consent to abolish the Episcopal Government Octob. 2. 1648. p. 612 II. The Answer of the Divines to His Majesty's Reason Octob. 3. ibid. III. His Majesty's Reply to their Paper Octob. 6. 616 IV. The Rejoynder of the Divines to His Majesty's Reply Octob. 17. 621 V. His Majesty's final Answer concerning Episcopacy Nov. 1. 1648. 634 ΕΙΚΩΠΒΑΣΙΛΙΚΗ I. UPon His Majesty's calling this last Parliament page 647 II. Upon the Earl of Strafford's Death 648 III. Upon His Majesty's going to the House of Commons 650 IV. Upon the Insolency of the Tumults 651 V. Upon His Majesty's passing the Bill for Triennial Parliaments And after setling this during the pleasure of the Two Houses 654 VI. Upon His Majesty's Retirement from Westminster 656 VII Upon the Queens departure and absence out of England 658 VIII Upon His Majesty's Repulse at Hull And the Fates of the Hothams 659 IX Upon the Listing and Raising Armies against the King 661 X. Upon their seising the King's Magazines Forts Navy and Militia 665 XI Upon the Nineteen Propositions first sent to the King And more afterwards 667 XII Upon the Rebellion and Troubles in Ireland 671 XIII Upon the calling in of the Scots and their coming 674 XIV Upon the Covenant 677 XV. Upon the many Jealousies raised and Scandals cast upon the King to stir up the People against Him 680 XVI Upon the Ordinance against the Common Prayer-Book 684 XVII Of the Differences between the King and the Two Houses in point of Church-Government 687 XVIII Upon Vxbridge Treaty and other Officers made by the King 692 XIX Upon the various Events of the War Victories and Defeats 694 XX. Upon the Reformation of the Times 696 XXI Vpon His Malesty's Letters taken and divulged 699 XXII Upon His Majesty's leaving Oxford and going to the Scots 701 XXIII Upon the Scots delivering the King to the English and His Captivity at Holdenby 702 XXIV Upon their denying His Majesty the Attendance of His Chaplains 703 XXV Penitential Meditations and Vows in the King's Solitude at Holdenby 707 XXVI Upon the Armies Surprisal of the King at Holdenby and the ensuing Distractions in the Two Houses the Army and the City 708 XXVII To the Prince of Wales 710 XXVIII Meditations upon Death after the Votes of Non-Addresses and His Majesty's closer Imprisonment in Carisbrook-Castle 716 THE LIFE OF CHARLES I. CHARLES I. King of Great Britain France and Ireland was the Son of James VI. King of Scots and Anne his Wife a Daughter of Denmark By His Father descended to Him all the Rights together with their blood of all our Ancicient both Saxon and Norman Kings to this Empire For the Lady Margaret Sister and sole Heir of Edgar Atheling the last surviving Prince of the English Saxons being married to Malcolme Conmor King of Scots conveyed to his Line the Saxon and Margaret Daughter of Henry VII married to James IV. did bring the Norman titles and blood From this Imperial Extract He received not more Honour than He gave to it For the blood that was derived to Him elaborated through so many Royal Veins He delivered to Posterity more maturated for Glory and by a constant practice of Goodness more habituated for Vertue He was born at Dunfermeling one of the principal Towns of Fife in Scotland on Nov. 19th An. 1600. An. 1600 in so much weakness that his Baptism was hastened without the usual Ceremonies wherewith such Royal Infants are admitted into the Church Providence seeming to consecrate Him to Sufferings from the Womb and to accustome Him to the exchange of the strictures of Greatness for clouds of Tears There was no Observation nor Augury made at His Birth concerning the Sequel of His Life or course of Fortune which are usually related of such whose lives have different occurrences from those in others of the same state Either the fear of His Death made those about Him less observant of any Circumstances which curious minds would have formed into a Prediction He appearing like a Star that rises so near the Point of his Setting that it was thought there would be no time for Calculation Or He being at distance by his Birth from the Succession to the Crown Prince Henry then having the first hopes made men less sollicitous to enquire of His future state on whom being born to a private Condition the Fate of the Kingdom did not depend But in the third Year of His age when King James was preparing himself to remove to the English Throne a certain Laird of the Highlands though of very great age came to the Court to take his leave of him whom he found accompanied with all his Children After his address full of affectionate and sage Advice to which his gray hairs gave authority to the King An. 1602 his next application was to Duke CHARLES for in the Second year of his Age he was created Duke of Albany Marquess of Ormond Earl of Rosse and Baron of Ardmanock whose hands he kiss'd with so great an ardency of affection that he seem'd forgetful of a separation The King to correct his supposed mistake advised him to a more present observance of Prince Henry as the Heir of his Crown of whom he had taken little notice The old Laird answered that he knew well enough what he did and that It was this Child who was then in His Nurses arms who should convey his name and memory to the succeeding ages This then was conceived dotage but the event gave it the credit of a Prophecy and confirmed that Opinion That some long-experienced souls in the World before their dislodging arrive to the height of prophetick Spirits When he was three years old He was committed to the Care and Governance of Sir Cary's Lady An. 1603 as a reward for being the first Messenger of Queen Elizabeth's death whose long life had worn the expectation of the Scotish Nobility into a suspicion that the Lords of England would never acknowledge her to be dead as long as there was any old Woman of that Nation that could wear good cloaths and personate the Majesty of a Queen In the fourth Year An. 1604 after he had wrestled with a Feaver He was brought in October to the English Court at Windsor where on the Jan. 6. following having the day before been made Knight of the Bath He was invested with the Title of Duke of York An. 1606 and in the sixth Year was committed to the Pedagogie of Mr Thomas Murray a Person well qualified to that Office though a favourer of Presbytery Under this Tutor and confined to a retiredness by the present weakness of his Body He was so diligent and studious that He far advanced in all that kind of Learning which is necessary for a Prince without which even their natural Endowments seem rough and unpleasant in despight of the splendour of their Fortune His proficiency in Letters was so eminent that Prince Henry taking notice of it to put a Jest upon Him one day put the Cap
it but if I cannot get this Liberty I do protest That these fair shews of Liberty and Peace are pure shews and that you will not hear your King Bradshaw Sir you have now spoken KING Yes Sir Bradshaw And this that you have said is a further declining of the Jurisdiction of this Court which was the thing wherein you were limited before KING Pray excuse Me Sir for My interruption because you mistake Me. It is not a declining of it you do judge Me before you hear Me speak I say it will not I do not decline it though I cannot acknowledge the Jurisdiction of the Court yet Sir in this give Me leave to say I would do it though I did not acknowledge it in this I do protest it is not the declining of it since I say if that I do say any thing but that that is for the Peace of the Kingdom and the Liberty of the Subject then the shame is Mine Now I desire that you will take this into your Consideration if you will I will withdraw Bradshaw Sir this is not altogether new that you have moved unto us not altogether new to us though the first time in person you have offered it to the Court. Sir you say you do not decline the Jurisdiction of the Court. KING Not in this that I have said Bradshaw I understand you well Sir but nevertheless that which you have offered seems to be contrary to that saying of yours for the Court are ready to give a Sentence It is not as you say That they will not hear their King for they have been ready to hear you they have patiently waited your pleasure for three Courts together to hear what you would say to the Peoples Charge against you to which you have not vouchsafed to give any Answer at all Sir this tends to a further Delay Truly Sir such Delays as these neither may the Kingdom nor Justice well bear You have had three several days to have offered in this kind what you would have pleased This Court is founded upon that Authority of the Commons of England in whom rests the Supreme Jurisdiction That which you now tender is to have another Jurisdiction and a co-ordinate Jurisdiction I know very well you express your self Sir That notwithstanding that you would offer to the Lords and Commons in the Painted Chamber yet nevertheless you would proceed on here I did hear you say so But Sir that you would offer there whatever it is must needs be in delay of the Justice here so as if this Court be resolved and prepared for the Sentence this that you offer they are not bound to grant But Sir according to that you seem to desire and because you shall know the further pleasure of the Court upon that which you have moved the Court will withdraw for a time This he did to prevent the disturbance of their Scene by one of their own Members Colonel John Downes who could not stifle the reluctance of his Conscience when he saw his Majesty press so earnestly for a short hearing but declaring himself unsatisfied forced them to yield to the King's Request KING Shall I withdraw Bradshaw Sir You shall know the pleasure of the Court presently The Court withdraws for half an hour into the Court of Wards Serjeant at Arms. The Court gives command that the Prisoner be withdrawn and they give order for his return again Then withdrawing into the Chamber of the Court of Wards their business was not to consider of his Majesties desire but to Chide Downes and with reproaches and threats to harden him to go through the remainder of their Villany with them Which done they return and being sate Bradshaw commanded Serjeant at Armes send for your Prisoner Who being come Bradshaw proceeded Sir you were pleased to make a motion here to the Court to offer a desire of yours touching the propounding of somewhat to the Lords and Commons in the Painted Chamber for the Peace of the Kingdom Sir you did in effect receive an Answer before the Court adjourned truly Sir their withdrawing and adjournment was pro forma tantùm for it did not seem to them that there was any difficulty in the thing They have considered of what you have moved and have considered of their own Authority which is founded as hath been often said upon the supreme Authority of the Commons of England assembled in Parliament the Court acts accordingly to their Commission Sir the return I have to you from the Court is this That they have been too much delayed by you already and this that you now offer hath occasioned some little further Delay and they are Judges appointed by the highest Authority and Judges are no more to delay than they are to deny Justice they are good words in the Great old Charter of England Nulli negabimus nulli vendemus nulli deferemus Justitiam there must be no delay But the truth is Sir and so every man here observes it that you have much delayed them in your Contempt and Default for which they might long since have proceeded to Judgment against you and notwithstanding what you have offered they are resolved to proceed to Sentence and to Judgment and that is their unanimous Resolution KING Sir I know it is in vain for Me to dispute I am no Sceptick for to deny the Power that you have I know that you have Power enough Sir I must confess I think it would have been for the Kingdoms Peace if you would have taken the pains for to have shewn the Lawfulness of your Power For this Delay that I have desired I confess it is a Delay but it is a Delay very important for the Peace of the Kingdom for it is not My Person that I look at alone it is the Kingdoms Welfare and the Kingdoms Peace It is an old Sentence That we should think on long before we resolve of great matters suddenly Therefore Sir I do say again that I do put at your doors all the inconveniency of a hasty Sentence I confess I have been here now I think this Week this day eight dayes was the day I came here first but a little Delay of a day or two further may give Peace whereas a hasty Judgment may bring on that Trouble and perpetual Inconveniency to the Kingdom that the Child that is unborn may repent it And therefore again out of the Duty I owe to God and to My Country I do desire that I may be heard by the Lords and Commons in the Painted Chamber or any other Chamber that you will appoint Me. Bradshaw You have been already answered to what you even now moved being the same you moved before since the Resolution and the Judgment of the Court in it And the Court now requires to know whether you have any more to say for your self than you have said before they proceed to Sentence KING I say this Sir That if you hear Me if you will give
