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A96210 Refractoria disputatio: or, The thwarting conference, in a discourse between [brace] Thraso, one of the late Kings colonels. Neutralis, a sojourner in the city. Prelaticus, a chaplain to the late King. Patriotus, a well-willer to the Parliament. All of them differently affected, and disputing on the subjects inserted after the epistle, on the dissolution of the late Parliament, and other changes of state. T. L. W. 1654 (1654) Wing W136; Thomason E1502_1; ESTC R208654 71,936 174

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bodies and in divers ways the more to distract our Armies where you ought to remember that this State hath both in Scotland and the adjacent parts a very considerable force to encounter these Invaders but admit again that the King advances so far as York though you cannot imagine but that he will be fought with twice or thrice over before he comes thither with fresh men and not unlikely rebeaten as at all places he hath been but let us again admit that he s●rmounts all difficulties both by Sea and Land and becomes victorious and triumphantly marches towards London and that the States Force cannot withstand him and that on the noise of such sad news the prevailing party as you are pleased to stile them being confound●d with terrour betake themselves to their heels as their ultimum refugium and the best way to shist for themselves and that after this all is left to the Kings absolute disposement as all this not impossible but exceeding improbable what then on such sudden change of fortune think you may be the issnes thereof and what advantage either to your party or the generality of the people and all Countries through which his Armies shall march and Quarter accompaned with so many Nations dive●sly affected Prel I confess the people must ne●essarily suffer and haply in a greater measure then hitherto they have done yet am I confident his Majesty will be very sensible of their sufferings and in prevention of their farther oppression and for settling of all things will immediately call a new Parliament and reduce it to the antient Form and Institution of the three Estates King Lords Spiritual and Temporal with the Commons and then commit all things to a sober legal and Parliamentary discussion and in what manner restitution may be made of his own Lands and goods the Churches Patrimony with the many other loosers of his own party and after all this in detestation of the foulness of the late War and bloodshed to bu●y all discontents and heart-burnings as Judge Jenkins very j●diciously proposes in an Act of Oblivion with free pardon to all except some special persons that had a principal hand in his Fathers death and for all other of his Subjects to spare and cherish them in what possible his affaits will permit Patri Doctor excuse me since I utterly dissent from your opinion for it stands not with reason or with the Kings then present affaires to take a piece of that course which you suppose and should he be willing there would be so many of the old Cavalry attending his person as well Natives as Forraigners which would thrust in to be served and gratified that he should not be suffered to put in practise a title of that which is by you so vainly surmised but you may build upon 't he would take a clean contrary course and such a one as the necessity of his then urgent occasions would inforce and not tie up himself to his own disadvantage by an Act of Oblivion which necessarily must disable him either to help himself or friends when the power is in his hands to do what he pleaseth and carve as he listeth Prel Since you are so diffident of his Majesties good nature and intentions towards his Subjects tell us I beseech you what you conceive he will do for the speedy settling of peace and amity through the three Kingdoms Patri May I obtain your lice●ce and a favourable construction of that which I shall deliver I will tender my opinion and leave you all to make your own judgments thereon In the first place I believe that whereas then he comes in by the sword in order to his necessities he would rule by the sword and by an Army with Garrisons throughout the Land as now the States upon the point do and must do if they mean to go through stitch with their work and thenceforth begin a new Government as in like manner the States here intend to do the Laws of the Land which under the present power the people yet enjoy as they were wont to do in quiet and peaceable times would necessarily be subverted and turn'd topsie-turvie and such introduced in their room as should best sute with the will and pleasure of a Prince that comes in by Conquest and by the same power will have them to be no other then agrees with his Affairs and resolutions or as they are in France if not worse and more absolute where a single paper signed under the Kings hand hath the same efficacy as an Act of Parliament in England and in order to this you must expect that his mercenary Souldiers must and would be remembred If you demand in what I answer with the whole plunder of London as the readiest means to give them all content for their service and if this seem strange to you I pray call to minde that in the late Kings time when no occasion of wars or raising of Armies in any reason were necessary to be levied but such as our late Grandees the Earl of Strafford Canterbury and Cottington would have to be raised against the Scots that Earl spake it openly at the Councel-Table 1640 and to no other man then the Lord Mayor Sir Henry Garway and others of the Aldermen upon their refusing to lend the king 100000 l. for the Scotch War It will never do well says he till the King hangs half a dozen of you Aldermen and then put the whole City to ransome Which was proved against him at his Arraignment neither did the king forbear the seizing of the Mint for supply of that needless War so that 't is evident when Princes have power they will make no scruple to act any thing that conduceth to their designs or to take all things where they can finde it as 't is well known he did in the late barbarous War neither will it be impertinent to put you in remembrance of another instance of this kinde when at or before the beginning of the War the king took his journey towards Scotland and overtook the Scotch Army in their march homewards 1641 where he dealt with the principal Commanders to turn head on the Parliament in reward whereof they should have the plunder of London with Jewels for security an overture which some of them were not so dishonest as to conceal but gave notice thereof to the City and their own Commissioners then here residing Now if you farther demand What the present Pretender would do in the pre-supposed case I shall again answer you that in reason of State which with Kings and Conquerors hath an Of the miserable condition that will befal the Nation especially the City of London in case the Scots Pretender comes in by the sword immense latitude he would and could do no less then to take present order for the satisfaction of his Country-men the Scots as also for gratifying the proscribed and fugitive Lords Cavaleers both English Scotch and Irish which first
