamphlet that came out last Summer call'd Cursory Remarks upon the Proceedings of the Last Session of Parliament The Gentleman that wrote it had not only the Honesty to publish an Answer to his own Book but in that Answer to insinuate that I was the Author of it All the Use I shall make of this unusual Liberty of the Press is to declare That I have not publish'd any one Paper Pamphlet or Book these Six Years And though I have but little Leisure and yet less Inclination to appear again in Print yet if ever I alter my Resolution and publish any thing hereafter I will certainly put my Name to it as I have done to these Memoirs THE CONTENTS THE Excellencies of the English Constitution and the various Changes that have happen'd in it Page 1 The State of England under Queen Elizabeth 3 Her Character 5 The Character of her Ministers particularly of Walsingham Cecil c. and of the Members of the House of Commons in her time 8 Her Conduct towards Mary Queen of Scots 15 King James the First 's Accession to the Crown and the Condition of England under his Reign 19 His Character 20 The Character and Deathof Prince Henry 23 The Character of the Queen of Bohemia and King James's Conduct in the Business of the Palatinate 27 The Fate of Sir Walter Raleigh 28 King James's Conduct in teh Interdict of Venice 34 King Charles the First 's Accession to the Crown and the Condition of England at that time 37 The Breach betwixt Archbishop Abbot and Bishop Laud 38 The Rise of King Charles's Troubles and the first and second War with the Scots 41 The meeting of the Parliament November 1640. 45 The Fall and Character of Wentworth Earl of Strafford 47 The Fall and Character of Archbishop Laud 55 The Famous Petition and Remonstrance of the state of the Nation and the King's Answer 61 His coming to the House of Commons in Person to demand the Five Members and the Consequences of it 63 His Leaving the Parliament and the beginning of the Civil Wars and who began it 66 The Treaty of Uxbridge how unsuccesful and the Marquis of Montrose's fatal Letter the Cause 63 The Character and Fall of King Charles the First 74 His Opinion of Defensive Arms in the bisiness of Rochel 79 The Character of his Favourite Buckingham 84 The true Cause of the Scot's coming into England being a forg'd Letter 91 King Charles's design beâ—ore his Death to Resign the Crown And the Army 's to set up the Duke of Gloucester 98 His Consulting the Sortes Virgilianae 100 The Vsurpation and Character of Oliver Cromwell 102 The Restoration of King Charles the Second and the Manner of it with Monk's part in it and the Risk Monk ran in Scotland 114 One of the true Causes of the Fall of Chancellor Clarendon 122 The discovery of the Popish Plot and its Consequences 123 The Bill of Exclusion the design of it and how manag'd 125 The Disgrace of the Duke of Monmouth and the Consequences of it 131 The Protestant Plot and the Effects of it 133 The Death of King Charles the Second and the Suspicions about the Manner of it discuss'd 135 His Character 143 The Reign of King James the Second 148 The Advantages and Examples he might have maâ—e use of 150 His Brother's and Pope Innocent II.'s Advice to him 152 His first Speech to his Privy Council 153 His first Speech to his Parliament 156 His Second Memorable Speech to his Parliament 157 Two Letters from a Foreign Minister to their Ambassador in England upon the occasion of this Speech 159 Monmouth's Invasion and the Grounds of it 160 Some Passages out of Monmouth's Pocket-Book 166 Monmouth's Character 167 His Letter in his Retirement 169 King James's Speech to the Parliament upon Monmouth's Defeat 171 The Parliament's Address thereupon 173 The Sense of a Foreign Minister of this last Speech 175 The Advances made to the Subversion of the English Constitution 177 King James's Ambassy to Rome and how received 178 The Panegyricks of King James upon that occasion 182 The Manner how King James had been treated by another Pope in his Marriage with the Princess of Modena 187 King James grants a Toleration of Religion 191 He assumes a dispensing Power 194 He sets up an Ecclesiastical Commission 197 The Suspension of the Bishop of London 198 The Proceedings against Magdalen-College 201 His Second Declaration for Liberty of Conscience 206 The Affair of the Seven Bishops 208 The Birth of a pretended Prince of Wales 212 A new Parliament design'd and to what end 213 The Prince and Princess of Orange's Opinion about the Penal Laws and Test and how obtain'd 215 The Army Modell'd 220 The Methods us'd in Ireland and Tyrconel's Advancement 222 The Regulating of the Corporations and the Severities against the Protestants 228 The Act of Attainder there 232 The Interest that Foreign States had in England 234 The Emperor's Letter to King James 236 The Interest of the Prince of Orange 237 The bad Circumstances of the House of Orange at the Birth of the Present Prince of Orange now King of England 238 How he came to be Restored in Holland 240 The Desolation of Holland in 1672 242 The Reasons of that Desolation 244 The Difficulty the Prince of Orange had to grapple with 247 The Duke of Luxemburgh's Cruelties at Swammerdam 249 The Affair of Overall's Convocation and how resented by King James 255 His Letter to Dr. Abbot on that Occasion 257 ERRATA PAGE 62. Line 14 15. for the King's Answer to it at its delivery read Answer to them at their delivery MEMOIRS Of the most Material Transactions in England c. THERE is not a Natiâ—n in Europe that from the Constitution of its Government might have promis'd it self a more firm and lasting Repâ—se than England And yet scarce any Kingdom we know upon Earth has suffered so many and various Convulsions As if some malevolent Planet had over-rul'd one of the best of Human Constitutions and by an unaccountable Fatality had render'd ineffectual all the Endeavours of our Ancestors to make themselves and their Posterity happy under a Limited Monarchy A Monarchy in which the Prerogative of the Prince and the Liberty of the People are so equally temper'd that there seems nothing wanting that may tend to the Happiness of either The King of England has the Glory to Rule over a Free People The Excellency of the English Constitution and the People of England that of being subject to a Monarch who by the Laws of the Countrey is invested with as much Power and Greatness as a Wise and Beneficent Prince can reasonably wish for To compleat all the Crown of England has been for many Ages Hereditary and fix'd in
of England and from declaring those met at Westminster Rebels though the King again and again importun'd them to it and took their Refusal so ill that in one of his Letters to Queen intercepted at Naseby he reflects heavily upon them for it and calls them in derision his Mungrel Parliament It was likewise the dismal Prospect he had of this War even in the beginning of it that mov'd that Accomplish'd Gentleman the Lord Falkland to throw away his Life rather than be a witness of the Miseries were coming upon the Nation For though he was Secretary of State to the King and follow'd his Fortune yet seeing all his Endeavours for promoting a Peace were in vain he went on with a Party to skirmish with the Enemy the day before the first Battel of Newbury and being dissuaded by his Friends as having no Call to it being no Military Person he said He was weary of the Times and foresaw much Misery to his Countrey and hop'd he should be out of it e're night So pushing into the Battel he was slain Many Endeavours were us'd from time to time to bring Matters to an Accommodation by way of Treaty Endeavours that were us'd for an Accommodation but still some one unlucky Accident or another render'd them all abortive At the Treaty of Vxbridge though the Parliament's Demands were high and the King show'd a more than ordinary Aversion to comply with them yet the ill posture of the King's Affairs at that time and the fatal Consequences they fear'd would follow upon breaking off of the Treaty oblig'd a great many of the King's Friends and more particularly that Noble Person the Earl of Southampton who had gone Post from Vxbrige to Oxford for that purpose to press the King again and again upon their Knees to yield to the necessity of the Times and by giving his Assent to some of the most material Propositions that were sent him to settle a lasting Peace with his People The King was at last prevail'd with to follow their Counsel and the next Morning was appointed for signing a Warrant to his Commissioners to the effect And so sure were they of a happy end of all differences that the King at Supper complaining his Wine was not good one told him merrily He hop'd that his Majesty would dâ—ink better before a Week was over at Guildhall with the Lord Mayor But so it was that when they came early next morning to wait upon him with the Warrant that had been agreed upon over Night they found his Majesty had chang'd his Resolution and was become inflexible in these Points The unhappy Occasion this Alteration has lain hitherto a Secret in History and might have continued such still if a Letter from the Marquess of Montross in Scotland Montross's Fatal Letter whereof I have seen a Copy under the Duke of Richmond's Hand did not give a sufficient Light into it To make the Matter better understood it 's necessary to say something of Montross and his Actions in Scotland This Nobleman had been at first very active and zealous for the Liberties of his Countrey and was the first man that past the River Tweed at the Head of Five hundred Horse upon the Scots First Expedition into England But being afterwards disoblig'd or as some say repenting of his former Error he left that Side and came in to the King at the breaking out of the War between Him and the Parliament When the Scots came into England the second time to assist the Parliament Montross apply'd himself to the King for a Commission to levy War against his Rebel Subjâ—cts as they were call'd of Scotland assuring his Majesty he was able with the Assistance of his Friends and Concurrence of the rest of the Royal Party to make at least a very considerable Diversion if not to reduce the whole Countrey to his Majesty's Obedience Accordingly the Marquess was made Governor of Scotland where in the space of five Months with a handful of raw undisciplin'd Men and those not half arm'd he did over-run a great part of the Countrey and gain'd three very considerable Battels the last of which was that of Inverlochy fought the second of February 1644. according to the English and 1645. according to the Scotch Account In this Battel the Earl of Argyle was entirely defeated and the Prime of the Noble Family of the Campbells cut off with inconsiderable Loss on Montross's side who next day dispatch'd an Express to the King with the News of this and his two former Victories And in his Letter express'd his utter Aversion to all Treaties with his Rebel-Parliament in England as he calls them Tells the King he is heartily sorry to hear that his Majesty had consented to Treat and hopes it is not true Advises him not to enter into Terms with his Rebellious Subjects as being a thing unworthy of a King And assures him That he himself was now so much Master of Scotland that he doubted not but to be able within a few Months to march into England to his Majesty's assistance with a brave Army And concludes with this odd Expression When I have conquer'd from Dan to Beersheba as I doubt not I shall very quickly I hope I may have then leave to say as David ' s General said to his Master Come thou lest this Countrey be call'd by my Name This Letter writ with such an Air of Assurance and by a Person that was thought capable to make good his Promises and the Matter contain'd in it suiting but too well with the King's Inclinations was unluckily deliver'd to the King but a few Hours before he was to have sign'd the Warrant before-mention'd and had as ill effects as the worst of King Charles's Enemies could have wish'd for it dash'd out in a moment all the Impressions his best Friends had been making upon him for a considerable time towards a full Settlement with his People It look'd as if there was some secret Fatality in this whole matter for it could hardly have been imagin'd that a Letter writ the Third of February in the furthermost North Corner of Britain should come so soon to Oxford considering the length of the Journey the badness of the Roads at that time of the Year especially through the Mountainous parts of Scotland together with the Parliament's and Scotch Armies and Garisons that were posted all along the Road And yet certain it is it came through all these Dangers and Inconveniences in very few days for it 's indors'd upon the Copy I have seen That it was deliver'd to the King during the Treaty of Vxbridge which every body knows began the 30 th of Ianuary and ended the 22 d of February And further it must have been deliver'd before the 19 th of February because King Charles takes notice of it in a Letter to the Queen of that Date found among others at Naseby where he says Though I leave News to others yet I cannot but tell