wish that they may repent for indeed they have committed a great Sin in that particular I pray God with Saint Stephen that this be not laid to their charge Nay not only so but that they may take the right way to the Peace of the Kingdom For My Charity commands me not only to forgive particular men but My Charity commands Me to endeavour to the last gasp the Peace of the Kingdom So Sirs I do wish with all My Soul and I do hope there is some here will carry it further that they may endeavour the Peace of the Kingdom Now Sirs I must shew you both how you are out of the way and will put you in a way First you are out of the way For certainly all the way you ever have had yet as I could find by any thing is in the way of Conquest Certainly this is an ill way For Conquest Sir in My opinion is never just except there be a good just Cause either for matter of Wrong or just Title and then if you go beyond it the first quarrel that you have to it that makes it unjust at the end that was just at the first But if it be only matter of Conquest then it is a great Robbery as a Pirate said to Alexander that He was the great Robber he was but a petty Robber And so Sir I do think the way that you are in is much out of the way Now Sir for to put you in the way believe it you will never do right nor God will never prosper you until you give God his Due the King his Due that is My Successors and the People their Due I am as much for them as any of you You must give God his due by regulating rightly his Church according to his Scripture which is now out of order For to set you in a way particularly now I cannot but only this A National Synod freely called freely debating among themselves must settle this when that every Opinion is freely and clearly heard For the King indeed I will not Then turning to a Gentleman that touched the Axe He said Hurt not the Axe that may hurt Me. For the King the Laws of the Land will clearly instruct you for that therefore because it concerns My Own particular I only give you a touch of it For the People And truly I desire their Liberty and Freedom as much as any body whomsoever but I must tell you that their Liberty and Freedom consists in having of Government those Laws by which their Life and their Goods may be most their own It is not for having share in Government Sir that is nothing pertaining to them a Subject and a Soveraign are clear different things And therefore until they do that I mean that you do put the People in that Liberty as I say certainly they will never enjoy themselves Sirs It was for this that now I am come here If I would have given way to an Arbitrary way for to have all Laws changed according to the power of the Sword I needed not to have come here and therefore I tell you and I pray God it be not laid to your charge that I am the Martyr of the People In troth Sirs I shall not hold you much longer for I will only say this to you That in truth I could have desired some little time longer because that I would have put this that I have said in a little more order and a little better digested than I have done and therefore I hope you will excuse Me. I have delivered My Conscience I pray God that you do take those courses that are best for the good of the Kingdom and your own Salvation Then the Bishop said Though it be very well known what Your Majesty's affections are to the Protestant Religion yet it may be expected that You should say somewhat for the Worlds satisfaction in that particular Whereupon the King replied I thank you very heartily My Lord for that I had almost forgotten it In troth Sirs My Conscience in Religion I think is very well known to all the World and therefore I declare before you all That I die a Christian according to the Profession of the Church of England as I found it left Me by My Father and this honest man I think will witness it Then turning to the Officers he said Sirs Excuse Me for this same I have a good Cause and I have a gracious God I will say no more Then to Colonel Hacker He said Take care that they do not put Me to pain And Sir this and it please you But a Gentleman coming near the Axe the King said Take heed of the Axe pray take heed of the Axe And to the Executioner He said I shall say but very short Prayers and when I thrust out My hands Then He called to the Bishop for His Cap and having put it on asked the Executioner Does My Hair trouble you Who desired Him to put it all under His Cap which as he was doing by the help of the Bishop and the Executioner He turned to the Bishop and said I have a good Cause and a gracious God on My side The Bishop said There is but one Stage more which though turbulent and troublesome yet is a very short one You may consider it will soon carry You a very great way it will carry You from Earth to Heaven and there You shall find to Your great joy the prize You hasten to a Crown of Glory The King adjoyns I go from a corruptible to an incorruptible Crown where no disturbance can be no disturbance in the world Bishop You are exchanged from a Temporal to an Eternal Crown A good Exchange Then the King asked the Executioner Is My Hair well And taking off His Cloak and George He delivered His George to the Bishop saying Remember Then putting off His Doublet and being in His Wast-coat He put on His Cloak again and looking upon the Block said to the Executioner You must set it fast Execut. It is fast Sir KING It might have been a little higher Execut. It can be no higher Sir KING When I put out My hands this way then Then having said a few words to Himself as He stood with hands and eyes lift up immediately stooping down He laid His Neck upon the Block and the Executioner again putting His Hair under His Cap His Majesty thinking he had been going to strike bad him Stay for the Sign Execut. Yes I will and it please Your Majesty After a very short pause His Majesty stretching forth his hands the Executioner at one blow severed His Head from His Body Which being held up and shewed to the People was with His Body put into a Coffin covered with black Velvet and carried into His Lodging His Blood was taken up by divers persons for different ends by some as Trophies of their Villany by others as Reliques of a Martyr and in some hath had the
and all their Jealousies and apprehensions which may lessen their Charity to each other and then if the Sins of this Nation have not prepared an inevitable Judgment for us all God will yet make Us a Great and a Glorious King over a Free and Happy People MDCXLI To the Kings most Excellent Majesty and the Lords and Peers now assembled in Parliament The humble PETITION and PROTESTATION of all the Bishop and Prelates now called by His Majesties Writs to attend the Parliament and present about London and Westminster for that service THat whereas the Petitioners are called up by several and respective Writs and under great Penalties to attend in Parliament and have a clear and indubitate Right to vote in Bills and other matters whatsoever debatable in Parliament by the Ancient Customes Laws and Statutes of this Realme and ought to be protected by Your Majesty quietly to attend and prosecute that great Service They humbly remonstrate and protest before God Your Majesty and the Noble Lords and Peers now assembled in Parliament That as they have an indubitate Right to sit and vote in the House of the Lords so are they if they may be protected from Force and Violence most ready and willing to perform their Duties accordingly and that they do abominate all Actions or Opinions tending to Popery and the maintenance thereof as also all propension and inclination to any Malignant party or any other side or party whatsoever to the which their own Reasons and Consciences shall not move them to adhere But whereas they have been at several times violently Menaced Affronted and Assaulted by multitudes of people in their coming to perform their services in that Honourable House and lately chased away and put in danger of their lives and can find no redress or protection upon sundry complaints made to both Houses in these particulars They likewise humbly protest before Your Majesty and the Noble House of Peers That saving unto themselves all their Rights and Interests of Sitting and Voting in that House at other times they dare not Sit or Vote in the House of Peers until Your Majesty shall further secure them from all Affronts Indignities and Dangers in the premisses Lastly Whereas their Fears are not built upon Phantasies and Conceits but upon such Grounds and Objects as may well terrifie men of good Resolutions and much Constancy they do in all humility protest before Your Majesty and the Peers of that most Honourable House of Parliament against all Laws Orders Votes Resolutions and Determinations as in themselves Null and of none effect which in their absence since the twenty seventh of this instant Month of December 1641. have already passed as likewise against all such as shall hereafter pass in that most Honourable House during the time of this their forced and violent absence from the said most Honourable House Not denying but if their absenting of themselves were wilful and voluntary that most Honourable House might proceed in all these premisses their Absence or this their Protestation notwithstanding And humbly beseeching Your most Excellent Majesty to command the Clerk of that House of Peers to enter this their Petition and Protestation among his Records They will ever pray to God to bless and preserve c. Jo. Eborac Thomas Duresme Rob. Co. Lich. Jos Norwich Jo. Asaphen Guil. Ba. Wells Geo. Hereford Rob. Oxon. Mat. Ely Godfr Glouc. Jo. Peterburg Mor. Llandaff MDCXLI Jan. 3. ARTICLES of HIGH TREASON and other High Misdemeanours against the Lord Kimbolton Mr. Denzil Hollis Sir Arthur Hesilrig Mr. John Pym Mr. John Hambden and Mr. William Stroude I. THAT they have traitorously endeavoured to subvert the Fundamental Laws and Government of the Kingdom of England to deprive the King of His Regal Power and to place in Subjects an Arbitrary and Tyrannical power over the Lives Liberties and Estates of His Majesties Liege People II. That they have traitorously endeavoured by many foul Aspersions upon His Majesty and His Government to alienate the Affections of His People and to make His Majesty odious unto them III. That they have endeavoured to draw His Majesties late Army to disobedience to His Majesties Commands and to side with them in their Traitorous Designs IV. That they have traitorously invited and encouraged a foreign Power to invade His Majesties Kingdom of England V. That they have traitorously indeavoured to subvert the Rights and very Being of Parliaments VI. That for the compleating of their Traitorous Designs they have indeavoured as far as in them lay by force and Terror to compel the Parliament to joyn with them in their Traitorous Designs and to that end have actually raised and countenanced Tumults against the King and Parliament VII That they have traitorously conspired to levy and actually have levied War against the King MDCXLII Jun. 2. PROPOSITIONS made by both Houses of Parliament to the KINGS Majesty for a Reconciliation of the Differences between His Majesty and the said Houses YOUR Majesties most humble and faithful Subjects the Lords and Commons in Parliament having nothing in their thoughts and desires more pretious and of higher esteem next to the Honour and immediate Service of God then the just and faithful Performance of their Duty to Your Majesty and this Kingdom and being very sensible of the great Distractions and Distempers and of the imminent Dangers and Calamities which those Distractions and Distempers are like to bring upon Your Majesty and Your Subjects all which have proceeded from the subtle Insinuations mischievous Practices and evil Counsels of men disaffected to God's true Religion Your Majesties Honour and Safety and the publick Peace and Prosperity of Your People after a serious observation of the Causes of those Mischiefs do in all humility and sincerity present to Your Majesty their most dutiful Petition and Advice That out of your Princely Wisdome for the establishing Your own Honour and Safety and gracious tenderness of the welfare and security of Your Subjects and Dominioins You will be pleased to grant and accept these their humble Desires and Propositions as the most necessary effectual means through God's blessing of removing those Jealousies and Differences which have unhappily fallen betwixt You and Your People and procuring both Your Majesty and them a constant course of Honour Peace and Happiness I. That the Lords and others of Your Majesties Privy Council and such great Officers and Ministers of State either at home or beyond the seas may be put from Your Privy Council and from those Offices and Imployments excepting such as shall be approved of by both Houses of Parliament And that the persons put into the places and imployments of those that are removed may be approved of by both Houses of Parliament And that all Privie-Counsellours shall take an Oath for the due execution of their places in such form as shall be agreed upon by both Houses of Parliament II. That the great Affairs of this Kingdom may not be concluded or transacted by