Parliament observed at the Earls tryal that the Laws were the boundaries and measures betwixt the Kings Prerogative and the peoples Liberty But whether the king throughout the whole course of the late destructive War and ●ome years before was not a prompt disciple in the Deputies doctrine I leave to Royalists to make their own judgement And whether that which after befell the king and his Fathers house was not rather of the justice of heaven then of men I leave to the judgement of all the world Sure we are the best Jurists maintain Si Rex hostili animo arma contra populum gesserit amittet Regnum which is that if a King with an hostile intent shall raise Arms against his people he loseth or forfeits his kingdom Now that the late king assumed to himself such a Royal power as to raise Arms against the great Councel of the Land I suppose no man in his right wits can deny Its most true a moderate Royal power to rule by the Laws is doubtless of Gods Ordinance but a Tyrannical power to cut their throats I am sure is of no Divine Institution and a Dominion fitter for beasts then men yet this is that power which Royalists would have fastned on the king and too many there are which constantly believe that the more injury was done him that he had it not as by the Laws of the Land they erroneously conceive he ought to have had The Power of the Militia how the Kings BRiefly now to the Militia and what kinde of power our kings by the Laws of England have had therein It hath been often told the late king all along the late Controversie that the power of the Militia was in him no other then fiduciary and not at his absolute dispose or that at his own will and pleasure he might pervert the Arms and strength of the kingdom from their proper use and against the intent of the Law as ' its visibly known he did even to the highest breach of trust wherein a king could be intrusted Now for proof that this power was onely fiduciary and by Statute Law first confer'd on * Anno 7. Edw. 1. apud Westminster Edw. 1. in trust and not his by the Common Law is most apparent by the Express words of the Statute it self which as they are commonly inserted were onely for the the defence of the Land and safety of the people salus populi being that grand Law and end of all Laws now such as are verst in our Historie know that this Prince was one of the most magnanimous kings that ever swayd the English Scepter and therefore it cannot be imaginable that he would clip his own power and so great a right belonging to him by the Common Law in accepting a less by Statute Law to his own loss of power or that ever he would have assented thereunto by an after Act of his own as follows in haec verba viz. Whereas on sundry complaints made to us by the Lords and Commons in this present Parliament that divers of the standing Bands have been removed and taken out of their respective Counties by vertue of our Commissions and sent to us out of their Shires into Scotland Gascoyn and Gwoyn and other parts beyond the Seas contrary to the Laws of the Land c. Our Soveraign Lord willeth that it shall be done so no more Agreeable to this we finde Anno 1. Edw. 3d. viz. The King willeth that no man henceforth be charged to arm otherwise then he was wont in time of our Progenitors the Kings of England and that no man be compell'd to go out of his Shire but where necessity requireth and the sudden coming in of strange Enemies into the Realm And in the same kings time there being a peace concluded between him and the French king wherein the Duke of Britain was included whom the French king shortly thereupon invaded whereof complaint was made to king Edward he instantly summons a Parliament and there moves the Lords and Commons both for their advice and assistance whereupon it was concluded that the king should be expeditiously supply'd in ayd of the Britton but the Act was made with such provisoes and restrictions as Royallists happily and others of late years would have deemed them too dishonourable and unbefitting the late kings acceptance howsoever this Act shews that the ordering of the Militia of those times was not solely left to the kings disposure but that which is of more note was that both the Treasure then granted was committed to certain persons in trust to be issued to the onely use for which it was given as also that no Treaty or any new peace or agreement with the French King should be made without the consent and privity of the Parliament By these instances all Royalists may make a clear judgement that the Militia of those times and the power of the Arms of the Kingdom were never so absolutely conferr'd on our kings as that their power therein extended to such a latitude as they might use them as they pleased and to turn that power provided for the onely defence of the people against themselves and therefore wheresover we finde the Militia by other Statutes conferr'd and yeelded to the disposal of our kings without any particular mention of the word trust which is necessarily imply'd or exprest in most of the Statutes or their preambles viz. * Note that these words viz. for the defence of the Realm or common profit are afore inserted ●ither in the Stat. themselves or in their preamb. In these wotds For the honour of God the Church common profit of the Realm or defence of our people No man in common reason can conceive the Militia to be such an inseparable flower of the Crown as if it had been brought into the world with the King and chain'd unto him as his birth-right but onely as a permissive power recommended unto him by the people in their Representatives as the most eminent and illustrious person to be intrusted with such choyce weapons in trust and confidence that he will use them no otherwise then to the end for which-they were concredited unto him as the Soveraign of the people and for their onely safety and defence which trusted him in honour of his person and place Many other Statutes there are though some of them repealed which prove the Militia is onely fiduciary and not absolutely inherent to the Crowns of our Kings Now for our conclusion of this senceless illegal Prerogative as to the absolute power thereof let us in a word take notice of the destructive consequence admitting this power should be left to the Kings absolute disposure it then follows that he may take all that the Subject hath for he that hath the power of the sword on the same ground may command the purse which the late King not onely intended but practised witness the many great sums of money plate jewels and other moveables whatsoever