than the King 's and with the more cheerfulness for by this time he had parted on ill terms with his Parliament and without obtaining a Supply While the King was advancing towards the North the Scots drew to their Borders and it was debated at several Councils of War where a Committee of Estates assisted Whether they should expect the King upon the Borders as they had done before or march into England and carry the War out of their own Countrey But they had taken no Resolution in the matter before the King was got as far as York In this nice Juncture there came a Gentleman to the English Border who sent a Message to the Earl of Rothes That he desir'd to acquaint him with a Matter of the greatest Importance and Secresy if he might privately and with safety speak with him alone Rothes thereupon sent a Trusty Servant with a Passport to conduct him to his Quarters where the Gentleman told him That he was directed particularly to him as a Person of great Honour and whom they could safely trust with a Message from several Great Men of England who were griev'd for the Ruin they foresaw must necessarily attend their Country if the King should make himself Absolute Master of Scotland seeing after that they were to expect the same Fate considering how little to the King's satisfaction things had been carried in the Parliament of England and how much he had resented their refusing a Subsidy to carry on this War He told him That nothing was so much desir'd in England as a Free Parliament to redress their Grievances And if the Scots would march immediately into England the King must necessarily be straitned to that degree in his Affairs as to be oblig'd to call a Parliament And that upon their March the City of London and the greatest part of the Nobility and Gentry would not only petition the King for a Free Parliament but likewise mediate between the King and them and bring matters to such an Accommodation as might be for the good of both Nations Adding withal That if the Scots slipt this Opportunity they were never to expect the like again The Gentleman having deliver'd this Message gave the Earl a Letter directed to him and sign'd by about Twelve Noblemen much to the same purpose but writ more cautiously and in more general terms desiring him for a further Explanation to give entire Credit to the Bearer whom they had fully inform'd of their Intentions Rothes with the Gentleman's leave acquainted General Lesley afterwards Earl of Leven and one or two of the most Leading Men of the Committee of Estates with this Message and upon solemn Promises of Secrecy show'd them the Letter both which agreeing so well in the main with the Intelligence they had receiv'd from England and suiting with their own Inclinations determin'd them in the Point And next morning in the Council of War It was resolv'd to march into England that Afternoon which accordingly they did Rothes in the mean time dispatch'd back the Messenger with an Answer to the Noblemen he suppos'd had writ to him Thanking them for their Advice and acquainting them with the Resolution had been taken thereupon It fell out afterwards at the Treaty of Rippon when the English and Scotch Commissioners grew familiar with one another that the Earl of Rothes came from Newcastle to the Place of Treaty and one of the English Noblemen making him a Visit they fell into Discourse about the present Juncture of Affairs The English Nobleman express'd how much he had been surpriz'd upon the first News of the Scots entring into England and told him That though he hop'd it would now turn to the Advantage of both Nations yet it was in it self a dangerous and rash Attempt and might have been fatal to the Scots if the King had not been pleas'd to enter into a Treaty for an Accommodation of Matâ—ers in dispute between them Rothes was at a stand what to make of this Discourse considering this Nobleman was one of those whose Name was to the Letter formerly mention'd and therefore answer'd That he wondred his Lordship was surpriz'd at an Action he had so much influenc'd And that if it had not been for the Invitation of himself and his Friends perhaps the Scots â—rmy might have continued still on the other side of Tweed The Two Lords being equally in the dark as to one another's meaning were at length upon producing of the Letter both of them undeceiv'd and found it was a mere Forgery which was afterwards acknowledg'd by the Contriver who was the Lord Savile created some time after Earl of Sussex This Letter though forgotten now was much talk'd of during the Civil Wars And I have seen several Original Papers of those Times that mention'd it A Noble Lord lately dead whose Name was to the Letter never made any scruple of telling this Passage to his Friends in the manner I have related it And I once had a Copy of the Letter it self from the Original which was then and I believe is still among the Papers of the Noble Family of Rothes which I have since lost I must confess I have dwelt longer upon this matter than consists with the Brevity I intended and that it might have been more properly mention'd in another place Yet thus it was that a Counterfeit Invitation brought the Scots into England in the Year 1640. And considering the Consequences it may be said That Providence many times seems to play with Human Affairs and influences the Fate of Kingdoms by Counsels and Measures the most improbable to succeed if he had not design'd them to be subservient to his great Ends. There is an Historian for whom I have the highest Veneration Bishop of Salisbury's Memoirs of the Dukes of Hamilton who in his Memoirs of the Dukes of Hamilton mentions a Passage not unlike to this and perhaps it may be the very same though his Relation and mine differ in the time and some other Circumstances And seeing I happen'd to look into that Book some time after I had writ these Sheets that I may do Justice to its Reverend Author whose Information I am willing to believe may be better than my own though I had mine from no common Hands I shall give his Account of it in his own words and the rather for that I do not remember the Date of the Letter upon which the Passage turns though I do the main Design and Contents of it But that the Reader may not be wholly in the dark says this Great Historian about the Grounds of this Confidence the Covenanters had I shall set down what I had from some Persons of Great Honour who were fully inform'd about it When the Earls of Dumfermling and Loudon came to London a Person of Quality of the English Nation whose Name is suppress'd because of the Infamy of this Action came to them and with great Vehemence press'd them to engage in a new War
one Family The Breaches that have been sometimes made in the immediate Line not at all derogating from the nature of a Successive Monarchy so long as a due Respect is had to the Blood and for the most part the next immediate Heir except only upon great and urgent Difficulties and Emergencies The Crown being thus Hereditary it might have reasonably been expected That we should not only be strangers to the Inconveniences that arise naturally from Competitions in Elective Kingdoms but that it should be always the Interest of the Prince that 's in Possession of the Throne so to govern his People as not to put them upon the necessity at any time to break through the Succession and pass by the next Immediate Heir But such is the brittle state of human things that notwithstanding all the Advantages and Excellencies of the English Constitution scarce an Age has pass'd without some remarkable Struggle either between King and People for Prerogative and Liberty or between Competitors for the Crown it self The Glory of England was arriv'd to a high pitch in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth The Reign of Q. Elizabeth Her People liv'd at their Ease and were happy under her Auspicious Conduct and her opprest Neighbours felt the benign Influences of her great and bountiful Mind She it was that made Head against the then Paramount Power of Christendom and that in both the Old and New Worlds And it was in a great measure owing to her Conduct and Fortune that the Spaniard fell short of the Vniversal Monarchy To draw a Picture worthy of Queen Elizabeth Her Châ—ractâ—â— were a Task fit only for the Greatest Masters since all that ever was Great or Wise in Womankind did contribute to make up her Character As to her Person she had but little of a Regular Beauty in her Face but that was well proportion'd and in the main very agreeable Her Mien and Gait were Noble and in every thing she said or did there was something of Majesty that stâ—uck more Awe than Love Tho when she had a mind she could put on Charms that few were able to resist In her Features Person and Mien she had more of Henry the Eighth than of the Unfortunate Anna Bullen her Mother But they were his good and none of his ill Qualities which she deriv'd from her Father Her Youth was a continued Scene of Afflictions but she was happy in that she suffered one of the greatest before she was capable of feeling the weight of it for she was scarce Three Years old when her Mother was sacrific'd to the Rage and Jealousy of her Husband And she that had been the Year she was born declar'd not only Heir Apparent of the Crown but which was out of the ordinary Road Princess of Wales and that by Act of Parliament was now by another Act declar'd Illegitimate and excluded from the Succession Notwithstanding this strange Reverse of Fortune particular Care was taken of her Education especially by her Brother Edward the Sixth who lov'd her above all things and was scarce ever pleas'd but in her Company Before she was Seventeen Years of Age she understood perfectly well the Latin French and Italian Tongues and was so far Mistress of the Greek that she translated into Latin Two of Isocrates's Orations one of which I have seen of her own Hand-writing corrected by her Tutor but in Three places whereof one is an Error only in the Orthography She was indefatigable in the Study of Learning especially Philosophy History Divinity and Rhetorick not forgetting both Vocal and Instrumental Musick as far as it might become one of her Quality Being thus Learned it was no wonder she form'd her Tongue and Pen to a pure and elegant way of speaking and writing and her Mind to the Noblest Notions of Philosophy and the highest Practice of Virtue Her Brother dying Queen Mary's Hereditary Aversion to her upon the account of their Mothers broke out with all the marks of Ill-Nature and Revenge And Philip the Second who prov'd afterwards her greatest Enemy was the Person that preserv'd her Life but it was upon a mere political Design which however miscarried During all that Reign the Princess Elizabeth was tost from one Confinement to another being oblig'd many times to suffer Indignities far unworthy of her Birth till at last by the Death of Queen Mary she was call'd from a Prison to a Throne at the Age of Twenty five Years Upon receit of the News of her Sister's Death and that she her self was proclaim'd Queen it 's said she fell down upon her Knees and after a short silence broke out with these words of the Psalmist A Domino factum est isâ—ud est mirabile in oculis nostris Which Words she took afterwards for her Motto in some of her Gold Coin During all the time of her Reign she would never allow her Title to be debated or reason'd upon nor so much as explain'd or vindicated She thought it sufficient that she wore the Crown and was resolv'd and knew well how to maintain it upon her Head without the help of Paper-Arguments She receiv'd with Indignation a Proposition that was made to her to have her Title asseâ—ted in Parliament And scorn'd to Repeal even the Act which declar'd her Illegitimate and incapable to succeed Her Reign was long and glorious being lov'd of her People fear'd and admir'd by her Enemies and attended with constant Success in all her Enterprizes Never Prince was better serv'd nor more happy in the choice of her Servants and no Age can instance such a Set of Able Ministers as she had Her Court at home was the quiet and happy Seat of the Muses while her Fleets and Armies abroad gather'd Laurels every where for their Mistress and themselvts She had to perfection the Art of pleasing her Parliament and she and they never parted in discontent but with the highest proofs of mutual Confidence What sort of men they were that composed the House of Commons during her Reign and of how different a stamp from those in that of her Sucâ—essor Appendix Numb 1. The Character of the Members of Parliament in Q. Elizabâ—th's Reign is best express'd in the words of Sir Robert Nauntwell Secretary to King Iames who was a Member of Parliament in both Reigns which may not be improper to insert in the Appendix If Queen Elizabeth can be properly said to have had Favourites they were chiefly the Earls of Leicester and Essex but she never fail'd to humble them upon every occasion where they presum'd too much upon her Favour The one she recall'd with Ignominy from his Government of the Vnited Provinces for behaving himself haughtily in his Office And at another time upon his threatning Bower the Vsher of the Black Rod to have him turn'd out of his Place for stopping one of his Retinue at the Queen's Bed-Chamber Door she told him with a severe Frown accompanied with an Oath My Lord I had
of God taught That the Afflictions of this present Life are not to be compar'd to that Eternal Weight of Glory which shall be reveal'd hereafter And so my Lords even so with all Tranquility of Mind I freely submit my self to your Iudgment And whether that Iudgment be of Life or Death Te Deum laudamus It 's believ'd that King Charles's appearing so heartily for him did him no good with the House of Commons And it 's confidently said that he wrote his Majesty a Letter from the Tower praying him not to intercede in his Affair and that his not seeming to be concern'd in it would be the best Method to calm the Rage of his Enemies But notwithstanding this Caution the King came to the House of Lords and sending for the House of Commons made a warm Speech in favour of the Earl which some of his Friends took for so good News that they went straight from Westminster to give him an account of it Stafford receiv'd it as his Doom and told them The King's Kindness had ruin'd him and that he had little else now to do but to prepare himself for Death As King Charles was mistaken in his Intercession for the Earl of Strafford so was the Earl himself much more in neglecting the Advice of his Friends against his coming up to this Parliament It was easy to foresee there was something design'd to his Prejudice and he had fair Warning given him not to come up at that time at least till he saw how matters would go He had two plausible Pretences for his Absence if he had pleas'd to make use of them the necessity of his Presence in Ireland where he was Lord Lieutenant or in the North of England where he was Lieutenant-General of the Army that had been rais'd against the Scots But being too confident not only of the King's Favour and his Interest among the Lords but of the good effects an Humble Honey Speech might have with the House of Commons to use his own words he came late at Night to Town and took his place next Morning in the House of Lords with an Intention to ask leave that very day to go down to the House of Commons to clear himself of the Misrepresentations he lay under Mr. Pym hearing he was come mov'd to have the Doors lock'd and the Keys laid upon the Table lest any Member should give Intelligence of what they were upon Which being done he accus'd the Earl of Strafford of High-Treason and an Impeachment was immediately drawn up and agreed to by the House In the mean time it fell out unluckily for the Earl of Strafford that at his coming into the House of Lords they were upon a Debate that took them up a considerable time and while he was waiting till that was over the Commons came up with their Impeachment As the Earl was strangely unfortunate in most things that befel him in the latter Period of his Life he was no less in the very Opinion of the King himself and those others that did all they could to save his Life For the King in the Speech he made to both Houses in his favour was pleas'd to say That he did not think my Lord Strafford fit hereafter to serve him or the Commonwealth in any Place of Trust no not so much as that of a Constable And the Lord Digby in the Speech he made in the House of Commons against the Bill of Attainder for which among other things he was forc'd to fly treats the Earl in yet much harsher Terms The Name of the Earl of Strafford says he is a Name of Hatred in the present Age by his Practices and fit to be made a Terror to future Ages by his Punishment I am still the same in my Opinions and Affections as to the Earl of Strafford continues he