considered your Propositions and finds it very difficult in respect they import so great an Alteration in Government both in Church and State to return a particular and positive Answer before a full debate wherein those Propositions and all the necessary Explanations and Reasons for assenting dissenting or qualifying and all inconveniences and mischiefs which may ensue and cannot otherwise be so well foreseen may be discussed and weighed His Majesty therefore proposeth and desireth as the best Expedient for Peace That you will appoint such a number of Persons as you shall think fit to Treat with the like number of Persons to be appointed by His Majesty upon the said Propositions and such other things as shall be proposed by His Majesty for the preservation and defence of the Protestant Religion with due regard to the ease of tender Consciences as His Majesty hath often offered the Rights of the Crown the Liberty and Property of the Subjects and the Privileges of Parliament and upon the whole matter to conclude a happy and blessed Peace Unto which Message this Answer of the 27. of December was returned to His Majesty May it please Your most Excellent Majesty VVE Your Majesty's humble and Loyal Subjects of both Kingdoms have considered of Your Majesty's Message of the 13. of December 1644. sent by the Duke of Richmond and the Earl of Southampton directed to the Lords and Commons assembled in the Parliament of England at Westminster and to the Commissioners of the Parliament of Scotland now at London and do in all humbleness return this Answer That we do consent there be a Treaty for a safe and well-grounded Peace but find that it will require some time to resolve concerning the Instructions and manner of that Treaty and therefore that Your Majesty might not be held in suspence touching our readiness to make use of any opportunity for attaining such a blessed and happy Peace in all Your Majesty's Dominions we would not stay Your Majesty's Messengers till we did resolve upon all those particulars which we will take into our serious consideration and present our humble desires to Your Majesty with all convenient speed Westminster the 20. of December 1644. Signed in the name and by warrant of the Commissioners of the Parliament of Scotland Lowdon Gray of Wark Speaker of the House of Peers pro tempore William Lenthal Speaker of the Commons House assembled in Parliament And afterwards upon the 18th of January following Sir Peter Killegrew brought this farther Answer to His Majesty May it please Your most Excellent Majesty VVE Your Majesty's humble and Loyal Subjects the Lords and Commons assembled in the Parliament of England at Westminster and the Commissioners of the Parliament of Scotland do make our further Answer to Your Majesty's Message of the 13 th of December last 1644. concerning a Treaty for Peace as followeth We do consent that there be a Treaty for a safe and well-grounded Peace between Your Majesty and Your humble and Loyal Subjects assembled in the Parliament of both Kingdoms and for the present have appointed Algernon Earl of Northumberland Philip Earl of Pembrook and Montgomery William Earl of Salisbury Basil Earl of Denbigh Thomas Lord Viscount Wenman Denzill Hollis William Pierrepont Sir Henry Vane junior Oliver St. John Bulstrode Whitelock John Crew Edmund Prideaux for the Lords and Commons assembled in the Parliament of England at Westminster and John Earl of Lowdon Lord Chancellor of Scotland Archibald Marquefs of Argyle John Lord Maitland John Lord Balmerino Sir Archibald Johnston Sir Charles Erskin George Dundas Sir John Smith Master Hugh Kennedy and Master Robert Barclay for the Estates of the Parliament of Scotland together with Master Alexander Henderson upon the Propositions concerning Religion Who or any Ten of them there being always some of the Parliaments of both Kingdoms are appointed and authorized to meet at Vxbridge on what day Your Majesty shall be pleased to set down before the last day of this present January with such persons as Your Majesty shall appoint under Your Sign Manual for that purpose and the number of the persons to Treat not to exceed Seventeen on either part unless the persons named for the Estates of the Parliament of Scotland now not here or any of them shall come and then Your Majesty may have the like number if You please there to Treat upon the Matters contained in the Propositions we lately sent unto Your Majesty according to such Instructions as shall be given unto them and the Propositions for Religion the Militia and for Ireland to be first Treated on and agreed and the time for the Treaty upon the said Propositions for Religion the Militia and for Ireland not to exceed Twenty days And for the things mentioned in Your Message to be propounded by Your Majesty when the Persons sent by Your Majesty shall communicate the same to the Committees appointed by us as aforesaid we have directed them to send the same to us that they may receive our Instructions what to do therein And to the end that the Persons that are to be sent from Your Majesty and from us with their Retinue not exceeding the number of one hundred and eight on either part may repair to Vxbridge stay there and return at their pleasure without interruption that mutual safe Conducts be granted to the said Persons according to the several Lists of their Names Signed by Order of the Lords and Commons assembled in the Parliament of England at Westminster Signed in the name and by warrant of the Commissioners of the Kingdom of Scotland Lowdon Grey of Wark Speaker of the House of Peers pro tempore William Lenthall Speaker of the Commons House in the Parliament of England Whereunto His MAJESTY returned an Answer inclosed in a Letter from Prince Rupert to the Earl of Essex dated the 21 of January which Letter and Answer were as followeth The Letter My Lord I Am commanded by His Majesty to return this His Answer to the Message lately sent Him from the Lords and Commons assembled in the Parliament of England at Westminster and the Commissioners of the Parliament of Scotland by Sir Peter Killegrew I have likewise sent your Lordship His Majesty's safe Conduct for the persons desired and also a List of the names of those His Majesty hath appointed to Treat for whom together with their Retinue His Majesty hath desired a safe Conduct The Answer inclosed HIS Majesty having received a Message by Sir Peter Killegrew from the Lords and Commons assembled in the Parliament of England at Westminster and the Commissioners of the Parliament of Scotland concerning a Treaty returns this Answer That His Majesty doth very willing consent that there be a Treaty upon the Matters contained in the Propositions lately sent unto Him in such manner as is proposed and at the place appointed in the said Message and to that purpose His Majesty will send the Duke of Richmond the Marquess of Hartford the Earl of
Southampton the Earl of Kingston the Earl of Chichester the Lord Capell the Lord Seymour the Lord Hatton the Lord Culpeper Secretary Nicholas Master Chancellor of the Exchequer the Lord Chief Baron Lane Sir Orlando Bridgeman Sir Thomas Gardiner M. John Ashburnham M. Jeffrey Palmer together with Dr. Steward Clerk of His Majesty's Closet upon the Propositions concerning Religion to meet with the persons mentioned in the said Message at Vxbridge on Wednesday night the 29 th of this instant January the Treaty to begin the next day which persons or any Ten of them shall be sufficiently authorized by His Majesty to Treat and conclude on His Majesty's part And to the end that the persons aforesaid and their Retinue may repair to Vxbridge stay there and return at their pleasure without interruption or go or send during their abode there to His Majesty as often as occasion shall require His Majesty desires that a safe Conduct may accordingly be sent for the said persons and their Retinue according to a List of their names herewith sent And then also inclosed in a Letter from Prince Rupert to the Earl of Essex His Majesty sent Propositions to be Treated upon on His Majesty's part which Letter and Propositions follow My Lord I Am commanded by His Majesty to send these enclosed Propositions to your Lordship to be presented to the Lords and Commons assembled in the Parliament of England at Westminster and the Commissioners of the Parliament of Scotland to the end that there may be as little loss of time as is possible but that the same may be treated on as soon as may be thought convenient after the entry upon the Treaty His MAJESTY'S Propositions to the Lords and Commons assembled in the Parliament of England at Westminster and the Commissioners of the Parliament of Scotland for a safe and well-grounded Peace I. THAT His Majesty's own Revenue Magazines Towns Forts and Ships which have been taken or kept from Him by force be forthwith restored unto Him II. That whatsoever hath been done or published contrary to the known Laws of the Land or derogatory to His Majesty's Legal and known Power and Rights be renounced and recalled that no seed may remain for the like to spring out of for the future III. That whatsoever illegal Power hath been claimed or exercised by or over His Subjects as Imprisoning or putting to Death their Persons without Law stopping their Corpus's and imposing upon their Estates without Act of Parliament c. either by both or either House or any Committee of both or either or by any Persons appointed by any of them be disclaimed and all such persons so committed forthwith discharged IV. That as His Majesty hath always professed His readiness to that purpose so He will most chearfully consent to any good Acts to be made for the suppression of Popery and for the firmer settling of the Protestant Religion established by Law as also that a good Bill may be framed for the better preserving of the Book of Common-Prayer from scorn and violence and that another Bill may be framed for the ease of tender Consciences in such particulars as shall be agreed upon For all which His Majesty conceives the best expedient to be that a National Synod be legally called with all convenient speed V. That all such persons as upon the Treaty shall be excepted and agreed upon on either side out of the General Pardon shall be tried per Pares according to the usual course and known Law of the Land and that it be left to that either to acquit or condemn them VI. And to the intent this Treaty may not suffer interruption by any intervening Accidents that a Cessation of Arms and free Trade for all His Majesty's Subjects may be agreed upon with all possible speed Given at the Court at Oxford the 21th day of Jan. 1644. The Earl of Essex upon receipt hereof returned to Prince Rupert together with a safe Conduct this Letter of the 25. of January Sir I AM commanded by both Houses of the Parliament of England and desired by the Commissioners of the Kingdom of Scotland to desire Your Highness to let His Majesty know That they do agree that their Committees do begin the Treaty at Vxbridge on Thursday the 30 th of this January with the Persons appointed by His Majesty on the matters contained in the Propositions lately sent unto His Majesty in such manner as was proposed And their Committees shall have Instructions concerning the Propositions sent from His Majesty in your Highness Letter And you will herewith receive a safe Conduct from the Lords and Commons assembled in the Parliament of England for the Persons that are appointed by His Majesty to come to Vxbridge to Treat on the Propositions for a safe and well-grounded Peace with their Retinue in a List hereunto annexed Sir I am Your Highness humble Servant Essex Westminster 25. Jan. 1644. Thursday the 30th of January all the Commissioners named by His Majesty and Commissioners named by the two Houses of Parliament in England and the Estates of the Parliament in Scotland did meet at Uxbridge where their Commissions were mutually delivered in and read and are as followeth His MAJESTY'S Commission CHARLES R. VVHereas after several Messages sent by Us to the Lords and Commons of Parliament assembled at Westminster expressing Our desires of Peace certain Propositions were sent from them and brought unto Us at Oxford in November last by the Earl of Denbigh and others and upon our Answers Messages and Propositions to them and their Returns to Us it is now agreed That there shall be a Treaty for a safe and well grounded Peace to begin at Vxbridge on Thursday the 30 th of this instant January as by the said Propositions Answers Messages and Returns in writing may more fully appear We do therefore hereby appoint assign and constitute James Duke of Richmond and Lenox William Marquess of Hartford Thomas Earl of Southampton Henry Earl of Kingston Francis Earl of Chichester Francis Lord Seymour Arthur Lord Capell Christopher Lord Hatton John Lord Culpeper Sir Edward Nicholas Knight one of Our principal Secretaries of State Sir Edward Hyde Knight Chancellour and Under-Treasurer of Our Exchequer Sir Richard Lane chief Baron of Our said Exchequer Sir Thomas Gardiner Sir Orlando Bridgeman Mr. John Ashburnham and Mr. Jeffrey Palmer together with Doctor Richard Steward upon these Propositions concerning Religion to be Our Commissioners touching the premises and do hereby give unto them and to any Ten or more of them full power and authority to meet and on Our part to Treat with Algernon Earl of Northumberland Philip Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery William Earl of Salisbury Bafil Earl of Denbigh Thomas Lord Viscount Wenman Denzil Hollis William Pierrepont Esquires Sir Henry Vane the younger Knight Oliver St. John Bulstrode Whitelock John Crew and Edmund Prideaux Esquires for the Lords and Commons assembled in the Parliament of England at Westminster and