us reason this case amongst our selves in moderation and with patience and let the first Quere be whether the States Government as 't is now setled or shortly may be with our present Contributions for payment of their Armies wil not be more safe and easie for the people then the Scotch Pretenders coming in by force of Arms to assume the Kingly Government Since by a peaceable and conditional way I suppose he will never be admitted So that Doctor without all question he hath no choice left him but that of the sword and then judge you of the issue and into what a lamentable condition the poor Natives will necessarily be reduced when the right of the crown comes again to be disputed on English ground the king as you would have him being personally present And after this Quere Let us compute the hopes helps strengths and assistances whereon both parties may dep●nd for support of each others cause For one battel either by Sea or Land happily will not determine the controversie as t was conceived by some that one battel as that at Edghill in the begining of the late wars would decide the business which proved to be like the pullulation of the Monster Hidra's head which begot others in infinitum and when the late King was in person in the head of his A●my Of the hopes assistances and Forces which the Scotch King may have to recover the Kingly Government compared with the strengths the States have to maintain the present Government argued on all hands I say then Let us make an ●stimate of the forces and assistances of each party which on a due examination and on consideration of that which must necessarily follow when at once as we may conjecture two four or happily six several Armies may be in the field will be so far from easing or d●sburchening of the people that what by free Quartering and inforcing of contributions by one or the other party that the Natives will curse the time that ever your King came amongst them Now Gentlemen do one of you tell me what Forces and Assistances as you conceive the King may have or presume upon for I believe he will come short of his expectation in receiving any considerable Assistance either from the Scotch or Irish and then I will tell you that which all men and your selves do know to be most true what the States here have and may have as well in their present power by Sea and Land as by their Politique managery in fastning friends unto them whereby to make good the present establishment Colonel You being a Souldier and not unlikely having better Intelligence from abroad then any of us what preparations the Scots King hath in forraign parts what friends at home and elsewhere begin you if you please and I will rejoyn Thraso With all my heart In the first place I 'le assure you that since the death of the late King my Royal Master his Majesty that now is whom the States here would exclude hath ten friends for one more then he had before thoughout the three Kingdoms so much your States have gotten by the bargains in Martyring their King neither ought you to believe but that the King hath both in Scotland and Ireland a very considerable party that will joyn with him as soon as he arrives and not a few even in the City of London which expect a good time though they lie still and quiet however the King hath their hearts and will have their hands on all fitting occasions Besides He hath at his devotion all the Catholikes and most of the Clergy of England with all the Lords so lately and Injuriously thrust out of their house together with the better part of the Members of the Commons house pul●ed out by the ears by the Independent Souldery all which refused to take the Engagement and when time serves will appear in Arms for him besides all the The Scotch Pretenders hopes in assistance for recovery of the Crown summed up old Royal party Banished the Realm for their fidelity to their old Master Thus much for the ayds and assistances his Majesty may relie on from his own Subjects And as to his forraign assistance you may rest assured that all the Princes through Christendom when the time serves will engage for him since it stands them upon so to do Neither may you doubt but that all the Princes his neer Kinsmen and Allyes will furnish him plentifully with all sorts of Ammunition and the Hollanders with shipping so soon as they have mastered the Seas and made all things ready for an Invasion for believe it as an evident truth that in the present quarrel by Sea between them and this State the Kings Interest is involved and will be pursued notwithstanding their late brush which they reckon not of neither of a few inconsiderable Ships they having enough of others to recrute in a trice so that you may evidently see that as soon as time serves the King cannot want men and for mony good Swords and Pistols will fetch it in with a vengeance Whence you may discern what an unwildy task the late piece of a Parliament and these new sprang-up States have undertaken and what will necessarily befall them through their own divisions when the King appears in power as of that you may be sure he will sooner then you think on then you shall see a world of the Parliaments friends to fall from them for their own sakes will fight for him and probable it is that a good number of the States Souldiers now in their pay on his Majesties landing with another manner of equipage then all of you are aware of will run from them to him with all their hearts as their indubitable Lord Soveraign Partri Colonel you have indeed succinctly summ'd up what Forces as you surmise the King may have and expect both at home and from abroad wherein you are very much mistaken and do reckon without your host you speak rather what you would have then in reason what the King can have still discovering your malignant heart and flattering your self as most of your party use to do with vain and imaginary hopes not considering how the late King notwithstanding all his wyles and attifices fail'd in all his designs and practises and at last brought him self and his friends to utter ruine to the great detriment and desolation of three Kingdoms still soothing up himself with the goodness of his cause which was as bad as bad might be to the last gaspe neither take you the least notice of Gods providence in the disposure of this wonderful work and change of Affairs neither the continued series of the many mitaculous Victories which it hath pleased God to give to the States Armies wherein the very hand of the Almighty is most perspicuous to all good men but to you and your complices hidden and unseen even to obduracy and hardning of your hearts The