after I believe him to be the most dangerous Minister the most insupportable to free Subjects that can be character'd I believe his Practices in themselves as high as Tyranical as any Subject ever ventur'd upon and the Malignity of them highly aggravated by those rare Qualities of his whereof God has given him the Vse but the Devil the Application In a word adds the Lord Digby I believe him still that Grand Apostate to the Commonwealth who must not expect to be pardon'd in this World till he be dispatch'd into the other And yet let me tell you Mr. Speaker my Hand must not be at that Dispatch Thus far a Nobleman that was entirely in the King's Interest and for his Zeal to the Royal Cause became the most obnoxious to the Parliament After all there seems to have been some Mistake about the main Article in his Accusation of his advising the King to bring over the Army from Ireland to reduce England which contributed more to the undoing of this Minister than all the rest For the Proof of this Article being only Words contain'd in Mr. Secretary Vane's Notes Appendix Numb 6. which are plac'd in the Appendix and said to be spoke at the Council-Table they do naturally refer to the Kingdom of Scotland and not to England the thing then under Debate being how to reduce Scotland And though Secretary Vane swore to the Truth of his Notes yet it was after such a manner as left the matter still more dubious And though he had sworn more positively it was but the Testimony of One Witness and that contradicted by Four Lords who were then present in Council and who declar'd upon their Honours That they did not remember they heard the Earl of Strafford speak those Words I cannot leave the Earl of Strafford without taking notice of a silly Mistake that has gain'd some Credit in the World as if the Bill of Attainder against him was of so extraordinary a nature and so much out of all the known Methods of Justice that the Legislators themselves were oblig'd to insert a Clause into the Body of it That it should never be drawn into President Whereas that Clause does expresly relate only to Judges in Inferior Courts and is conceiv'd in the following words Provided That no Iudge or Iudges Iustice or Iustices whatsoever shall adjudge or interpret any Act or Thing to be Treason nor hear or determine any Treason in any other manner than he or they should or ought to have done before the making of this Act. As Archbishop Laud was nothing inferior to the Earl of Strafford in Parts and much his Superior in Learning The Fall and Character of Archbishop Laud. so it is as hard to determine which of the two made a Nobler Defence at their Trial. The Fate of the former has been the same with that of most Great Men to be represented to Posterity in Extremes for we have nothing writ of him but what 's either Panegyrick or Satyr rather than History That Archbishop Laud was brought to his Trial and found Guilty during the Heat of a Civil War and when all things were tending
any Age has produc'd and gave us a signal Instance how far it is possible for the same Person to be the Favourite of two Successive Monarchs He possess'd King Iames's Favour without a Rival and without any other Interruption but that Cloud which the Intrigues of Spain rais'd against him in the King's mind which has been already hinted at wherein the Son shar'd equally with the Favourite and which Bishop Williams's dexterity soon dissipated King Charles out-did his Father in his Kindness to Buckingham and had no Favourite after him He had all the Qualities that are requisite for a Court and fit to acquire and preserve his Master's Affection Notwithstanding he was in his Temper highly Generous and Beneficent and that there were few Great Families in England but he had some way or other oblig'd either in themselves or their Relations yet he fell under the Misfortune that attends Favourites but it must be own'd he was rather envied than hated He had the ill luck to be charg'd with a great many things of which he was innocent and particularly in relation to the Spanish Match By all that I have seen he deserv'd the Thanks of the Nation upon that account rather than an Impeachment in Parliament For it was he chiefly that broke off that Match when he saw how much King Iames suffer'd in his Honour through the manner he was treated in it which he found out sooner than the King did himself It 's none of the least Proofs of the Duke of Buckingham's Innocency in these matters that Spanhemius in his History of the Electrice Palatine writ long after Buckingham's Death speaks always honourably of him in the Business of the Palatinate whereas at the same time he exposes King Iames's Conduct It 's a vulgar mistake That he came to be the First Minister merely through the Caprice of King Iames for the Court unanimously promoted his Interest and recommended him to the highest Favour in opposition to Somerset whose Arrogancy Covetousness and Pride had disoblig'd every body and made both the King and the Court weary of him No Servant did his Master more Honour in the Magnificence of his Train and the splendid Manner of his living especially in his Embassy to France whâ—re in the Gracefulness of his Person and Nobleness of his Behaviour and Equipage he out-did any thing that ever was seen of that kind before He was more form'd for a Court than a Camp and though very Brave in his Person he was Unsuccessful in the only Military Expedition he was engag'd in which was that of Rochell And when he was upon the embarking a second time to repair that Disgrace he was basely murder'd amidst a Croud of his Friends and in the height of his Glory To return to King Charles's Character If he had any Personal Faults they were much over-weigh'd by his Virtues But an Immoderate Desire of Power beyond what the Constitution did allow of was the Rock he split upon He might have been happy if he had trusted more to his own Judgment than that of those about him for as in his nature he was an Enemy to all violent Measures so was he apt to submit his own Reason to that of others when any such things came under consideration There was another Error that run through the whole Management of his Affairs both Domestick and Publick and which occasion'd a great part of his Misfortunes He appear'd many times stiff and positive in denying at first what he granted afterwards out of time and too late to give satisfaction which encourag'd ambitious and interested Persons to ask more than they thought of at first and lost him the fruits of his former Concessions So that in the whole Conduct of his Life he verified this Maxim That Errors in Government have ruin'd more Princes than their Personal Vices I shall have done with this Melancholy Subject after the Reader has been acquainted with one remarkable Accident not hitherto mention'd with that Exactness it deserves by any Author I know of which considering its Consequences is an extraordinary Instance upon what small Hinges the greatest Revolutions may turn That the principal Rise of all King Charles's latter Troubles The true Cause of the Scots coming first into England was from the Second War with the Scots has been already show'd But what the Motives were that embolden'd the Scots to alter their Measures from those they had observ'd in the first War continues in great part a Mystery to this day In the first War they stood upon the Defensive only and came no further than their own Borders but in the second they acted so much in the offensive that they march'd into England as far as Durham and were coming on further if the Treaty that was set afoot at Rippon had not stopt them All the Accounts we have of this proceeding of the Scots do seem to be grounded upon the Informations they had of the Backwardness of England to assist the King in this War and that they were well assur'd of Friends all over the Kingdom and some of nearest access to the King's Person who they knew would interpose in their behalf rather than Matters should come to Extremities But these general Encouragements can hardly be thought to have had such weight with the Scots as to make them venture upon so bold an Attempt and therefore it 's but reasonable to believe they went upon surer Grounds when they made this Invasion This matter will be set in a clearer Light when the Reader is acquainted That a Forg'd Letter pretended to be sent from some of the most Leading Men of the Nobility of England came to have the same effects as if it had been a True One and really sign'd by the same Persons whose Names were affix'd to it Which fell out in this manner After the Pacification at Duns which put an end to the first War the King at his Return to London was prevail'd with upon the account of several things the Scots were said to have done contrary to the Articles of the Treaty and the Duty of Subjects to order the Pacification to be burnt by the hands of the Common Hangman To reduce them to obedience he was meditating a New War and in order thereto was levying another Army and was pleas'd to call a Parliament to assist him in it The Scots had their Commissioners at London at that time who wanted not Friends in both Houses to inform them of every thing that happen'd in Parliament and Council which they fail'd not to write home to their Countrey advising them to be on their Guard and to put themselves in a posture not to be surpriz'd The Scots knowing how matters went in England and that a new Storm was like to break out upon them were resolv'd to put themselves into a Posture of Defence and to the Forces they had not yet disbanded they added considerable new Levies both of Horse and Foot Their Preparations went faster on
a Numerous and Splendid Train of Persons of Quality among whom was a Prince of the Blood and Muncini Mazarine 's Nephew who brought a Letter from his Uncle to the Protector full of the highest Expressions of Respect and assuring his Highness That being within view of the English Shore nothing but the King's Indisposition who lay then ill of the Small-Pox at Calais could have hinder'd him to come over to England that he might enjoy the Honour of waiting upon one of the Greatest Men that ever was and whom next to his Master his greatest Ambition was to serve But being depriv'd of so great a happiness he had sent the Person that was nearest to him in Blood to assure him of the profound Veneration he had for his Person and how much he was resolv'd to the utmost of his power to cultivate a perpetual Amity and Friendship betwixt his Master and him Few Princes ever bore their Character higher upon all occasions than Oliver Cromwell especially in his Treaties with Crown'd Heads And it 's a thing without Example that 's mention'd by one of the best-inform'd Historians of the Age Puffendorf in the Life of the late Elector of Brandenburgh That in Cromwell's League with France against Spain he would not allow the French King to call himself King of France but of the French whereas he took to himself not only the Title of Protector of England but likewise of France And which is yet more surprizing and which can hardly be believ'd but for the Authority of the Author Puffendorf de Rebus Gestis Fredâ—rici Wilhelmi Electoris Brandenburgici p. 313. Id porro Bellum Protectoris in Hispanos adeo opportunum Gallo accedebat ut summo Studio istum faedore sibi innectere studeret etiam concesso ut Cromwellus eundem Gaâ—â—orum Regem non Galliarum nuncuparet aliâs ipse Protectoris quoque Franciae vocabulum ficut Angliae assumpturus Simul pateretur Cromwellum Instrumento suo Nomen titulumque ante Gallicum ponere whose own Words are in the Margin In the Instrument of the Treaty the Protector 's Name was put before the French King's It 's true France was then under a Minority and was not arriv'd at that Greatness to which it has since attain'd Towards which Cromwell contributed not a little by that League with France against Spain being the falsest Step he ever made with respect to the Tranquility of Europe As every thing did contribute to the Fall of King Charles I. so did every thing contribute to the Rise of Cromwell And as there was no design at first against the King's Life so it 's probable that Cromwell had no thoughts for a long time of ever arriving at what he afterwards was It is known he was once in Treaty with the King after the Army had carried his Majesty away from Holmby House to have Restor'd him to the Throne which probably he would have done if the Secret had not been like to take Vent by the Indiscretion of some about the King which push'd Cromwell on to prevent his own by the Ruin of the King It 's likewise certain that the Title of Protector did not satisfy his Ambition but that he aim'd to be King The Matter was for some time under Consideration both in his Mock-Parliament and Council of State in-so-far that a Crown was actually made and brought to Whitehall for that purpose But the Aversion he found in the Army against it and the fear of the Commonwealth-Party oblig'd him to lay the Thoughts of it aside at least for that time Yet it 's probable these high Aims did not dye but with himself For to be able with the help of Spanish Gold to carry on his Design in England without depending upon a Parliament for Money is thought was the true Motive of his Attempt upon St. Domingo which was the only Action of War he fail'd in But notwithstanding his specious Pretences to the contrary Cromwell invaded and betrayed the Liberties of his Countrey and acted a more Tyrannical and Arbitrary Part than all the Kings of England together had done since the Norman Conquest And yet after all his Good Fortune accompanied him to the last for after a long Chain of Success he died in Peace and in the Arms of his Friends was buried among the Kings with a Royal Pomp and his Death condol'd by the Greatest Princes and States of Christendom in Solemn Embassies to his Son But this is not all for whatever Reasons the House of Austria had to hate the Memory of Cromwell yet his causing the Portugal Ambassador's Brother to be Executed for a Tumult in London notwithstanding his Plea of being a Publick Minister as well as his Brother was near Twenty Years after Cromwell's Death brought as a Precedent by the present Emperor to justify his Arresting and carrying off the Prince of Furstenburgh at the Treaty of Cologne notwithstanding Furstenburgh's being a Plenipotentiary for the Elector of that Name And in the Printed Manifesto publish'd by the Emperor upon that occasion this Piece of Cromwellâ—s Justice in executing the Portuguese Gentleman is related at large To sum up Cromwell's Character it 's observable That as the Ides of March were equally Fortunate and Fatal to Iulius Caesar another Famous Invader of the Liberties of his Countrey so was the Third of September to Oliver Cromwell For on that Day he was Bornâ— on that Day he fought the Three Great Battels of Marston-Moor Worcester and Dunbar and on that Day he died Cromwell died in the peaceable Possession of the Sovereign Power though disguis'd under another Name and left it to a Son that had neither Heart nor Abilities to keep it The Genius of the Nation return'd to its Natural Byass and Monarchy was so much interwoven with the Laws Customs and the first Threads of the English Constitution that it was altogether impossible it could be ever totally worn out Our Ancestors had wisely settled themselves upon that Bottom and those very men that some Years before had justled out Monarchy upon the account of its Encroachments upon the Rights of the People were become as zealous now to restore it again upon the Encroachments that the assuming part of the People had made of late upon the Rights of their Fellow-Subjects For near Two Years together after Cromwell's Death the Government of England underwent various Shapes and every Month almost produc'd a New Scheme till in the end all these Convulsions co-operated to turn the Nation again upon its True and Ancient Basis. Thence it was that the Son of King Charles the First The Restoration of King Charles II. after Ten Years Exile was restor'd to his Father's Throne in the Year 1660 without Blood or any remarkable Opposition This Revolution was the more to be admir'd since not only all Attempts to bring King Charles back by Force of Arms prov'd ineffectual but that notwithstanding upon Cromwell's Death every thing at home seem'd to concur to his