John Earl of Lowdon Lord Chancellour of Scotland Archibald Marquess of Argyle John Lord Maitland John Lord Balmerino Sir Archibald Johnston Sir Charles Erskin George Dundas Sir John Smith Mr. Hugh Kennedy and Mr. Robert Barclay for the Estates of the Parliament of Scotland together with Master Alexander Henderson upon the Propositions concerning Religion or with any Ten or more of them upon and touching the matters contained in the said Propositions Answers and Messages or any other according to the manner and agreement therein specified or otherwise as they or any Ten or more of them shall think fit and to take all the premises into their serious considerations and to compose conclude and end all differences arising thereupon or otherwise as they or any Ten or more of them in their wisdoms shall think fit and upon the whole matter to conclude a safe and well-grounded Peace if they can And whatsoever they or any Ten or more of them shall do in the premises We do by these presents ratifie and confirm the same Given at Our Court at Oxford the eight and twentieth day of January in the Twentieth year of Our Reign 1644. Their Commission to the English Commissioners Die Martis 28. January 1644. BE it Ordained by the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament that Algernon Earl of Northumberland Philip Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery William Earl of Salisbury Basil Earl of Denbigh Thomas Lord Viscount Wenman Denzil Hollis William Pierrepont Sir Henry Vane junior Oliver St. John Bulstrode Whitelock John Crew and Edmund Prideaux shall have power and authority and are hereby authorized to joyn with the Commissioners of the Parliament of Scotland together with Alexander Henderson upon the Propositions concerning Religion only to Treat with the Lord Duke of Richmond the Marquess of Hartford the Earl of Southampton the Earl of Kingston the Lord Dunsmore Lord Capel Lord Seymour Sir Christopher Hatton Sir John Culpeper Sir Edward Nicholas Sir Edward Hyde Sir Richard Lane Sir Orlando Bridgeman Sir Thomas Gardiner Master John Ashburnham and Master Jeffrey Palmer or any Ten of them upon the Propositions formerly sent to His Majesty for a safe and well-grounded Peace from His Majesty's humble and Loyal Subjects assembled in the Parliaments of both Kingdoms together with Doctor Steward upon the Propositions concerning Religion only and upon His Majesty's Propositions according to such Instructions as have been given to them or as they from time to time shall receive from both Houses of Parliament Jo. Browne Cler. Parliam Their Commission to the Scots Commissioners AT Edenburgh the saxteÃnt day of Julii the Èeir of God M. Vj c fourty four Èeires The Estaites of Parliament presentlie conveined be vertew of the last act of the last Parliament haldin by His Majesty and thrie Estaites in Anno 1641. considdering that this Kingdome efter all uther meanes of supplicationnes Remonstrances and sending of Commissionaris to His Majesty have bein used without successe did enter into a solemne League and Covenant with the Kingdom and Parliament of England for Reformationne and defence of Religionne the Honor and Happines of the King the Peace and Safety of the thrie Kingdoms of Scotland England and Ireland and ane Treattie aggried upon and ane Armie and Forces raised and sent out of yis Kingdom for these endis Quhairupone the Conventionne of Estaites of this Kingdome the nynt of Jannuary last being desirous to use all good and lawful meanes that Treuth and Peace might be established in all His Majesty's Dominions with such a blessed Pacificationne betwixt His Majesty and His Subjectis as might serve most for His Majesty's trew Honor and the Safety and Happines of His People granted Commissione to Johne Erle of Lowdonne Heigh Chancellor of Scotland Johne Lord Maitland than and Èit in England Sir Archibald Johnestounne of Wariestounne ane of the Lordis of Sessionne and Maister Robert Barclay now in England to repaire to England with powar to thame or any twa of yame to endeavoure the effectuating of ye foirsaides endis conforme to the Commissione and Instructiones than givin to thame as the Commissione of the dait foirsaid proportis Lyke as the saides Johne Lord of Maitland Sir Archibald Johnestounne and Maister Robert Barclay have evir sinceattendit in England in the discharge of the foirsaid Commissione qunhil lately that Sir Archibald Johnestounne returned with some Propositiones prepaired by the Committie of both Kingdomes to be presented to the Estaites of Scotland and to both Howss of the Parliament of England and by thame to be revised and considderit and than by mutual advyse of both Kingdomes to be presented for ane safe and weill-grounded Peace Qwhilkies Propositiones ar revised and considderit and advysed be the Estaites of Parliament now conveined and their sense and resultis drawin up yrupone Whiche Commissione is to endure while the comming of the Commissionaris underwrittin And heirewith also considderin that the endis for the whilk the samen was granted ar not Èit effectuate and that the Propositiones with ye Estaites thair resultis yrupone ar to be returned toye Parliament of England thairfore the Estaites of Parliament be thir presentis gives full powar and Commissione to the said Johne Erle of Lowdonne Lord heigh Chancellor of yis Kingdome Archibald Marqueis of Arg yle and Johne Lord Balmerino for the Nobility Sir Archibald Johnestounne of Wariestounne Sir Charles Erskyne of Cambuskenneth and Maister George Dundas of Maner for the Barrones Sir Johne Smyth of Grottel Proveist of Edenburgh Hew Kennedy Burges of Air and Master Robert Barclay for the Burrowes the thrie Estaites of yis Kingdom and to Johne Lord Maitland supernumerarie in this Commissione or to any thrie or mae of the haill number thair being ane of ilk Estaite as Commissionaris from the Estaites of Parliament of this Kingdome to repaire to the Kingdome of England sick of them as ar not thair already and with powar to thameor any thrie or mae of the whole number thair being ane of ilk Estaite to endeavour the effectuating of ye foirsaides endis the concluding of the Propositions with the Estaites th aire results thairupon and all such uyr materis concerning the good of bothe Kingdomes as ar or sall be from time to time committed unto thame be the Estaites of yis Kingdome or Committies thairof according to the Instructiones givin or to be givin to the Commissionaris abovenameit or thair quorums And for this effect the Estaites Ordeanes Johne Erle of Lowdonne Chancellor Johne Lord Balmerino Sir Archibald Johnestounne of Wariestounne Sir Charles Erskyne of Cambuskenneth and Hew Kennedy repaire with all diligence to the Kingdome of England to the essect before rehearsit conforme to this Commissione and Instructiones As also the Estaites Ordeanes ye saides Archibald Marqueis of Argyle Maister George Dundas of Maner and Sir Johne Smyth Proveist of Edenburgh to repaire to ye Kingdome of England with all sick conveniencie as the occasione of
will answer to Almighty God in that Day when He shall make inquisition for all the Blood that hath and may yet be spilt in this unnatural War as you tender the preservation and establishment of the true Religion by all the Bonds of Duty and Allegiance to your King or Compassion to your bleeding and unhappy Country and of Charity to your selves that you dispose your hearts to a true sense and imploy all your faculties in a more serious Endeavour together with His Majesty to set a speedy end to these wasting Divisions and then He shall not doubt but that God will yet again give the Blessing of Peace to this distracted Kingdom Given at the Court at Oxford the fifteenth of December 1645. His MAJESTIES Message to both Houses with Propositions From Oxford Dec. 26. 1645. For the Speaker of the House of Peers pro tempore to be communicated to the two Houses of Parliament at Westminster and the Commissioners of the Parliament of Scotland CHARLES R. NOtwithstanding the strange and unexpected Delays which can be precedented by no former times to His Majesties two former Messages His Majesty will lay aside all Expostulations as rather serving to lose time than to contribute any remedy to the evils which for the present do afflict this distracted Kingdom Therefore without further Preamble His Majesty thinks it most necessary to send these Propositions this way which He intended to do by the Persons mentioned in His former Messages though He well knows the great disadvantage which Overtures of this kind have by the want of being accompanied by well instructed Messengers His Majesty conceiving that the former Treaties have hitherto proved ineffectual chiefly for want of Power in those Persons that Treated as likewise because those from whom their Power was derived not possibly having the particular informations of every several Debate could not give so clear a Judgment as was requisite to so important a business if therefore His Majesty may have the engagement of the two Houses at Westminster the Commissioners of the Parliament of Scotland the Mayor Aldermen Common-Council and Militia of London of the chief Commanders in Sir Fairfax's Army as also of those in the Scots Army for His Majesties free and safe coming to and abode in London or Westminster with such of His Servants now attending Him and their Followers not exceeding in all the number of 300. for the space of forty days and after the said time for His free and safe repair to any of His Garrisons of Oxford Worcester or Newark which His Majesty shall nominate at any time before His going from London or Westminster His Majesty propounds to have a Personal Treaty with the two Houses of Parliament at Westminster and the Commissioners of the Parliament of Scotland upon all matters which may conduce to the restoring of Peace and Happiness to these miserably-distracted Kingdoms and to begin with the three Heads which were Treated on at Vxbridge And for the better clearing of His Majesties earnest and sincere intentions of putting an end to these unnatural Distractions knowing that point of security may prove the greatest obstacle to this most blessed Work His Majesty therefore declares That he is willing to commit the great Trust of the Militia of this Kingdom for such Time and with such Powers as are exprest in the Paper delivered by His Majesties Commissioners at Vxbridge the sixth of February last to these Persons following viz. the Lord Privy-Seal the Duke of Richmond the Marquess of Hartford the Marquess of Dorchester the Earl of Dorset Lord Chamberlain the Earl of Northumberland the Earl of Essex Earl of Southampton Earl of Pembroke Earl of Salisbury Earl of Manchester Earl of Warwick Earl of Denbigh Earl of Chichester Lord Say Lord Seymour Lord Lucas Lord Lexington Mr. Denzill Hollis Mr. Pierrepont Mr. Henry Bellassis Mr. Richard Spencer Sir Thomas Fairfax Mr. John Ashburnham Sir Gervase Clifton Sir Henry Vane junior Mr. Robert Wallop Mr. Thomas Chichely Mr. Oliver Cromwell Mr. Philip Skippon supposing that these are Persons against whom there can be no just exception But if this doth not satisfie then His Majesty offers to name the one half and leave the other to the election of the two Houses of Parliament at Westminster with the Powers and Limitations before mentioned Thus His Majesty calls God and the World to witness of His sincere Intentions and real Endeavours for the composing and settling of these miserable Distractions which He doubts not but by the Blessing of God will soon be put to a happy Conclusion if this His Majesties offer be accepted otherwise He leaves all the World to judge who are the continuers of this unnatural War And therefore He once more conjures you by all the bonds of Duty you owe to God and your King to have so great a Compassion on the bleeding and miserable estate of your Country that you joyn your most serious and hearty endeavours with His Majesty to put a happy and speedy end to these present Miseries Given at the Court at Oxford the 26. of December 1645. The Answer of both Houses to His MAJESTIES two former Messages of the 5. and 15. of Decemb. brought by Sir Peter Killegrew Decemb. 27. May it please your Majesty THE Lords and Commons assembled in the Parliament of England at Westminster have received Your Letters of the fifth and fifteenth of this instant December and having together with the Commissioners of the Parliament of Scotland taken the same into their serious consideration do humbly return this Answer They have in all their Actions manifested to Your Majesty and the World their sincere and earnest desires that a safe and well-grounded Peace might be settled in Your three Kingdoms and for the obtaining so great a Blessing shall ever pray to God and use their utmost endeavours and beseech Your Majesty to believe that their not sending a more speedy Answer hath not proceeded from any intention to retard the means of putting an end to these present Calamities by a happy Peace but hath been occasioned by the Considerations and Debates necessary in a business of so great importance wherein both Kingdoms are so much concerned As to Your Majesties desire of a safe Conduct for the coming hither of the Duke of Richmond the Earl of Southampton John Ashburnham and Jeffrey Palmer Esquires with Propositions to be the foundation of a happy and well-grounded Peace they finding that former Treaties have been made use of for other Ends under the pretence of Peace and have proved dilatory and unsuccessful cannot give way to a safe Conduct according to Your Majesties desire But both Houses of the Parliament of England having now under their Consideration Propositions and Bills for the settling of a safe and well grounded Peace which are speedily to be communicated to the Commissioners of the Kingdom of Scotland do resolve after mutual agreement of both Kingdoms to present them with all speed to Your Majesty Westminster the 25.