for levying that part of the Customs that had been granted to his Brother only for Life an◠was expir'd at his Death This was not only an open Violation of his Promise in his foremention'd Speech but of our Fundamental Constitution by which no Money can be levied on the Subject but by their Consent in Parliament As it was contrary to Law so it was altogether needless at that time since a Parliament was to meet within a few days which no body doubted would in a Parliamentary way continue the same Customs for his Life as they had been for his Brother's He was not the first Prince that did illegally seize what he had no right to But few Instances can be given of a King that did openly violate the Constitution of his Countrey to obtain that which he was certain would be granted him in a Legal Manner and with the Good-will of his People Notwithstanding this unusual Stretch of Power upon his entring into the Administration yet the Parliament he had call'd sat down in a good Humour and with a hearty Inclination to do every thing in compliance with him that might tend to his Honour or Safety His Speech to both Houses was much of the same Strain with his former to the Council upon his Brother's death but more full He demanded the setling of his Revenue during Life as it was in his Brother's time and acquainted them with the Earl of Argyle ' s Landing in Scotland and threaten'd to reward his Treason as it deserv'd This Speech buoy'd up the Minds of the People that had been sufficiently stunn'd before with the Unpresidented Proclamation for levying the Customs And so earnest was the Parliament to give the King no just occasion of Displeasure and so great a Confidence did they place in a Royal Promise from the Throne that they immediately complied with him in the matter of the Revenue thank'd him for his Speech and resolv'd by an Unanimous Vote To assist him with their Lives and Fortunes against the Earl of Argyle and all other his Enemies whatsoever Some few days after the Bill for setling his Revenue was presented to him for his Assent upon which Occasion he made them another Memorable Speech He thank'd them for the Bill told them of want of Stores in the Navy and Ordnance of the Anticipations that were upon several Branches of the Revenue of the Debts due to his Brother's Servants and Family which he said were such as deserv'd Compassion and of the extraordinary Charges he must be at in suppressing the Rebellion in Scotland Upon all which accounts he demanded an Extraordinary Supply and summ'd up all with recommending to them the Care of the Navy which he was pleas'd to call the Strength and Glory of the Nation And in the end told them He could not express his Concern upon that occasion more suitable to his own thoughts of it than by assuring them He had a true English Heart as jealous of the Honour of the Nation as Theirs could be And that he pleas'd himself with the Hopes Appendix Numb 12. His 〈◊〉 Speech to the Parliament That by God's Blessing and the Parliament's Assistance he might carry the Reputation of it higher in the World than ever it had been in the time of any of his Ancestors It was no wonder that a Speech of this Strain so becoming an English Monarch did meet with a kind Reception from an English Parliament and be answer'd as it was with a large Supply since a Neighbouring Court was thereupon at a stand what to think of a Prince they had reckon'd upon as their own and of whose real Friendship this unexpected Speech gave them ground to doubt They well knew that a true English Heart was diametrically opposite to their Designs and that a King jealous of the Honour of the English Nation must needs be an Enemy to all Encroachments of any Neighbouring State To plunge that Court yet the more into a Maze of Thoughts about King Iames upon this Occasion the carrying the Reputation of England yet higher in the World than ever it had been in the time of any of his Ancestors were Words that seem'd to promise no less than the imitating or rather out-doing of an Edward III. or a Henry V. that had rais'd to themselves immortal Trophies at the Expence of their Neighbours and wrote their own Panegyricks with their Enemies Blood How this Speech was relish'd abroad cannot be better express'd than in Two Letters writ at that time by a certain Great Minister to an Ambassador here which being communicated to me by a Noble Person into whose hands many of that Ambassador's Papers happen'd to fall upon the late Revolution they are plac'd at length in the Appendix Appendix Numb 13. in English In the first of these Letters That Minister discovers a sort of diffidence in King Iames as if he were not the Man they had taken him for Expresses his Fears that a Cordial Agreement between him and the Parliament might unhindge all the Measures had been so long a concerting betwixt him and his Master when King James was but Duke of York He recommends to the Ambassador to enquire narrowly into the Motives and the Advisers of this Speech to the Parliament as the most considerable Service that could be done in that Juncture The other Letter chides the Ambassador for not being yet able to sound King James's Intentions and tells him They had receiv'd from a sure hand better News than what it appears the Ambassador had writ And which is most remarkable in the whole Letter there is in it a plain Insinuation That there was in that Court some great matter under consideration concerning the Edict of Nants which was not to be declar'd until King James's Intentions were fully known And concludes with a Command to the Ambassador to sift out how King James stood affected to the Prince of Orange What discoveries were made in obedience to these Letters can be no otherwise guess'd at but by the Event for at this very time the Unfortunate Duke of Monmouth by a desperate ill-tim'd Attempt to overturn King Iames's Throne did all that in him lay to fix it the faster King Charles as I have said lov'd Monmouth tenderly and all the Disgraces and Hardships that had of late Years been put upon him were rather the effects of Fear and Policy than Inclination or Choice He was fond of him to that degree that though he was the greatest Master in the Art of Dissimulation yet he could not refrain sometimes in Company where he might be free from regretting his own hard Fortune which necessitated him to frown upon a Son whose greatest Crime was to have incurr'd his Brother's Displeasure His Fondness was yet more express'd in his Behaviour to the Duke of Monmouth upon the Discovery of that which was call'd the Protestant Plot and in the manner he brought him back to Court after the Ferment was a little abated All the
Error too late and found they had been us'd but as Tools to prevent the Dissenters from uniting with the Church of England whenever the common Danger should come to threaten both This Toleration could not subsist K. Iames grants a Toleration of Religion being contrary to the Establish'd Laws of the Realm unless a new Monster was introduc'd to give it life under the Name of a Dispensing Power When King Iames came to assume to himself this Power as his Prerogative and Right he unhindg'd the Constitution all at once for to Dispense with Laws already made is as much a part of the Legislature as the making of new ones And therefore in aarogating to himself such a Dispensing Power he invaded the very Essence of the English Constitution by which the Legislature is lodg'd in King Lords and Commons and every one of them has a Negative upon the other two Charles II. was the first King of England that ever aim'd at any thing like a Dispensing Power In the Year 1662. he was prevail'd upon for some Reasons of State to issue out a Proclamation dispensing with some few things that related to the Act of Vniformity but without the least regard to Roman-Catholicks And though in his Speech to the Parliament upon that occasion he did in a manner acknowledge that he had no such Power in saying That if the Dissenters would demean themselves peaceably and modestly he could heartily wish he had such a Power of Indulgence to use upon occasion Yet the Parliament was so jealous of this Innovation that they presented the King with an Address against the Proclamation and plainly told him That he had no Power to dispense with the Laws without an Act of Parliament King Charles made another Attempt of the like nature in the Year 1672 and in a Speech to Both Houses did mention his Declaration of Indulgence and acquainted them with the Reasons that induc'd him to it telling them withal how little the Roman Catholicks would be the better for it Upon which the House of Commons made an Address to him for recalling this Declaration Wherein they plainly told him That in claiming a Power to dispense with Penal Laws his Majesty had been very much misinform'd since no such Power was ever claim'd or exercis'd by any of his Predecessors and if it should be admitted might tend to the interrupting of the free course of the Laws and altering the Legislative Power which has always been acknowledg'd to reside in his Majesty and his Two Houses of Parliament King Charles was so far satisfied in the matter contain'd in this Address that he immediately thereupon cancell'd his Declaration of Indulgence and order'd the Seal to be torn off and acquainted both Houses That he had done so with this further Declaration which was enter'd upon Record in the House of Lords That it should never be drawn into Example or Consequence The next that attempted such a Dispensing Power though of a far larger Extent was King Iames as has been said And how any thing that look'd that way was relish'd by the House of Commons does appear by their Address against the Roman Catholick Officers which also has been mention'd It was not enough for King Iames to assume this Dispensing Power And assumes a dispensing Power and to act by it but such was the Misery and hard Fate of England that the Party about the King would hâ—ve had us believe That a Power in the King to dispense wiâ—h Laws was Law To maintain this Monstrous Position there were not only Mercenary Pens set a-work but a Set of Iudges found out that to their Eternal Reproach did all was possible for them to Compliment the King with the Liberties of their Countrey For these Gentlemen gave it for Law That the Laws of England are the King's Laws That therefore it 's an incident inseparable Prerogative of the Kings of England as of all other Sovereign Princes to dispense with all Penal Laws in particular Cases and upon particular necâ—ssary Reasons That of those Reasons and Necessities the King is the sole Iudge And which is a Consequent thereupon That this is not a Trust invested in or granted to the King but the Ancient Remains of the Sovereign Power of the Kings of England which never was yet taken from them nor can be Thus were we fallen under the greatest Misfortune that can possibly happen to a Nation To have our Laws and Constitution trampled upon under colour of Law And those very Men whose Office it was to support them became now the Betrayers of them to the Will of the Prince This mighty Point being gain'd or rather forc'd upon us the Roman-Catholicks were not wanting to make the best use of it for themselves The free and open Exercise of their Religion was set up every where and Jesuit Schools and Seminaries erected in the most considerable Towns The Church of England had now but a Precarious Title to the National Church and Romish Candidates had swallow'd up its Preferments and Dignities already in their Hopes Romish Bishops were publickly Consecrated in the Royal Chappel and dispatch'd down to exercise their Episcopal Function in their respective Diocesses Their Pastoral Letters directed to the Lay-Catholicks of England were openly dispers'd up and down and printed by the King 's own Printer with Publick License The Regular Clergy appear'd in their Habits in Whitehall and St. Iames's and made no scruple to tell the Protestants They hop'd in a little time to walk in Procession through Cheapside A mighty Harvest of New Converts was expected and that Labourers might not be wanting Shoals of Priests and Regulars were sent over from beyond Sea to reap it The only Step to Preferment was to be of the King's Religion And to preach against the Errors of Rome was the height of Disloyalty because forsooth it tended to alienate the Subjects Affections from the King An Order was directed to the Protestant Bishops about Preaching which was upon the matter forbidding them to defend their Religion in the Pulpit when it was at the same time attack'd by the Romish Priests with all the Vigor they were capable of both in their Sermons and Books This Order was taken from a Precdent in Queen Mary's time for the first Step she made to introduce Popery notwithstanding her Promises to the Gentlemen of Suffolk and Norfolk to the contrary upon their appearing first of any for her Interest upon the Death of her Brother was to issue out a Proclamation forbidding the Preaching upon controverted Points of Religion for fear it was said of raising Animosities among the people But notwithstanding this insnaring Letter of K. Iames's the Clergy of the Church of England were not wanting in their Duty For to their Immortal Honour they did more to vindicate the Doctrine of their own Church and expose the Errors of the Church of Rome both in their Sermons and Writings than ever had been done either at Home or Abroad since