Treason being first declared guilty of such Offence by the said Lords and Commons any Commission under the Great Seal or other Warrant to the contrary notwithstanding And he or they that shall offend herein to be incapable of any Pardon from His Majesty His Heirs or Successors and their Estates shall be disposed as the said Lords and Commons shall think fit and not otherwise Provided that the City of London shall have and enjoy all their Rights Liberties and Franchises Customs and Usages in the raising and imploying the Forces of that City for the defence thereof in as full and ample manner to all intents and purposes as they have or might have used or enjoyed the same at any time before the making of the said Act or Proposition to the end that City may be fully assured it is not the intention of the Parliament to take from them any Priviledges or Immunities in raising or disposing of their Forces which they have or might have used or injoyed heretofore The like for the Kingdom of Scotland if the Estates of the Parliament there shall think fit XIV That by Act of Parliament all Peers made since the day that Edward Lord Littleton then Lord Keeper of the Great Seal deserted the Parliament and that the said Great Seal was surreptitiously conveyed away from the Parliament being the One and Twentieth day of May 1642. and who shall be hereafter made shall not sit or Vote in the Parliament of England without Consent of both Houses of Parliament and that all Honour and Title conferred on any without Consent of both Houses of Parliament since the Twentieth of May 1642. being the day that both Houses declared That the King seduced by evil Counsel intended to raise War against the Parliament be declared null and void The like for the Kingdom of Scotland those being excepted whose Patents were passed the Great Seal before the fourth of June 1644. XV. That an Act be passed in the Parliaments of both Kingdoms respectively for Confirmation of the Treaties passed betwixt the Two Kingdoms viz. the large Treaty the late Treaty for the coming of the Scots Army into England and the settling of the Garrison of Barwick of the 29 th of November 1643. and the Treaty concerning Ireland of the 6. of August 1642. for the bringing of Ten Thousand Scots into the Province of Vlster in Ireland with all other Ordinances and Proceedings passed betwixt the Two Kingdoms and whereunto they are obliged by the aforesaid Treaties And that Algernon Earl of Northumberland John Earl of Rutland Philip Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery Robert Earl of Essex Theophilus Earl of Lincoln James Earl of Suffolk Robert Earl of Warwick Edward Earl of Manchester Henry Earl of Stamford Francis Lord Dacres Philip Lord Wharton Francis Lord Willoughby Dudly Lord North John Lord Hunsdon William Lord Gray Edward Lord Howard of Escrich Thomas Lord Bruce Ferdinando Lord Fairfax Master Nathaniel Fiennes Sir William Armyne Sir Philip Stapleton Sir Henry Vane senior Master William Pierrepont Sir Edward Aiscough Sir VVilliam Strickland Sir Arthur Hesilrig Sir John Fenwick Sir VVilliam Brereton Sir Thomas VViddrington Master John Toll Master Gilbert Millington Sir VVilliam Constable Sir John VVray Sir Henry Vane junior Master Henry Darley Oliver Saint-John Esquire His Majesties Solicitor General Master Denzill Hollis Master Alexander Rigby Master Cornelius Holland Master Samuel Vassal Master Peregrine Pelham John Glyn Esquire Recorder of London Master Henry Marten Master Alderman Hoyle Master John Blakeston Master Serjeant VVilde Master Richard Barwis Sir Anthony Irby Master Ashurst Master Bellingham and Master Tolson Members of both Houses of the Parliament of England shall be the Commissioners for the Kingdom of England for Conservation of the Peace between the Two Kingdoms to act according to the Powers in that behalf exprest in the Articles of the large Treaty and not otherwise That His Majesty give His Assent to what the Two Kingdoms shall agree upon in prosecution of the Articles of the large Treaty which are not yet finished XVI That an Act be passed in the Parliaments of both Kingdoms respectively for establishing the joynt Declaration of both Kingdoms bearing date the 30 th day of January 1643. in England and 1644. in Scotland with the Qualifications ensuing 1. Qualification That the persons who shall expect no pardon be only these following Rupert and Maurice Count Palatines of the Rhene James Earl of Derby John Earl of Bristol VVilliam Earl of Newcastle Francis Lord Cottington George Lord Digby Matthew Wren Bishop of Ely Sir Robert Heath Knight Doctor Bramhall Bishop of Derry Sir William Widdrington Colonel George Goring Henry Jermin Esquire Sir Ralph Hopton Sir John Biron Sir Francis Doddington Sir John Strangwayes Master Endymion Porter Sir George Radcliffe Sir Marmaduke Langdale Henry Vaughan Esquire now called Sir Henry Vaughan Sir Francis Windebanke Sir Richard Greenvile Master Edward Hyde now called Sir Edward Hyde Sir John Marley Sir Nicholas Cole Sir Thomas Riddell junior Sir John Culpepper Master Richard Lloyd now called Sir Richard Lloyd Master David Jenkins Sir George Strode George Carteret Esquire now called Sir George Carteret Sir Charles Dallison Knight Richard Lane Esquire now called Sir Richard Lane Sir Edward Nicholas John Ashburnham Esquire Sir Edward Herbert Knight His Majesties Attorney General Earl of Traquaire Lord Harris Lord Rae George Gourdon sometime Marquess of Huntley James Graham sometime Earl of Montross Robert Maxwell late Earl of Nithisdale Robert Dalyell sometime Earl of Carnwarth James Gordon sometime Viscount of Aboyne Lodowick Linsey sometime Earl of Crawford James Ogleby sometime Earl of Airley James Ogleby sometime Lord Ogleby Patrick Ruthen sometime Earl of Forth James King sometime Lord Itham Alester Macdonald Irwing younger of Drunim Gordon younger of Gight Lesley of Auchentoule Colonel John Cockram Graham of Gorthie Master John Maxwell sometime pretended Bishop of Rosse and all such others as being Processed by the Estates for Treason shall be condemned before the Act of Oblivion be passed 2. Qualification All Papists and Popish Recusants who have been now are or shall be actually in Arms or voluntarily assisting against the Parliaments or Estates of either Kingdom and by name The Marquess of VVinton Earl of VVorcester Edward Lord Herbert of Ragland Son to the Earl of VVorcester Lord Brudenell Carel Molineaux Esquire Lord Arundel of VVardour Sir Francis Howard Sir John VVinter Sir Charles Smith Sir John Preston Sir Bazill Brook Lord Audley Earl of Castlehaven in the Kingdom of Ireland VVilliam Sheldon of Beely Esquire Sir Henry Beddingfield 3. Qualification All persons who have had any hand in the plotting designing or assisting the Rebellion of Ireland except such persons who having only assisted the said Rebellion have rendred themselves or come in to the Parliament of England 4. Qualification That Humfrey Bennet Esquire Sir Edward Ford Sir John Penruddock Sir George Vaughan Sir John Weld Sir Robert Leè Sir John Pate John Ackland Edmund Windham Esquire Sir John Fitz-herbert
of such late Members of either House of Parliament as sate in the unlawful Assembly at Oxford and shall not have rendred themselves before the first of December 1645. shall be taken and employed for the payment of the publick Debts and Damages of the Kingdom 3. Branch That one full moiety of the Estates of such Persons late Members of either of the Houses of Parliament who have deserted the Parliament and adhered to the Enemies thereof and shall not have rendred themselves before the first of Decemb. 1645. shall be taken and employed for the payment of the publick Debts and Damages of the Kingdom 10. Qualification That a full third part on the value of the Estates of all Judges and Officers towards the Law Common or Civil and of all Serjeants Councellors and Attorneys Doctors Advocates and Proctors of the Law Common or Civil and of all Bishops Clergy-men Masters and Fellows of any Colledge or Hall in either of the Universities or elsewhere and of all Masters of Schools or Hospitals and of Ecclesiastical Persons who have deserted the Parliament and adhered to the Enemies thereof and have not rendred themselves before the first of December 1645. shall be taken and employed for the payment of the publick Debts and Damages of the Kingdom That a full sixth part on the full value of the Estates of the Persons excepted in the sixth Qualification concerning such as have been actually in Arms against the Parliament or have counselled or voluntarily assisted the Enemies thereof and are disabled according to the said Qualification to be taken and employed for the payment of the publick Debts and Damages of the Kingdom 11. Qualification That the Persons and Estates of all common Souldiers and others of the Kingdom of England who in Lands or Goods be not worth two hundred pounds Sterling and the Persons and Estates of all common Souldiers and others of the Kingdom of Scotland who in Lands or Goods be not worth one hundred pounds Sterling be at liberty and discharged 1. Branch This Proposition to stand as to the English and as to the Scots likewise if the Parliament of Scotland or their Commissioners shall so think fit 2. Branch That the first of May last is now the day limited for the persons to come in that are comprised within the former Qualification That an Act be passed whereby the Debts of the Kingdom and the Persons of Delinquents and the value of their Estates may be known and which Act shall appoint in what manner the Confiscations and Proportions before mentioned may be levied and applied to the discharge of the said Engagements The like for the Kingdom of Scotland if the Estates of Parliament or such as shall have power from them shall think fit XVII That an Act of Parliament be passed to declare and make void the Cessation of Ireland and all Treaties and Conclusions of Peace or any Articles thereupon with the Rebels without Consent of both Houses of Parliament and to settle the Prosecution of the War of Ireland in both Houses of the Parliament of England to be managed by them and the King to assist and to do no Act to discountenance or molest them therein That Reformation of Religion according to the Covenant be setled in the Kingdom of Ireland by Act of Parliament in such manner as both Houses of the Parliament of England have agreed or shall agree upon after Consultation had with the Assembly of Divines here That the Deputy or chief Governour or other Governours of Ireland and the Presidents of the several Provinces of that Kingdom be nominated by both the Houses of the Parliament of England or in the Intervals of Parliament by such Committees of both Houses of Parliament as both Houses of the Parliament of England shall nominate and appoint for that purpose and that the Chancellour or Lord Keeper Lord Treasurer Commissioners of the great Seal or Treasury Lord Warden of the Cinque-ports Chancellour of the Exchequer and Dutchy Secretaries of State Master of the Rolls Judges of both Benches and Barons of the Exchequer of the Kingdoms of England and Ireland and the vice-Vice-Treasurer and Treasurers at Wars of the Kingdom of Ireland be nominated by both Houses of the Parliament of England to continue quam diu se bene gesserint and in the Intervals of Parliament by the fore-mentioned Committees to be approved or disallowed by both Houses at their next sitting The like for the Kingdom of Scotland concerning the nomination of the Lords of the Privy Council Lords of Session and Exchequer Officers of State and Justice General in such manner as the Estates of the Parliament there shall think fit XVIII That the Militia of the City of London and Liberties thereof may be in the ordering and government of the Lord Maior Aldermen and Commons in Common Council assembled or such as they shall from time to time appoint whereof the Lord Maior and Sheriffs for the time being to be three to be imployed and directed from time to time in such manner as shall be agreed on and appointed by both Houses of Parliament That no Citizen of the City of London nor any of the Forces of the said City shall be drawn forth or cempelled to go out of the said City or Liberties thereof for Military service without their own free Consent That an Act be passed for the granting and confirming of the Charters Customs Liberties and Franchises of the City of London notwithstanding any Non-user Misuser or Abuser That the Tower of London may be in the Government of the City of London and the chief Officer and Governour thereof from time to time be nominated and removeable by the Common-Council And for prevention of inconveniences which may happen by the long intermission of Common-Councils it is desired that there may be an Act that all by-Laws and Ordinances already made or hereafter to be made by the Lord Maior Aldermen and Commons in Common-Council assembled touching the calling continuing directing and regulating the same Common-Councils shall be as effectual in Law to all Intents and Purposes as if the same were particularly Enacted by the Authority of Parliament and that the Lord Maior Aldermen and Commons in Common-Council may add to or repeal the said Ordinances from time to time as they shall see cause That such other Propositions as shall be made for the City for their further Safety Welfare and Government and shall be approved of by both Houses of Parliament may be granted and confirmed by Act of Parliament XIX That all Grants Commissions Presentations Writs Process Proceedings and other things passed under the Great Seal of England in the custody of the Lords and other Commissioners appointed by both Houses of Parliament for the custody thereof be and by Act of Parliament with the Royal Assent shall be declared and Enacted to be of like full force and effect to all intents and purposes as the same or like Grants Commissions Presentations Writs Process Proceedings and