done into English Twelves Lex Parliamentaria or a Treatise of the Law and Custom of the Parliaments of England By G. P. Esq Octavo Memoirs of Denzil Lord Holles Baron of Ifield in Sussex from the Year 1641 to 1648. Octavo The Compleat Horseman discovering the surest Marks of the Beauty Goodness Faults and Imperfections of Horses The Signs and Causes of their Diseases the true Method both of their Preservation and Cure with Reflections on the regular and preposterous use of Bleeding and Purging Also the Art of Shooing with the several kinds of Shooes adapted to the various Defects of bad Feet and the Preservation of good Together with the best Method of breeding Colts backing them and making their Mouths c. By the Sieur de Solleysell Querry to the present French King for his Great Horses and one of the Royal Academy of Paris To which is added A most excellent Supplement of Riding collected from the best Authors With an Alphabetical Catalogue of all the Physical Simples in English French and Latin by Sir William Hope Deputy-Lieutenant of the Castle of Edinburgh Folio The Gentleman's Jockey and approv'd Farrier instructing in the Natures Causes and Cures of all Diseases incident to Horses With an exact and easy Method of breeding buying dieting and otherwise ordering all sorts of Horses as well for common and ordinary use as the Heats and Course With divers other Curiosities Collected by the long Practice Experience and Pains of I. H. Esq Matthew Hodson Mr. Holled Mr. Willis Mr. Robinson Mr. Holden Thomas Empson Mr. Roper Mr. Medcalfe and Nath. Shaw The Eighth Edition with Additions Octavo The Roman History from the building of the City to the perfect Settlement of the Empire by Augustus Caesar containing the Space of 727 Years design'd as well for the understanding of the Roman Authors as the Roman Affairs The Fourth Edition carefully revis'd and much improv'd By Lawrence Echard A. M. of Christ-College in Cambridge Vol. I. Octavo The Roman History from the Settlement of the Empire by Augustus Caesar to the Removal of the Imperial Seat by Constantine the Great containing the Space of 355 Years Vol. II. For the Use of his Highness the Duke of Glocester The Second Edition By Lawrence Echard A. M. Octavo Politica Sacra Civilis Or a Model of Civil and Ecclesiastical Government wherein besides the Positive Doctrine concerning State and Church in general are debated the principal Controversies of the Times concerning the Constitution of the State and Church of England tending to Righteousness Truth and Peace By George Lawson Rector of More in the County of Salop. The Second Edition Octavo An Account of Denmark as it was in the Year 1692. The Third Edition Octavo An Account of Sueden Together with an Extract History of that Kingdom Octavo Of Wisdom Three Books Written Originally in French by the Sieur de Charron With an Account of the Author Made English by George Stanhope D. D. late Fellow of King's-College in Cambridge From the best Edition Corrected and Enlarged by the Author a little before his Death In Two Volumes Octavo A New Voyage to Italy With curious Observations on several other Countries as Germany Switzerland Savoy Geneva Flanders and Holland Together with useful Instructions for those who shall travel thither Done out of French The Second Edition enlarged above one Third and enriched with several New Figures By Maximilian Misson Gent. In Two Volumes Octavo A Compleat Body of Chirurgical Operations containing the whole Practice of Surgery With Observations and Remarks on each Case Amongst which are inserted the several ways of delivering Women in Natural and Unnatural Labours The whole Illustrated with Copper Plates explaining the several Bandages Sutures and divers useful Instruments By M. de lâ— Vanguion M. D. and Intendant of the Royal Hospitals about Paris Faithfully done into English Octavo A Relation of a Voyage made in the Years 1695 1696 1697 on the Coasts of Africa Streights of Magellan Brazil Cayenna and the Antilles by a Squadron of French Men of War under the Command of M. de Gennes By the Sieur Froger Volunteer-Engineer on Board the English Falcon. Illustrated with divers strange Figures drawn to the Life Octavo Travels into divers parts of Europe and Asia undertaken by the French King's Order to discover a new way by Land into China Containing many curious Remarks in Natural Philosophy Geography Hydrography and History Together with a Description of Great Tartary and of the different People who inhabit there By Father Avril of the Order of the Jesuits Done out of French To which is added a Supplement extracted from Hakluit and Purchas giving an Account of several Journeys over Land from Russia Persia and the Mogul's Country to China Together with the Roads and Distances of the Places Twelves A Compendium of Universal History from the Beginning of the World to the Reign of the Emperor Charles the Great Written Originally in Latin by Monsieur Le Clerc Done into English Octavo A Political Essay or Summary Review of the Kings and Government of England since the Norman Conquest By W. P y Esq. Octavo The Art of preserving and restoring Health explaining the Nature and Causes of the Distempers that afflict Mankind Also shewing that every man is or may be his own best Physician To which is added a Treatise of the most Simple and Effectual Remedies for the Diseases of Men and Women Written in French by M. Flamand M. D. and faithfully translated into English Twelves A Defence of the Thirty Nine Articles of the Church of England Written in Latin by I. Ellis S. T. D. Now done into English To which are added Lambeth Articles Together with the Judgment of Bishop Andrews Dr. Overall and other Eminent and Learned Men upon them Twelves The Present State of Christendom consider'd in Nine Dialogues between 1. The present Pope Alexander VIII and Lewis XIV 2. The Great Duke of Tuscany and the Duke of Savoy 3. King Iames II. and the Mareschal de la Feâ—illade 4. The Duke of Lorrain and the Duke of Schonberg 5. The Duke of Lorrain and the Elector Palatine 6. Lewis XIV and the Marquis of Louvois 7. The Advoyer of Berne and the Chief Syndic of Geneva 8. Cardinal Ottoboni and the Duke de Chaulnes 9. The Young Prince Abafti and Count Teckley Done out of French Octavo Bellamira or the Mistress A Comedy As it is Acted by Their Majesties Servants Written by the Honourable Sir Charles Sedley Baronet
he frequently ask'd it and particularly in a Printed Letter of his to Cecil The Honour of Knighthood though often prostituted since was in so great Esteem in her Reign that a Gentleman of Lincolnshire having rais'd Three hundred men for her Service at Tilbury Camp upon his own Interest told his Wife at parting That he hop'd thereby to deserve the Queen's Favour so far as that she should be a Lady at his Return She had a particular Friendship for Henry the Fourth of France and to her in a great measure he ow'd his Crown She never laid any thing more to heart than his changing his Religion And it was a long time before she could be brought to believe it But when she receiv'd the Account of it from himself all her Constancy fail'd her and in the Agony of her Grief snatching a Pen she writ him a short Expostulatory Letter worthy of her self Appendix Numb 4. and of that melancholy occasion which is related in the Appendix This her Grief says her Historian she sought to allay by reading the Sacred Scriptures and the Writings of the Fathers and even the Books of Philosophers translating about that time for an Amusement Boethius de Consolatione Philosophiae into Elegant English The only Action that seems to reflect upon her Memory was the Death of Mary Queen of Scots The Affair of Mary Stuart Q. of Scots There had been an Emulation betwixt them of a long standing occasioned at first by the latter's assuming the Arms and Title of Queen of England which it 's no wonder Queen Elizabeth highly resented A great many other Accidents did contribute to alienate their Affections But when it fell out that every day produc'd some new Conspiracy against the Life of Queen Elizabeth and that in most of them the Queen of Scots was concern'd either as a Party or the Occasion Queen Elizabeth was put upon a fatal Necessity of either taking off the Queen of Scots or exposing her own Person to the frequent Attempts of her Enemies With what Reluctancy Queen Elizabeth was brought to consent to her Death and how she was deceiv'd at last in Signing the Warrant for her Execution by the over diligence of her Secretary and Privy-Council Cambden her Celebrated Historian has given us a very full and impartial Account Yet Queen Elizabeth is not altogether excusable in this matter for Queen Mary came into England upon a Promise made her long before Queen Elizabeth sent her once a Ring and at the same time a Message That if at any time she wanted her Protection she might be assured of it and the Token betwixt them was Queen Mary's sending her back the same Ring That Unfortunate Princess seeing her Affairs desperate in Scotland dispatch'd a Letter to Queen Elizabeth with the Ring to put her in mind of her Promise but without waiting for an Answer she came into England the very next day They were both to be pitied the one for her Sufferings and the other for being the Cause of them And I have seen several Letters in the Cotton-Library of Queen Mary's Hand to Queen Elizabeth writ in the most moving Strain that could be most of them in French being the Language she did generally write in There was one particularly wherein she tells her That her long Imprisonment had brought her to a Dropsical Swelling in her Legs and other Diseases that for the Honour of her Sex she â—orbears to commit to Paper And concludes thus Your most Affectionate Sister and Cousin and the most miserable Princess that ever wore a Crown When such Letters as these had no influence upon Queen Elizabeth it may reasonably be concluded That nothing but Self-Preservation could oblige her to carry her Resentments so far as she did To sum up the Character of this Renowned Queen in a few words She found the Kingdom at her coming to the Throne in a most afflicted condition embroil'd on the one side with a Scotch and on the other with a French War the Crown overcharg'd with her Father's and Brother's Debts its Treasure exhausted the People distracted with different Opinions in Religion her self without Friends with a controverted Title and strengthen'd with no Alliance abroad After one of the longest Reigns that ever was she died in Peace leaving her Countrey Potent at Sea and Rich in People and Trade her Father's and her Brother's Debts paid the Crown without any Incumbrance a great Treasure in the Exchequer the Coin brought to a true Standard Religion settled upon a regular and lasting Basis her self having been admir'd and fear'd by all her Neighbouring Princes and her Friendship courted by Monarchs that had scarce ever before any further knowledge of England but the Name So that her Successor had good reason to say of her That she was one who in Wisdom and Felicity of Government surpass'd all Princes since the days of Augustus After all To the Reproach of those she had made great and happy she was but ill attended in her last Sickness and near her Death forsaken by all but three or four Persons every body making haste to adore the Rising Sun With Queen Elizabeth dy'd in a great part the Glory and Fortune of the English Nation and the succeeding Reigns serv'd only to render hers the more Ilustrious As she was far from invading the Liberties of her Subjects so she was careful to maintain and preserve her own just Prerogative nor did ever any Prince that sat upon the English Throne carry the true and essential parts of Royalty further But at the same time the whole Conduct of her Life plac'd her beyond the Suspicion of ever having sought Greatness for any other end than to make her People share with her in it It was not so with the Prince that succeeded her The Reign of K. Iames. He was the more fond of Prerogative because he had been kept short of it in his Native Country He grasp'd at an Immoderate Power but with an ill Grace and if we believe the Historians of that time with a design to make his People little If so he had his Wish for from his first Accession to the Crown the Reputation of England began sensibly to sink and Two Kingdoms which disunited had made each of them apart a considerable Figure in the World now when united under one King fell short of the Reputation which the least of them had in former Ages The latter Years of King Iames fill'd our Annals with little else but Misfortunes at home and abroad The Loss of the Palatinate and the Ruin of the Protestants in Bohemia through his Negligence the Trick that was put upon him by the House of Austria in the business of the Spanish Match and the continued Struggle betwixt him and his Parliament about Redress of Grievances were things that help'd on to lessen his Credit abroad and imbitter the Minds of his Subjects at home Repenting of these unlucky Measures too late King Iames went off
to Confusion was nothing strange Nor was Serjeant Wild's Introduction at the opening of his Charge any thing but what might have been expected at such a time when he told the Lorâ—s That it might be said of the Great Cause of the Archbishop of Canterbury as it was in a like Case Repertum est hodierno die facinus quod nec Poeta fingere nec Histrio sonare nec Mimus imitari potuer it But it was indeed strange and none of the least of this Great Man's Misfortunes That Three Years before he should be declar'd by the House of Commons a Traytor Nemine contradicente at a time when there was not the least Misunderstanding betwixt the King and Parliament being within the first Month after they sat down And which was yet stranger That no body was more severe upon him than some of those that afterwards took the King's Part against the Parliament and were at last the chief Instruments of his Son's Restoration Whoever reads Sir Harbottle Grimstone's Speech upon voting his Impeachment or Pym's upon carrying it up to the Lords will be apt to think That scarce any Age has produc'd a Man whose Actions and Conduct have been more obnoxious to Obloquy or given greater occasion for it There was one Thread that run through his whole Accusation and upon which most of the Articles of his Impeachment turn'd and that was his Inclination to Popery and his design to introduce the Romish Religion Of which his Immortal Book against Fisher and his Declaration at his Death do sufficiently acquit him And yet not Protestants only but even Roman-Catholicks themselves were led into this Mistake otherwise they would not have dar'd to offer one in his Post a Cardinal's Cap as he confesses in his Diary they did twice The Introduction of a great many Pompous Ceremonies into the Church the Licensing some Books that spoke favourably of the Church of Rome and the refusing to License others that were writ against it were the principal Causes of his being thus misrepresented And indeed his Behaviour in some of these matters as likewise in the Star-Chamber and High-Commission-Court can hardly be accounted for and particularly his Theatrical manner of Consecrating a New Church in London Appendix Numb 7. related at length in the Appendix He was certainly in spite of Malice a Man of an elevated Capacity and vast Designs a great Encourager of Learning and Learned Men and spar'd no Pains nor Cost to enrich England with such a Noble Collection of Books and Manuscripts in most Languages as look'd rather like the Bounty of a King than of a Subject As he left behind him many lasting Monuments of his Beneficence to the Learned World so was he in a way to have carry'd it much further if his Misfortunes had not interven'd and depriv'd Learning of so powerful a Benefactor But after all as there is seldom found a Mind so Great but has some Allay so it seems Archbishop Laud notwithstanding his excellent Endowments was not Proof against either the Impression of Dreams or Revenge of Personal Affronts though never so trivial in themselves nor the Person never so mean Of the one witness his taking so particular notice in his Diary of several of his Dreams and of the other his carrying his Resentments so far against Archie the King's Fool for a mere Iest that he had him turn'd out of Court by an Order of Council Which being so unaccountable a piece of Weakness in so great a Man and done at a full Board the King and the Archbishop present the Order is plac'd in the Appendix Appendix Numb 8. for a remarkable Instance how far the Greatest of Men may at some times be left without a Guard against Passion To return to King Charles he did every thing that was possible to give satisfaction to the Parliament or could be reasonably expected from a Gracious and Beneficent Prince He pass'd the Bill for Attainting the Earl of Strafford though with reluctancy as believing he deserv'd not such hard measure He took away Monopolies that had been a great Discouragement to Trade He express'd himself to their Contentment in the matters of Loan Ship-money Tunnage and Poundage and other unwarrantable Methods that had been us'd in raising Money and show'd a settled Resolution to comply with them in every thing that might tend to the Ease and Security of the Subject As in the preceding Parliament he had past the Petition of Right so in the beginning of this he had agreed to the Acts for Triennial Parliaments and for abolishing the Star-Chamber and High Commission Courts which had been great Grievances and with Chearfulness pass'd that Act which seem'd inconsistent with his own just Prerogative That that Parliament should not be dissolv'd but by Act of Parliament nor prorogu'd or adjourn'd but by their own Consent The King having upon these Concessions receiv'd the Publick Thanks of Both Houses and the loud Applauses of his People took a Journey for Scotland in August 1641. to settle matters there that requir'd his Presence leaving the Parliament sitting which they continued to do for some time and then adjournâ—d themselves to October following At the King 's going away Affairs had been already settled betwixt the two Kingdoms by an Act of Pacification and both Armies order'd to be disbanded the Scots returning home for that purpose While the King was in Scotland The Irish Rebellion the Irish Rebellion broke out which became a new Bone of Contention between the King and the Parliaments of both Nations He took what Measures were possible in Scotland about suppressing that Rebellion and made what haste he could back to England to concert with the Parliament there what was further to be done towards it leaving the Scots as he said himself a contented People and every thing settled to their mind both in Church and State He return'd to London the latter end of November and was receiv'd with all demonstrations of Affection The Lord-Mayor and Aldermen the Nobility Gentry and Train'd-Bands met him without the City and conducted him in great State with the Acclamations of the People the City-Companies in their Formalities lining the Streets on each side to Guildhall where he was Royally Feasted and after Dinner conducted with the same Pomp to Whitehall What man that had seen a Prince thus receiv'd into his Capital City could have imagin'd that within less than Seven Weeks he should be oblig'd to leave it upon the account of Tumults never to see it again but as a Prisoner brought thither to dye upon a Scaffold Yet this was King Charles's hard Fortune And it 's here I would willingly draw a Veil over the remaining part of his Reign that ended in one of the most dismal Tragedies that ever was acted upon the English Stage His Virtues and Morals deserv'd a better Fate and he suffer'd for the Faults of others rather than Errors of his own The House of Commons had begun some
of Horse whence by degrees he rose to be Lieutenant-General under the Earl of Manchester In which Post he was the chief Instrument together with Lieutenant General Lesley of gaining the Battel of Marston-Moor which prov'd the first remarkable Stop to the King's Success Some time after the Earl of Manchester having refus'd to give an Order to Cromwell to charge a Party of Horse where the King was personally present he came up to London to complain against him though he ow'd his Advancement chiefly to his Favour Which the Earl having notice of and being by this time weary of a War of which he foresaw the fatal Consequences he took that opportunity to lay down his Command wherein he was succeeded by Cromwell Sir Thomas Fairfax also laying down his Commission some time after he was declar'd General of all the Forces rais'd or to be rais'd by the Parliament and having modell'd the Parliament and Army to his mind he dismiss'd the former when he had no more use for them and upon their forc'd Resignation he assum'd the Supreme Power under the Title of Protector Being thus mounted to so high a Pinacle of Fortune he became more formidable both at Home and Abroad than most Princes that had ever sat upon the English Throne And it was said that Cardinal Mazarine would change Countenance whenever he heard him nam'd so that it pass'd into a Proverb in France That he was not so much afraid of the Devil as of Oliver Cromwell He had a Manly stern Look and was of an Active Healthful Constitution able to endure the greatest Toil and Fatigue Though Brave in his Person yet he was Wary in his Conduct for from the time he was first declar'd Protector he always wore a Coat of Mail under his Cloaths His Conversation among his Friends was very diverting and familiar but in publick reserv'd and grave He was sparing in his Diet though sometimes would drink freely but never to Excess He was moderate in all other Pleasures and for what was visible free from Immoralities especially after he came to make a Figure in the World He writ a tolerable good Hand and a Stile becoming a Gentleman except when he had a mind to wheedle under the Mask of Religion which he knew nicely how to do when his Affairs requir'd it He affected for the most part a Plainness in his Cloaths but in them as well as in his Guards and Attendance he appear'd with Magnificence upon Publick Occasions No man was ever better serv'd nor took more pains to be so As he was severe to his Enemies so was he beneficent and kind to his Friends And if he came to hear of a Man fit for his purpose though never so obscure he sent for him and employ'd him suiting the Employment to the Person and not the Person to the Employment And upon this Maxim in his Government depended in a great measure his Success In matters of greatest Moment he trusted none but his Secretary Thurlo and oftentimes not him An Instance of which Thurlo us'd to tell of himself That he was once commanded by Cromwell to go at a certain hour to Grays-Inn and at such a place deliver a Bill of Twenty thousand Pound payable to the Bearer at Genoa to a Man he should find walking in such a Habit and Posture as he describ'd him without speaking one word Which accordingly Thurlo did and never knew to his dying day either the Person or the Occasion At another time the Protector coming late at Night to Thurlo's Office and beginning to give him directions about something of great Importance and Secrecy he took notice that Mr. Moreland one of the Clerks afterward Sir Samuel Moreland was in the Room which he had not observ'd before and fearing he might have over-heard their Discourse though he pretended to be asleep upon his Desk he drew a Ponyard which he always carried under his Coat and was going to dispatch Moreland upon the Spot if Thurlo had not with great Intreaties prevail'd with him to desist assuring him that Moreland had sat up two Nights together and was now certainly asleep There was not the smallest Accident that befel King Charles the Second in his Exile but he knew it perfectly well insomuch that having given leave to an English Nobleman to Travel upon condition he should not see Charles Stuart he ask'd him at his Return If he had punctually obey'd his Commands Which the other affirming he had Cromwell replied It 's true you did not see him for to keep your Word with me you agreed to meet in the dark the Candles being put out for that end And withal told him all the Particulars that pass'd in Conversation betwixt the King and him at their Meeting That he had Spies about King Charles The Business of Dunkirk was not strange but his Intelligence reach'd the most secret Transactions of other Princes and when the Matter was communicated to but very few Of which we have a notable Instance in the Business of Dunkirk There was an Article in the Treaty between France and the Protector That if Dunkirk came to be taken it should be immediately deliver'd up to the English and his Ambassador Lockhart had Orders to take Possession of it accordingly When the French Army being join'd with the English Auxiliaries was in its March to Invest the Town Cromwell sent one Morning for the French Ambassador to Whitehall and upbraided him publickly for his Master 's design'd Breach of Promise in giving secret Orders to the French General to keep Possession of Dunkirk in case it was taken contrary to the Treaty between them The Ambassador protested he knew nothing of the matter as indeed he did not and begg'd leave to assure him that there was no such thing thought of Upon which Cromwell pulling a Paper out of his Pocket Here says he is the Copy of the Cardinal's Order And I desire you to dispatch immediately an Express to let him know That I am not to be impos'd upon and that if he deliver not up the Keys of the Town of Dunkirk to Lockhart within an hour after it shall be taken tell him I 'll come in Person and demand them at the Gates of Paris There were but Four Persons said to be privy to this Order the Queen-Mother the Cardinal the Mareschal de Turenne and a Secretary whose Name it is not fit at this time to mention The Cardinal for a long time blam'd the Queen as if she might possibly have blabb'd it out to some of her Women Whereas it was found after the Secretary's Death That he had kept a secret Correspondence with Cromwell for several Years and therefore it was not doubted but he had sent him the Copy of the Order above-mention'd The Message had its effect for Dunkirk was put into the Possession of the English And to palliate the matter the Duke and Mareschal of Crequy was dispatch'd into England Ambassador Extraordinary to Compliment Cromwell attended with
declare himself in his Life-time If he had any design of introducing Popery he knew the Temper of the Nation too well to imagine it could be brought about in a short time or by such open and barefac'd Methods as his Brother was pleas'd afterwards to put in practice But the truth is King Charles was neither Bigot enough to any Religion nor lov'd his Ease so little as to embark in a Business that must at least have disturb'd his Quiet if not hazarded his Crown The Romish Emissaries knowing this were resolv'd to make sure of one of the Brothers And the Duke was now the Rising Sun King Charles having no prospect of Issue by the Queen It was not the Roman-Catholiâ—ks alone that began to pay him their Early Devotions there were others that came nothing short of them in their Addresses to him He had in the time of his Banishment and after the Restoration acquir'd the Reputation of being Brave and skill'd in the Art of War Flanders and the Ocean were the Theatres on which he had given unquestionable Proofs of both having Commanded the Spanish Horse in the one and the English Fleet on the other From a Prince thus possess'd of a Warlike Character and thus devoted to the See of Rome it was no wonder the Roman Catholicks expected and the Protestants fear'd some extraordinary Change in England if ever he should come to wear the Crown And therefore as it was the Interest of the first to have him upon the Throne so it was equally the Interest of the latter to exclude him from it It 's said King Charles came in at first to the Bill of Exclusion or seem'd to do so The Favourite Mistress was prevail'd with from secret Motives and Prospects of her own to concur with others in persuading him to abandon his Brother and waving the Duke's Right to accept of an Act of Parliament in his own favour like that made in the Reign of Henry VIII by which he should have a Power invested in him to dispose of the Crown at his Death under such Restrictions and Limitations as should be agreed on Whether any such Act was really intended it 's hard to determine but it 's certain such an Offer was made to King Charles with a Promise of a considerable Sum of Money towards the supplying his pressing Wants It 's likewise certain that King Charles seem'd willing to accept of it till it happen'd that a Foreign Court whose Interest it was to support the Duke of York struck up a Bargain with the King to give him more Money for refusing than had been offer'd him for consenting to the Bill of Exclusion Some time before the Popish Plot came upon the Stage King Charles had been prevail'd with to Marry the Eldest of his Nieces to the Prince of Orange as he did afterwards the Youngest to the Prince of Denmark The happiest Actions of his Life and by which he made a sufficient Attonement for all the Errors of his Reign It were Ingratitude to enquire too narrowly into the Motives that induc'd him to these Matches It 's enough to entail a lasting Honour on his Name that he did it and did it against the Advice of his Brother and in spight of all the Sollicitations that were made to him from Abroad to marry them to Princes of the Romish Religion The Parliament had in their view the Princess of Orange in the Bill of Exclusion and it was She and the Prince her Husband that were to have fill'd the Throne upon the Death of their Uncle But King Charles either not daring or not willing to consent to the Bill he dissolv'd both that and the next Parliament at Oxford merely to ward off the Blow that threaten'd his Brother After the Dissolution of the Oxford Parliament King Charles shew'd but little Inclination to call any more and was prevail'd with to enter into harsher Measures