will bear IV. That according to the seventh Head in the said Declaration an effectual course may be taken that the Kingdom may be righted and satisfied in point of Accounts for the vast sums that have been levied V. That provision may be made for payment of Arrears to the Army and the rest of the Soldiers of the Kingdom who have concurred with the Army in the late Desires and Proceedings thereof and in the next place for payment of the Publick Debts and Damages of the Kingdom and that to be performed first to such persons whose Debts or Damages upon the Publick Account are great and their Estates small so as they are thereby reduced to a difficulty of subsistence In order to all which and to the fourth particular last preceding we shall speedily offer some farther particulars in the nature of Rules which we hope will be of good use towards publick satisfaction August 1. 1647. Signed by the appointment of his Excellency Sir Thomas Fairfax and the Council of War Jo. Rushworth Secret Propositions presented to His MAJESTY at Hampton-Court upon Tuesday the seventh of September 1647. by the Earls of Pembroke and Lauderdale Sir Charles Erskin Sir John Holland Sir John Cooke Sir James Harrington Mr. Richard Browne Mr. Hugh Kenedy and Mr. Robert Berkley in the names of the Parliament of England and in behalf of the Kingdom of Scotland May it please your Majesty WE the Lords and Commons assembled in the Parliament of England in the name and on the behalf of the Kingdoms of England and Ireland and the Commissioners of the Parliament of Scotland in the name and on the behalf of the Kingdom of Scotland do humbly present unto Your Majesty the humble Desires and Propositions for a safe and well grounded Peace agreed upon by the Parliaments of both Kingdoms respectively unto which We do pray Your Majesties Assent and that they and all such Bills as shall be tendred to Your Majesty in pursuance of them or any of them may be established and Enacted for Statutes and Acts of Parliament by Your Majesties Royal Assent in the Parliaments of both Kingdoms respectively Heads of the Propositions presented to the King's Majesty for a safe and well-grounded Peace 1. His Majesty to call in his Declarations and Proclamations against the Parliaments of both Kingdoms 2. His Majesty to sign the Covenant 3. To pass a Bill for abolishing Bishops 4. To pass a Bill for Sale of Bishops Lands 5. To confirm the sitting of the Assembly 6. Religion to be reformed as the Houses agree 7. Such Vniformity of Religion to be passed in an Act. 8. An Act passed against Popish Recusants 9. For Education of the Children of Papists 10. For laying Penalties upon Papists 11. An Act for prevention of Popish practices And the like for the Kingdom of Scotland 12. For the Royal Assent to Acts for the Lords day for preaching against Innovations regulating Colledges and for publick Debts and Damages The like for Scotland 13. to pass the settling of the Militia and Navy 14. To null the old Great Seal 15. For settling of Conservators for the Peace of the Kingdoms 16. The joynt Declarations and the Qualifications against Malignants 17. An Act to be passed to declare and make void the Cessation of Ireland and all Treaties and Conclusions of Peace with the Irish Rebels 18. The settling of the Militia of the City of London 19. The Great Seal with the Commissioners of Parliament and all Acts by it to be made good His MAJESTIES Answer to the Propositions of both Houses Hampton-Court Sept. 9. 1647. For the Speaker of the Lords House pro tempore to be communicated to both Houses of the Parliament of England and the Commissioners of the Kingdom of Scotland CHARLES R. HIS Majesty cannot chuse but be passionately sensible as he believes all his good Subjects are of the late great Distractions and still languishing and unsetled State of this Kingdom and he calls God to Witness and is willing to give testimony to all the World of his readiness to contribute his utmost Endeavours for restoring it to a happy and flourishing Condition His Majesty having perused the Propositions now brought to him finds them the same in effect which were offered to him at Newcastle To some of which as he could not then consent without violation of his Conscience and Honour so neither can he agree to others now conceiving them in many respects more disagreeable to the present condition of Affairs then when they were formerly presented unto him as being destructive to the main principal Interests of the Army and of all those whose Affections concur with them And his Majesty having seen the Proposals of the Army to the Commissioners from his two Houses residing with them and with them to be Treated on in order to the clearing and securing the Rights and Liberties of the Kingdom and the setling of a just and lasting Peace to which Proposals as he conceives his two Houses not to be strangers so he believes they will think with him that they much more conduce to the satisfaction of all Interests and may be a fitter foundation for a lasting Peace than the Propositions which at this time are tendered unto him He therefore propounds as the best way in his Judgment in order to a Peace that his two Houses would instantly take into consideration those Proposals upon which there may be a Personal Treaty with his Majesty and upon such other Propositions as his Majesty shall make hoping that the said Proposals may be so moderated in the said Treaty as to render them the more capable of his Majesties full Concession wherein he resolves to give full satisfaction unto his People for whatsoever shall concern the setling of the Protestant Profession with Liberty to tender Consciences and the securing of the Laws Liberties and Properties of all his Subjects and the just Priviledges of Parliament for the future And likewise by his present deportment in this Treaty he will make the World clearly judge of his Intentions in matter of future Government In which Treaty his Majesty will be well pleased if it be thought fit that Commissioners from the Army whose the Proposals are may likewise be admitted His Majesty therefore conjures his two Houses of Parliament by the Duty they owe to God and his Majesty their King and by the bowels of Compassion they have to their fellow-Subjects both for the relief of their present Sufferings and to prevent future Miseries that they will forthwith accept of this his Majesties Offer whereby the joyful news of Peace may be restored to this distressed Kingdom And for what concerns the Kingdom of Scotland mentioned in the Propositions His Majesty will very willingly Treat upon those particulars with the Scotch Commissioners and doubts not but to give reasonable satisfaction to that his Kingdom Given at Hampton-Court the ninth of September 1647. His MAJESTIES Message to both Houses left by Him on His
which none but souls prone to any wickedness could believe of so Great a Man were formed of the King and such suspicions raised of Him and His Friends as might force them to some Injuries which hitherto they forbore and by securing themselves increase the Publick fears For Slanders do rather provoke most men than amend them and the provoked think more of their safety than to adjust their actions against their malicious Slanderers And when the minds of Men were made thus sollicitous concerning Dangers from the King to make them more pliable and ductile there was represented to them an inevitable anger of Heaven against the present state of things both in Church and State testified by many Prodigies that were related and portentuous Presages of Ruine Certain Prophecies for a credulity to which the English Vulgar are infamous from unknown Oracles are divulged which aenigmatically describe the King as a Monster and from such a Prince must proceed a change of Government Some vain persons also that gave themselves up to the Imposture of Astrologie were hired to terrifie the People with the unsignificant Conjunctions of Stars and from them to foretel Ruines to the better part of the World and an imminent destruction of Men of the long Robe and Alterations of States These were done to temper the minds of Men by a superstition for a guidance of their Ministers who being conceived to be the Ambassadours of Heaven were supposed to have it in their Commission to declare the Conditions of War and Peace and these either through the same weakness capable of the like terrours with the Vulgar or which is more to be abhorred corrupted as some were by the Caresses and gainful hopes that the Faction baited them with did justifie their Fears and increase them by applying some obscure Prophecies in Scripture to the present times and People compared the pretended Corruptions of our Church with the Idolatries of Israel and whatsoever was condemned in the Holy Records was parallel'd with the things they disliked here and all the Curses that God poured upon His irreconcileable and obdurate Enemies were denounced against such as differ'd from them or would not joyn with the Faction To make these Harangues more efficacious the Authors of them received the Reverence of the Demagogues who despising questioning and exposing to Affronts such sober Divines as would have cured the madness of the People appropriated to such Teachers the Titles of Saints Faithful Ministers Pretious Men and they on the other side made a return of Epithets to their Masters of the Servants of the Most High such as were to do the Work of the Lord That by their Counsels men were to expect new Heavens and a new Earth that they were Men that should prepare the Kingdom for Jesus Christ and lay the Foundations of the Empire of the Saints which was to last a Thousand years To make the Cry yet louder they permitted all Sects and Heresies a Licence of publick profession which hitherto Discipline the Care of the Common Peace and Religion had confined to secret Corners and permitted the Office of Teaching to every bold and ignorant Undertaker so that at last the dreggs of the People Usurped that Dignity and Women who had parted with the Natural Modesty of their Sex would not only speak but also rule in the Church All these in gratitude for their Licentiousness still perswaded to their Hearers the admiration of the Authors of it and bitterly inveighed against those whom the Care both of the Souls and Fortunes of Men would excite to repress them in many of their Raptures denouncing Wo and Judgment to the lawful Governours in Church and State While all these Methods of Ruine were preparing here the same anger of God the same madness of men raised up another Tempest in Ireland For the Popish Lords and Priests of Ireland who were the prime Composers of the Tragedies there were incouraged by the Success of the Scots who by a prosperous Rebellion as the Historian of those Troubles writes had procured for themselves such large Priviledges to an imitation which the present Jealousies in England where mutual Contrasts would employ all their force upon one another promised to be secure And they had an happy opportunity by the Vacancy in Government through the slaughter of the Earl of Strafford with whom the Irish Lords while they prosecuted him in England had removed all those other inferiour Magistrates that were most skilful in the Affairs of that Kingdom by accusing to the Faction some of them of Treason and others of an inclination to the Earl and had got preferred to their charges such as were either altogether unacquainted with the Genius of that People or favourers of the Conspiracy A strength they had also ready for those Eight Thousand which had been listed for the Scotish Expedition were unseasonably disbanded and the King in foresight they might cause some mischief in their own Countrey had therefore promised Four Thousand of them to the King of Spain yet would not the Parliament consent to their departure because as the Irish Lords suggested it would displease the King of France and when the King promised to send as many to the French Camp that likewise was not relished The Common Souldiers of that Army being thus made useless and therefore like Men of their employment most fierce when they were to be dismissed from the dangers of War were easily drawn into the Rebellion although very few of their Officers were polluted with the Crime The Irish Lords and Priests being allured by these our Vices and these several opportunities began their Rebellion Octob. 