than hitherto he had taken and which seem'd contrary to his Natural Goodness and Temper The Charters of the City of London and other Corporations stood in the way of an Absolute Government and it was resolv'd to break through this Barrier In order to which Quo Warranto's were brought against them and in progress of time they were either surrendred by the Corporations themselves or vacated in Westminster-Hall by a Set of Iudges pickt out for that purpose And it was resolv'd thereby to make one of the Estates of Parliament depend entirely upon the Will and Nomination of the Prince While these Quo Warranto's were going on whole Peals of Anathema's were rung out against those Patriots that had stood up for the Liberties of their Countrey in the preceding Parliaments And it was look'd upon as a Crime against the State for any one to regret the approaching Fate of his Countrey Even the Holy Scriptures themselves were made a Stale for Arbitrary Power and the Laws which were given to the Iews as they were a Political State were now brought in upon every occasion to countenance the Designs of the Court. As if those Laws which were intended only to support the Political Government of the Iews were the real Foundation of the Christian Religion or that the Constitution of England was founded upon the Iewish Doctrine All which was not much for the Honour of those Gentlemen that broach'd that Notion This was a Time never to be forgot when to wish well to our Countrey was a Crime and when Heaven it self was rank'd upon our Enemies side by some that pretended to expound its Will In some places a new kind of Funeral Harangues came in fashion Our Laws our Liberties our Parliaments our Native Rights were to be buried but instead of dropping a Tear at their Funeral fulsom Panegyricks were made upon their Murtherers and Curses denounc'd against those that would have retriev'd them from Destruction All these Transactions were attended with the Publick Disgrace of the Duke of Monmouth The Disgrace of the Duke of Monmouth and its Consequences This Gentleman stood possess'd of all the Qualities requisite to gain the Love of the People and stir up the Jealousy of the Duke of York King Charles had heap'd Honours upon him and nothing pleas'd him so much as to see him Great He had been sent to Scotland in the Year 1678 to suppress an Insurrection which the Severity of Lauderdale's Administration had occasion'd where his Lenity towards a People made by Oppression mad gain'd him the ill will of a Predominant Party at Court The Zeal he shew'd some time after in the prosecution of the Popish Plot and his Friendships with some that were profess'd Enemies to the Duke concurr'd to his Fall Yet King Charles still continued underhand the same Tenderness for him though he was declar'd in Publick to be in Disgrace The Duke's Faction at home and a Foreign Interest abroad were too powerful for King Charles to grapple with even though the Fortune of a Favourite Son was at stake The more he was
many years together without hope of relief if God had not by his over-ruling Providence given some interruption to the prevailing Power and Counsel of those who were the Authors and Promoters of such peremptory and heady Courses Judges have been put out of their Places for refusing to do against their Oaths and Consciences Others have been so awed that they durst not do their duties and the better to hold a Rod over them the Clause quam diu se bene gesserint was left out of their Patents and a new Clause durante bene placito inserted Lawyers have been check'd for being faithful to their Clients Sollicitors and Attornies have been threatned and some punished for following lawful Suits And by this means all the approaches to Justice were interrupted and forecluded New Oaths have been forced upon the Subject against Law new Judicatories erected without Law The Council-Table have by their Orders offered to bind the Subjects in their Freeholds Estates Suits and Actions The pretended Court of the Earl Marshal was Arbitrary and Illegal in its Being and Proceedings The Chancery Exchequer-Chamber Court of Wards and other English Courts have been grievous in exceeding their Jurisdiction The Estate of many Families weaken'd and some ruin'd by excessive Fines exacted from them for Compositions of Wardships All Leases of above a hundred Years made to draw on Wardship contrary to Law Undue proceedings used in the finding of Offices to make the Jury find for the King The Common-Law Courts seeing all men more inclined to seek Justice there where it may be fitted to their own desire are known frequently to forsake the Rules of the Common-Law and straining beyond their bounds under pretence of Equity to do Injustice Titles of Honour Judicial Places Serjeant-ships at Law and other Offices have been sold for great Sums of Money whereby the common Justice of the Kingdom hath been much endanger'd not only by opening a way of Employment in places of great Trust and Advantage to men of weak Parts but also by giving occasion to Bribery Extortion Partiality It seldom happening that Places ill-gotten are well used Commissions have been granted for examining the excess of Fees and when great Exactions have been discovered Compositions have been made with Delinquents not only for the time past but likewise for immunity and security in offending for the time to come which under colour of remedy hath but confirmed and increased the Grievance to the Subject The usual course of pricking Sheriffs not observed but many times Sheriffs made in an extraordinary way sometimes as a Punishment and Charge unto them sometimes such were prick'd out as would be Instruments to execute whatsoever they would have to be done The Bishops and the rest of the Clergy did triumph in the Suspensions Excommunications Deprivations and Degradations of divers painful learned and pious Ministers in the vexation and grievous oppression of great numbers of his Majesty's good Subjects The High Commission grew to such excess of sharpness and severity as was not much less than the Romish Inquisition and yet in many cases by the Archbishop's Power was made much more heavy being assisted and strengthen'd by Authority of the Council-Table The Bishops and their Courts were as eager in the Countrey and although their Jurisdiction could not reach so high in rigor and extremity of Punishment yet were they no less grievous in respect of the generality and multiplicity of Vexations which lighting upon the meaner sort of Tradesmen and Artificers did impoverish many Thousands and so afflict and trouble others that great numbers to avoid their miseries departed out of the Kingdom some into New-England and other parts of America others into Holland where they have transported their Manufactures of Cloath which is not only a loss by diminishing the present Stock of the Kingdom but a great Mischief by impairing and endangering the loss of that peculiar Trade of Cloathing which hath been a plentiful Fountain of Wealth and Honour to this Nation Those were fittest for Ecclesiastical Preferment and soonest obtained it who were most officious in promoting Superstition most virulent in railing against Godliness and Honesty The most publick and solemn Sermons before his Majesty were either to advance Prerogative above Law and decry the Property of the Subject or full of such kind of Invectives whereby they might make those odious who sought to maintain the Religion Laws and Liberties of the Kingdom and such men were sure to be weeded out of the Commission of the Peace and out of all other Employments of Power in the Government of the Countrey Many Noble Personages were Counsellors in Name but the Power and Authority remained in a few of such as were most addicted to this Party whose Resolutions and Determinations were brought to the Table for countenance and execution and not for debate and deliberation and no man could offer to oppose them without disgrace and hazard to himself Nay all those that did not wholly concur and actively contribute to the furtherance of their Designs though otherwise Persons of never so great Honour and Abilities were so far from being employed in any place of Trust and Power that they were neglected discountenanced and upon all occasions injured and oppressed This Faction was grown to that height and entireness of Power that now they began to think of finishing their Work which consisted of these Three parts 1. The Government must be set free from all Restraint of Laws concerning our Persons and States 2. There must be a Conjunction betwixt Papists and Protestants in Doctrine Discipline and Ceremonies only it must not yet be called Popery 3. The Puritans under which Name they include all those that desire to preserve the Laws and Liberties of the Kingdom and to maintain Religion in the Power of it must be either rooted out of the Kingdom with force or driven out with fear For the effecting of this it was thought necessary to reduce Scotland to such Popish Superstitions and Innovations as might make them apt to join with England in the great Change which was intended Whereupon new Canons and a new Liturgy were prest upon them and when they refused to admit of them an Army was raised to force them to it towards which the Clergy and the Papists were very forward in their Contribution The Scots likewise raised an Army for their defence And when both Armies were come together and ready for a bloody Encounter his Majesty 's own gracious Disposition and the Counsel of the English Nobility and dutiful Submission of the Scots did so far prevail against the evil Counsel of others that a Pacification was made and his Majesty returned with Peace and much Honour to London The unexpected Reconciliation was most acceptable to all the Kingdom except to the Malignant Party whereof the Archbishop and the Earl of Strafford being Heads they and their Faction begun to inveigh against the Peace and to aggravate the Proceedings of the States which so incensed
his Majesty that he forthwith prepared again for War And such was their Confidence that having corrupted and distempered the whole Frame and Government of the Kingdom they did now hope to corrupt that which was the only means to restore all to a right frame and temper again to which end they persuaded his Majesty to call a Parliament not to seek Counsel and Advice of them but to draw Countenance and Supply from them and engage the whole Kingdom in their Quarrel and in the mean time continued all their unjust Levies of Money resolving either to make the Parliament pliant to their Will and to establish mischief by a Law or else to break it And with more colour to go on by Violence to take what they could not obtain by Consent the Ground alledged for the Justification of this War was this That the undutiful Demands of the Parliament of Scotland was a sufficient Reason for his Majesty to take Arms against them without hearing the Reason of those Demands And thereupon a new Army was prepared against them their Ships were seized in all Ports both of England and Ireland and at Sea their Petitions rejected their Commissioners refused Audience This whole Kingdom most miserably distemper'd with Levies of Men and Money and Imprisonments of those who denied to submit to those Levies The Earl of Strafford pass'd into Ireland caused the Parliament there to declare against the Scots to give four Subsidies towards that War and to engage themselves their Lives and Fortunes for the prosecution of it and gave directions for an Army of Eight thousand Foot and One thousand Horse to be levied there which were for the most part Papists The Parliament met upon the 13 th of April 1640. The Earl of Strafford and Archbishop of Canterbury with their Party so prevailed with his Majesty that the House of Commons was prest to yield to a Supply for maintenance of the War with Scotland before they had provided any Relief for the great and pressing Grievances of the People which being against the Fundamental Privilege and proceeding of Parliament was yet in humble Respect to his Majesty so far admitted as that they agreed to take the matter of Supply into Consideration and two several days it was debated Twelve Subsidies were demanded for the Release of Ship-money alone a third day was appointed for conclusion when the Heads of that Party begun to fear the People might close with the King in satisfying his desire of Money but that withal they were like to blast their malicious designs against Scotland finding them very much indisposed to give any countenance to that War Thereupon they wickedly advised the King to break off the Parliament and to return to the ways of Confusion in which their own evil Intentions were most like to prosper and succeed After the Parliament ended the fifth of May 1640 this Party grew so bold as to counsel the King to supply himself out of his Subjects Estates by his own Power at his own Will without their Consent The very next day some Members of both Houses had their Studies and Cabinets yea their Pockets searched Another of them not long after was committed close Prisoner for not delivering some Petitions which he received by Authority of that House And if harsher courses were intended as was reported it is very probable that the sickness of the Earl of Strafford and the Tumultuous Rising in Southwark and about Lambeth were the Causes that such violent Intentions were not brought to execution A false and scandalous Declaration against the House of Commons was published in his Majesty's Name which yet wrought little effect with the People but only to manifest the Impudence of those who were Authors of it A forced Loan of Money was attempted in the City of London The Lord Mayor and Aldermen in their several Wards enjoined to bring in a List of the Names of such Persons as they judged fit to lend and of the Sum they should lend And such Aldermen as refused so to do were committed to Prison The Archbishop and the other Bishops and Clergy continued the Convocation and by a new Commission turned it to a Provincial Synod in which by an unheard-of presumption they made Canons that contain in them many matters contrary to the King's Prerogative to the Fundamental Laws and Statutes of the Realm to the Right of Parliaments to the Property and Liberty of the Subject and matters tending to Sedition and of dangerous consequence thereby establishing their own Usurpations justifying their Altar-Worship and those other Superstitious Innovations which they formerly introduced without warrant of Law They imposed a new Oath upon divers of his Majesty's Subjects both Ecclesiastical and Lay for maintenance of their own Tyranny and laid a great Tax upon the Clergy for Supply of his Majesty and generally they shewed themselves very affectionate to the War with Scotland which was by some of them stiled Bellum Episcopale and a Prayer composed and enjoined to be read in all Churches calling the Scots Rebels to put the two Nations into Blood and make them irreconcileable All those pretended Canons and Constitutions were armed with the several Censures of Suspension Excommunication Deprivation by which they would have thrust out all the good Ministers and most of the well-affected People of the Kingdom and left an easy Passage to their own Design of Reconciliation with Rome The Popish Party enjoined such Exemptions from the Penal Laws as amounted to a Toleration besides many other Encouragements and Court-Favours They had a Secretary of State Sir Francis Windebank a powerful Agent for the speeding of all their desires a Pope's Nuncio residing here to act and govern them according to such influences as he received from Rome and to intercede for them with the most powerful concurrence of the Foreign Princes of that Religion By his Authority the Papists of all sorts Nobility Gentry and Clergy were convocated after the manner of a Parliament new Jurisdictions were erected of Romish Archbishops Taxes levied another State moulded within this State independent in Government contrary in Interest and Affection secretly corrupting the ignorant or negligent Professors of our Religion and closely uniting and combining themselves against such as were sound in this posture waiting for an opportunity by force to destroy those whom they could not hope to seduce For the effecting whereof they were strengthen'd with Arms and Munition encouraged by superstitious Prayers enjoined by the Nuncio to be Weekly made for the prosperity of some great design And such power had they at Court that secretly a Commission was issued out intended to be issued to some Great Men of that Profession for the levying of Soldiers and to command and employ them according to private Instructions which we doubt were framed for the advantage of those who were the Contrivers of them His Majesty's Treasure was consumed his Revenue anticipated his Servants and Officers compelled to lend great Sums of Money