23. The Irish throughout that whole Kingdom on a sudden invading the unprovided English that were scattered among them despoiling them of their Estates Goods and many thousands of their Lives without any respect of Sex Age Kindred or Friendship and made them as so many Sacrifices to their bloody Superstition They missed but a little to have surprised Dublin But their Conspiracy being detected there and in some few other places the English name and interest was preserved in that Kingdom till they could receive Succours from hence The King had the first Intelligence of it in its very beginnings in Scotland and thereupon sent Sr James Stuart to the Lords of the Privie Council in Ireland to acquaint them with His Knowledge and Instructions and to carry all that Money that His present Stores could supply Besides He moves the Parliament of Scotland as being nearest to a speedy help who decline their Aids because Ireland was dependent upon the Crown of England At the same time also He sends post to the Parliament of England who less regard it the Faction applauding their Fortune that new Troubles were arisen to molest the King and that the Royal Power being thus assaulted in all three Nations there must shortly arise so many new Commonwealths Besides that it yielded fresh matter of reproach to His Majesty to whose Councils
to such as were tendred to them in the name of the King His Majesty seeing and bewailing His Condition that He must still have to do with those that were Enemies to Peace prepares Himself for the War at the approaching Spring and although this Winter was infamous with many losses either through the neglects or perfidiousness of some Officers yet before the season for taking the Field was come His Counsels and Diligence had repaired those Damages In April he sends the Prince to perfect the Western Association An. 1645 and raise such Forces as the necessities of the Crown which was His Inheritance did require with Him is sent as Moderator of His Youth and prime Counsellor Sr Edward Hide now Lord High Chancellor of England whose faithfulness had endeared Him to His Majesty who also judged his Abilities equal to the Charge in which He continued with the same Faith through all the Difficulties and Persecutions of his Master till it pleased God to bring the Prince back to the Throne of His Fathers and Him to the Chief Ministery of State After their departure the King draws out His Army to relieve His Northern Counties and Garrisons But being on His march and having stormed and taken Leicester in His way He was called back to secure Oxford which the Parliament Army threatned with a Siege But Fairfax having gotten a Letter of the Lord Goring's whom a Parliament Spy had cajoled to trust him with the delivery of it to His Majesty wherein he had desired Him to forbear ingaging with the Enemy till he could be joyned with Him he leaves Oxford and made directly towards the King that was now come back as far as Daventry with a purpose to fight Him before that addition of strength and at a place near Naseby in Northampton-shire both Armies met on Saturday June 14. Cromwell having then also brought some fresh Horse to Fairfax whose absence from the Army at that time the King was assured by some who intended to betray Him should be effected Nevertheless the King would not decline the Battle and had the better at first but His vanquishing Horse following the chase of their Enemies too far a fatal errour that had been twice before committed left the Foot open to the other Wing who pressing hotly upon them put them to an open rout and so became Masters of His Canon Camp and Carriage and among these of His Majesties Cabinet in which they found many of His Letters most of them written to the Queen which not contented with their Victory over His Forces they print as a Trophee over His Fame that by proposing His secret Thoughts designed only for the Breasts of His Wife to the debauched multitude and they looking on them through the Prejudices which the Slanders of the Faction had already formed in their minds the Popular hatred might be increased But the publication of them found a contrary effect every one that was not barbarous abhorred that Inhumanity among Christians which Generous Heathens scorned to be guilty of and the Letters did discover that the King was not as He was hitherto characterized but that He had all the Abilities and Affections as well as all the Rights that were fit for Majesty And which is not usual He grew greater in Honour by this Defeat though he never after recovered any considerable power For the Fate of this Battle had an inauspicious influence upon all His remaining Forces and every day His losses were repeated But though Fortune had left the King yet had not His Valour therefore gathering up the scattered remains of His broken Army He marches up and down to encourage those whose Faith changed not with His Condition At last attempting to relieve Chester though He was beset behind and before and His Horse wearied in such tedious and restless Marches yet at first He beat Poyntz off that followed but by being charged by fresh Souldiers from the Leaguer and a greater Number He was forced to retreat and leave some of His gallant Followers dead upon the place After this He draws towards the North-East and commands the Lord Digby with the Horse that were left to march for Scotland and there to join with Montross who with an inconsiderable company of Men had got Victories there so prodigious that they looked like Miracles But this Lord was surprised before he could get out of Yorkshire for His Horse having taken 700 of the Enemies Foot were so wanton with their Success that they were easily mastered by another Party and he himself was compelled to fly into Ireland These several overthrows brought another mischief along with it for the King's Commanders and Officers broke their own Peace and Agreement which is the only Comfort and Relief of the Oppressed and which makes them considerable though they are spoiled of Arms by imputing as it useth to be in unhappy Councils the criminous part of their Misfortunes to one another But many gallant Persons whom Loyalty and Religion had drawn to His Service endured the utmost hazards before they delivered the Holds He had committed to their trust and by that means employing the Enemies Arms gave the King time who was at last returned to Oxford to provide for His Safety Hither every day sad Messages of Ruines from every part of the Nation came which though they seemed like the falling pieces of the dissolved World yet they found His Spirit erect and undaunted For He was equal in all the Offices of His Life tenacious of Truth and Equity and not moveable from them by Fears a Contemner of worldly Glory and desirous of Empire for no other reason but because He saw these Kingdoms must be ruined when He relinquished the care of them But that which most troubled Him were the Importunities of His own disconsolate Party to seek for Conditions of Peace which He saw was in vain to expect would be such as were fit to accept for His former experience assured Him that these Men would follow the Counsels of their Fortune and be more Insolent now than ever And for Himself He was resolved not to Sacrifice His Conscience to Safety nor His Honour to Life This He often told those that thus pressed Him and did profess in His Letter to Prince Rupert who likewise moved Him to the same that He would yield to no more now than what He had offered at Uxbridge though He confessed it were as great a Miracle His Enemies should hearken to so much Reason as that He should be restored within a Month to the same Condition He was in immediately before the Battle at Naseby But yet to satisfie every One how tender He was of the Common Safety He sent several Messages to the Parliament for a Treaty and offers to come Himself to London if He may have security for Himself and Attendants All which were either not regarded or answered with Reproaches And because the people began to murmure at so great an earnestness of the Faction to
in His own Palaces wondering they had no more Reverence for Majesty and to beget a belief of this they profess which they would have to be conceived with them was more sacred than any Oaths that they will never part with their Arms till they have made His way to His Throne and rendred the Condition of His Party more tolerable Besides these Promises and Compassions they permit Him the Ministery of His Chaplains in the Worship of God which it is said He took with so great a Joy that He almost believed Himself free and safe it being His most heavy burden while He was the Parliaments Captive the Commerce of Letters with the Queen the Visits of His own Party and the Service of His Courtiers some of whom they also admitted to their Council of War mould Propositions which they will urge in His behalf and alter them to the King's Gust and at His Advice In their publick Remonstrances against the Covetousness Ambition Injustice Cruelty and Self-mindedness of the Parliament they do sometimes obliquely sometimes plainly profess that the King Queen and the Royal Family must be restored to all their Rights or else no hope of a solid Peace but then they would intermix such Conditions as argued they sought Reserves for a perfidious escape For Cromwell did among his Confidents boast of his fine arts and that by these Indulgences was intended nothing but His Destruction By all these Impostures they prevailed nothing upon the Hopes or Fears of the King nor did He commit any thing unworthy His former Fortune and the Greatness of His Integrity and Wisdom or which any of the Disagreeing Factions could use to His reproach But they found another kind of Success upon the Parliament for they sacrificed to the commands of their Stipendiaries eleven Members of the House of Commons and seven of the Peers causing them to forbear sitting among them because they had been accused by the Army in a very frivolous Charge All men wondering at the inequality of those mens Spirits who had so furiously rejected the Articles of their lawful Sovereign against five or six of their Body and yet did now so tamely yield to the slight Cavils and dislike of their Mercenaries above thrice that Number They therefore concluded that neither Religion Justice or the Love of Liberty which are always uniform but unworthy Interests and corrupt Souls which vary with fears and hopes had been the Principles and first Movers of their attempts Besides this they were so prone to Slavery that they had gone on to Vote all the lusts of the Army had not a Tumult their arts being now turned upon their own heads