may be heard as our great Patroness against that Haman whose Pride and Ambition of being honoured as his Master may have hitherto kept us in Slavery And though we wish none the fate of so dreadful an Example but rather a timely Penitence and Conversion we yet humbly crave your Majesty's Protection against all such if it may consist with your Royal Wisdom and Pleasure to which we with all humility submit in the establishing of the said Earl of Tyrconnel in such Authority here as may secure us in the Exercise of our Function to the Honour of God and offering up our Prayers and Sacrifice for the continuation of your Majesty's long and prosperous Reign over us Dublin the of July 1685. Your Majesty's most Dutiful and Obedient Subjects NUMB. XXII Colonel Luttrel's Order State of Ireland c. p. 430 431. forbidding above Five Protestants meeting any where c. By the Governor of Dublin June 18. 1690. WHereas several Disaffected Persons of the Protestant Religion are of late come to this City of Dublin and some of them Arm'd with Swords Pistols and other Weapons contrary to his Majesties express Commands by his Royal Proclamation bearing Date the 20 th day of Iuly 1689. I. These are therefore to Will and Require all Men whatsoever of the Protestant Religion now residing or being within the said City of Dublin or within the Liberties of St. Sepulchre Donnor or Thomas Court who are not House-keepers or have not followed some lawful Vocation therein these Three Months past to depart within Twenty four Hours after the Publication hereof out of the said City and Liberties and repair to their respective Habitations or usual places of Abode in the Country upon pain of Death or Imprisonment and to be farther proceeded against as Contemners of his Majesties Royal Commands and as Persons designing the Disturbance of the Publick Peace II. And likewise That all Protestants within the said City and Liberties not being of his Majesties most Honourable Privy Council nor in his Army or actual Service shall within the time aforesaid deliver up all their Arms both Offensive and Defensive aud all their Ammunition into his Majesties Stores in the said City upon pain of Death III. And that no Protestant whatsoever do presume at his peril to walk or go in the Streets from Ten of the Clock at Night till Five in the Morning nor at any time when there is an Alarum In which case all such Persons are required for their Safety and for the Security of the Publick to keep within Doors till such an Alarum is over IV. â—nd Lastly For the prevention of Riotâ— and unâ—awful Assemblies These are therefore to Will and Require all the said Protestants that no greater number of them than Five shall Meet and Converse at any time either in any House within the said City or Liberties over and above the Family of the House or in the Streets and Fields in or about the same or elsewhere Hereby declaring That all Persons who shall offend against any Clause in this present Order shall suffer Death or such other Punishment as a Court-Martial shall think fit NUMB. XXIII The French King's Declaration Memoirs pour servir a l' Histoire de la Paiâ— de Ryswick par Du Mont. Tom. 2 p. 66 67. publish'd at his Camp at Arnheim to oblige the Hollanders to surrender their Country to him Anno 1672. De par le Roy. SA Majesté considerant combien il a plû à Dieu de benir ses justes desseins faire prosperer les enterprises qu'il a faites depuis son arrivée à la Campagne Et voulant traiter avec la derniere douceur les Peuples des Provinces où elle pourra étendre ses Victoires afin de leur faire scavoir ce qu'ils auront à faire pour se rendre dignes de ses bontez sa Majesté a fait déclarer déclare par la presente que tous les Habitans des Villes de Hollande qui se rendront volontairement à son obéïssance recevront les Troupes qu'elle trouvera bon de leur envoyer pour leur sûreté pour leur défense seront non seulement traitez aussi favorablement qu'ils pourtroient desirer mais aussi seront maintenus dans tous leurs Privileges Franchises auront toute liberté de conscience avec le libre exercice de leur Religion Mais au contraire que ceux quine se vou dront pas soûmettre de quelque qualité ou condition qu'ils soient tâcheront de resister aux forces de sa Majesté par l'inondation de leurs Digues ou autrement seront punis de la derniere rigueur Et cependant on exercera toutes sortes d' hostilitez contre tous ceux qui voudront s'opposer aux desseins de sa Majesté lors que les glaces ouvriront le passage de tous côtez sa Majesté ne donnera aucun Quartier aux Habitans des Villes mais donnera ordre que leurs biens soient pillez leurs maisons brûlées Fait à l' Armée devant Aernhem ce 24 Iuin 1672. Signé LOUIS Et plus bas Le Tellier The Declaration HIS Majesty considering how it has pleas'd God to bless his just Designs and prosper his Vndertakings since his Arrival in the Army and it being his Intention to treat the People over whom he shall extend his Victories with the highest Clemency to the intent therefore that they may deserve his great Goodness his Majesty has caused to be declared and does by these presents declare That all the Inhabitants of the Cities of Holland who shall voluntarily submit to him and receive the Troops he shall send for their Security and Defence shall be treâ—ted as favourably as they can desire and shall be maintained in all their Privileges and Immunities and have Liberty of Conscience and the Free Exercise of their Religion On the contrary All of whatever Quality and Condition who shall refuse to comply with these Offers and shall resist his Majesty's Forces either by the Inundation of their Diâ—â—es or otherwise shall be punished with the utmost Rigor At present all â—â—stilities shall be used against those who oppose his Majesty's Designs and when the Ice shall open a Passage on all sides his Majesty will not give any Quarter to the Inhabitants of such Cities but give Order that their Goods be plunder'd and their Houses burnt Given at the Camp before Arnheim this 24th of Iune 1672. Sign'd LOUIS And underneath La Tellier FINIS Books Printed for and Sold by Tim. Goodwin THE History of the Revolution in Portugal in the Year 1640 or an Account of their Revolt from Spain and setting the Crown on the Head of Don Iohn of Braganza Father to Don Pedro the present King and Katherine Queen Dowager of England Written in French by the Excellent Pen of the Abbot Vertat Author of the History of the Revolutions in Sueden and
and among other Motives brought them Engagements in writing from most of the greatest Peers of England to join with them and assist them when they should come into England with their Army This did much animate them for they had not the least doubt of the Papers brought them But all this was discover'd at the Treaty of Rippon to have been a base Forgery For there the Scâ—ttish Lords looking very sullenly upon some of the English Lords as on Persons of no Faith or Truth the Lord Mandevil came to the Earl of Rothes and asked the reason of that change of their Countenances and Behaviour in them who after some high Reflections at length challeng'd him and the other Lords of not keeping what they engag'd to them Upon which that Lord stood amaz'd and told him and so did the other Lords there That they had sent no such Messages nor Papers to them and that they had been abus'd by the blackest Imposture that ever was Thus it appear'd concludes this Author how dangerous it may be to receive some things that seem to have the highest probabilities in them easily and upon trust To leave this Subject it may not be improper to add another Passage out of the same Book where that Reverend Prelate speaking of the Inâ—lucements that prevail'd with the Scots to come into the Assistance of the Parliament Three Years after tells us That among other Arguments That Paper which was sent down in the Year 1640 as the Engagement of Twenty eight of the Peers of England for their Concurrence with the Scottish Army that Year was shown to divers to engage them into a grateful Return to those to whom it was pretended they were so highly oblig'd For though the Earl of Rothes and a few more were well satisfied about the Forgery of that Paper yet they thought that a Secret of too great Importance to be generally known therefore it was still kept up from the Body of the Nation To shut up what relates to K. Charles I. K. Charles's thoughts of Resigning the Crown to his Son After the Treaty of Newport was broke off and he once more carried away by the Army he found his Case was desperate and thereupon began to have some Thoughts of Resigning the Crown to the Prince of Wales as the only means in that unhappy Condition to preserve it for his Family But before he had time to digest this Resolution or an opportunity to acquaint the Parliament with it he was hurried on to his Trial. The last day of that Trial he earnestly propos'd That before Sentence pass'd he might be heard before the Lords and Commons in the Painted Chamber where he had something to offer for the Peace of the Kingdom and the Liberty of the Subject which might settle all differences It is probable he meant by this to have resign'd the Crown which his Enemies having some Intimation of and fearing it might be accepted they were the more forward to proceed to Sentence and Execution Likewise some days before his Death About setting up the Duke of Gloucester King the prevailing Party had thoughts of setting up the Duke of Gloucester King This was not kept so secret but King Charies had some notice of it for the Duke and his Sister having leave to wait upon him the Night before the Execution he took the Young Duke in his Arms and told him They were going to take off his Father's Head and may be they would set the Crown upon his Head which he forbad him to accept of while his Two Elder Brothers were Living There befel him an Accident which though a Trifle in it self and that no Weight is to be laid upon any thing of that nature yet since the best Authors both Ancient and Modern have not thought it below the Majesty of History to mention the like it may be the more excusable to insert it The King being at Oxford during the Civil Wars went one day to see the Publick Library where he was show'd among other Books a Virgil nobly Printed and exquisitely bound The Lord Falkland to divert the King would have his Majesty make a Trial of his Fortune by the Sortes Virgilianae His consulting the Sortes Virgilianae which every body knows was an usual kind of Augury some Ages past Whereupon the King opening the Book the Period which happen'd to come up was that part of Dido's Imprecation against Aeneas which Mr. Dryden translates thus Yet let a Race untam'd and haughty Foes His peaceful Entrance with dire Arms oppose Oppress'd with Numbers in th' unequal Field His Men discourag'd and himself expell'd Let him for Succonr sue from place to place Torn from his Subjects and his Son's embrace First let him see his Friends in Battel slain And their untimely Fate lament in vain And when at length the cruel War shall cease On hard Conditions may he buy his Peace Nor let him then enjoy Supreme Command But fall untimely by some hostile Hand And lye unburi'd in the common Sand. It is said K. Charles seem'd concern'd at this Accident and that the Lord Falkland observing it would likewise try his own Fortune in the same manner hoping he might fall upon some Passage that could have no relation to his Case and thereby divert the King's Thoughts from any Impression the other might have upon him But the place that Falkland stumbled upon was yet more suited to his Destiny than the other had been to the King 's being the following Expressions of Evander upon the untimely Death of his Son Pallas as they are translated by the same Hand O Pallas thou hast fail'd thy plighted Word To fight with Reason not to tempt the Sword I warn'd thee but in vain for well I knew What Perils Youthful Ardor would pursue That boiling Blood would carry thee too far Young as thou were 't in Dangers raw to War O curst Essay of Arms disast'rous Doom Prelude of Bloody Fields and Fights to come To return to our History Upon the Death of King Charles I. there was a Total Eclipse of the Royal Family for Twelve Years During a great part of which time an unusual Meteor fill'd the English Orb and with its surprizing Influences over-aw'd not only Three Kingdoms but the powerfullest Princes and States about us A Great Man he was and Posterity might have paid a just Homage to his Memory if he had not embrued his Hands in the Blood of his Prince or had not usurp'd upon the Liberties of his Countrey It being as natural a Curiosity in mankind to know the Character of a Fortunate Vsurper as of a Lawful King it may not perhaps be much amiss to say something of Oliver Cromwell By Birth he was a Gentleman The Usurpation and Character of Oliver Cromwell and bred up for some time at the Vniversity though nothing of a Scholar When the Civil Wars broke out he took the Parliaments Side and his first Employment in the Army was a Captain