from London stopp'd them in their violent speed and kept the Speaker in his Chair till they had voted more generously that it was neither for their Honour nor Interest to satisfie the demands of the Souldiers and that the King should come to London to treat These contrary desires of the divided Faction which had joyntly oppressed their Sovereign shewed that Ill men will more easily conspire together in War than consent in Peace and that Combinations in Crimes will conclude in Jealousies each Party thinking the advantages of the other too great and that Power is never thought faithful which is accounted excessive Therefore both prepare for War With the 140 Members that sate in Parliament were joyned the City and the cashiered Souldiers and Officers that had served in their pay With the Army were the Speakers of both Houses who had fled to them with about 50 of their Members that projected the Change of Government being either for an Oligarchy or Democracie yet left some of the same judgment behind to betray and disturb the Councils at London To these did adhere the Neighbouring Counties who were cajoled by the splendid Promises of the Army of Restoring the King which they much boasted Dissolving the Parliament and Establishing Peace and Government and they more willingly credited these because they had conceived an hatred of the Parliament and City both for beginning the War and now obstructing Peace The Army intitle their attempts for King and People Their Adversaries for bringing the King to His Parliament The Commanders were greedy of that War which promised an easie Victory and made the poor Souldiers hope for the Plunder of the City For the advantage was clear on the Army's side which consisted of veterane Souldiers united among themselves by a long Converse and known Commanders but the force of the other was made up of a tumultuary Multitude gathered under new Leaders and so had no mutual confidence their meetings were full of doubts and fears none could determine in private nor in publick consult because they dared not trust one another and it was observed that those who were most treacherous talk'd most boldly against the Enemy Therefore in the very beginnings the Parliament and City desert their Enterprise treat with and open their Gates to the Army who march in Triumph through London bringing the Speakers and their Fellow-Travellers to their Chairs seize upon the Tower dismantle the Fortifications pull down all the Chains and Posts of the City send the Lord Mayor and the chief Citizens to the Tower and reduce all the power of the Nation in Obedience to the Commanders For Fairfax is made General of all the Forces both in England and Ireland and Rainsbrough a Leveller and a violent Head of the Democraticks High Admiral The impeached Presbyterians fled beyond Sea others of that Sect drooping complyed with the Fortune of the Conquerours and that which grieved good Men most was a Publick Thanksgiving which is not to be observed but for the happy endeavours of a Nation in their vertuous and glorious undertakings for Liberty and Safety but now was prophaned for our Slavery and Misery to God was appointed for the Army and they were entertained now at a Feast whom before the City would have forced from their Walls While these things were in Motion the King consults Heaven for Direction and His Party modestly abstain from either side thought both to be abhorred and knew that Party would be the worst which should overcome The Army having now the greatest strengths of the Nation the Parliament and City at their Obedience make no mention of their former promises to the King only the Adjutators were fierce for breaking that Parliament and calling another as they call'd it more equal Representative But both their Synagogue and the Council of War being now delivered from fear of the Presbyterians began to contrive the destruction both of the King and Monarchy As for the King whom they had now brought to Hampton-Court some that had before contrived His Death and to murder Him while he was in the Scotch Camp so at once to satisfie their own Revenge and load their Enemies with the Infamy of the Murder yet could not then perform it were now fierce for a speedy and secret Assassination by Pistol or Poison Others would have
among the Conspirators and both heated and directed their Fury against Him They were as importunate in their Calumnies of Him even after His Death as were the vilest of the Sectaries which they had never done could they have imagined Him to be theirs for His Blood would in their Calendar have out-shamed the Multitude of their fictitious Saints For His sake they continued their hatred to His Family abetted the Usurpations of the following Tyrant by imposing upon the World new Rules of Obedience and Government invented fresh Calumnies for the Son and obstructed by various Methods His return to the Principality because He was Heir as well of the Faith as of the Throne of His Father Although this Honour is not to be denied to many Gallant Persons of that perswasion that their Loyalty was not so corrupted by their Faith to Rome but that they laboured to prevent the Father's Overthrow and to hasten the Son's Restitution He was not satisfied in being Religious as a particular Christian but would be so as a King and endeavoured that Piety might be as Universal as His Empire This He assayed by giving Ornaments and Assistances to the External Exercise and Parts of it which is the proper Province of a Magistrate whose Power reaches but to the Outward man that so carnal minds if they were not brought to an Obedience might yet to a Reverence and if men would not honour yet they should not despise Religion This He did in taking Care for the Place of Worship that Comeliness and Decency should be there conspicuous where the God of Order was to be adored And it was a Royal Undertaking to restore Saint Paul's Church to its primitive strength and give it a beauty as magnificent as its Structure He taught men not to contemn the Dispensers of the Gospel because He had so great an esteem for them admitting some to His nearest Confidence and most Private Counsels as the Archbishop of Canterbury and the greatest Place of Trust as the Bishop of London to the Treasury consulting at once the Emolument of Religion whose Dictates are more powerfully impressed when the Minister is honoured by the Magistrate and the Benefit of the State which wise Princes had before found none to seek more faithfully if any did more prudently than Church-men Though a Voluntary Poverty did much contribute to the lustre and increase of the Church in the Purer times yet a necessitated would have destroyed it in a Corrupt age therefore the King to obstruct all access of Ruine that way secured her Patrimony and recovered as much as He could out of the Jaws of Sacrilege which together with time had devoured a great part of it His endeavours this way were so strong that the Faction in Scotland found no Artifice able to divert them but by kindling the flame of a Civil War the Criminals there seeking to adjust their Sacrilegious Acquisitions by Rebellious practices and to destroy that Church by force which His Majesty would not suffer them to torture with famine In Ireland the Lord Lieutenant Wentworth by His Command and Instructions retrived very great Possessions which the tumults of that Nation had advantaged many greedy Persons to seise upon and would not suffer Sedition to be incouraged with the hopes of Impiety In England He countenanced those just Pleas which Oppressed Incumbents entred against Rapacious Patrons and this way many Curates were put into a Condition of giving Hospitality who before were contemptible in their Ministry because they were so in their Fortune His Enemies knew how Inviolable was the Faith of His Majesty in this and therefore pressed Him with nothing more to obstruct Peace than the Alienation of Church-Lands rather than which He did abandon His Life and parted sooner with His Blood than them He used to say Though I am sensible enough of the Dangers that attend My Care of the Church yet I am resolved to defend it or make it My Tomb-stone alluding to a Story which He would tell of a Generous Captain that said so of a Castle that was committed to his trust He had so perfect a Detestation of that Crime that it is said He scarce ever mentioned Henry VIII without an Abhorrency of His Sacriledge He neglected the Advices of His own Party if they were negligent of the Welfare of the Church Those Concessions He had made in Scotland to the prejudice of the Church there were the subject of His grief and penitential Confessions both before God as appears in His Prayers and men For when the Reverend Dr Morley now Lord Bishop of Winchester whom He had sent for to the Treaty in the Isle of Wight where he employed his diligence and prudence to search into the Intrigues and Reserves of the Commissioners had acquainted Him how the Commissioners were the more pertinacious for the abolishing of Episcopacy here because His Majesty had consented to it in Scotland and withal told Him what Answer he himself had made to them That perchance the King was abused to those Grants by a misinformation that that Act which was made in King James ' s Minority against Bishops was yet unrepealed and that His Concession would but leave them where the Law had The King answered It is true I was told so but whenever you hear that urged again give them this Answer and say that you had it from the King Himself That when I did that in Scotland I sinned against My Conscience and that I have often repented of it and hope that God hath forgiven Me that great Sin and by God's grace for no Consideration in the World will I ever do so again He was careful of Uniformity both because He knew the Power of Just and Lawful Princes consisted in the Union of their Subjects who never are cemented stronger than by a Unity in Religion but Tyrants who measure their greatness by the weakness of their Vassals work that most effectually by caressing Schisms and giving a Licence to different Perswasions as the Usurpers afterwards did Besides He saw there was no greater Impediment to a sincere Piety because that Time and those Parts which might improve Godliness to a growth were all Wasted and Corrupted in Malice and Slanders betwixt the Dissenters about forms He was more tender in preserving the Truths of Christianity than the Rights of His Throne For when the Commissioners of the Two Houses in the Isle of Wight importunately pressed him for a Confirmation of the Lesser Catechism which the Assembly at Westminster had composed and used this motive because it was a small matter He answered Though it seem to you a small thing it is not so to Me I had rather give you one of the Flowers of My Crown than permit your Children to be corrupted in the least point of their Religion Thus though He could not infuse Spiritual Graces into the minds of His Subjects yet He would manage their Reason by Pious Arts and what the Example of a King which through
lawful Government while the Almighty secured the Glory of the King even in His Sufferings provided for the Support and Honour of the Royal Family in its lowest Estate and miraculously preserved the Chief of it from innumerable dangers and made us to see afterwards in the Series of his Providences that he had not withdrawn his loving-kindness from the House of King CHARLES by restoring it to its primitive Grandeur And this he was pleased to signifie to the King by a Passage that appeared little less than a Miracle For while He was at Oxford and the Earl of Southampton now Lord High-Treasurer of England a Person of unquestionable Honour and Veracity of an eminent Integrity above the Flattery of Princes who doth attest this Occurrence as Gentleman of the Bed-chamber lay one Night in the same Chamber with Him the Wax Mortar which according to Custom the King always had in His Chamber was in the night as they both conceived and took notice of fully extinguished But my Lord rising in the Morning found it lighted and said to the KING Sir this Mortar now burns very clearly at which they both exceedingly wondred as fully concluding it had been out in the Night and they could not imagine how any of the Grooms or any other could possibly light it the Door being locked with a Spring within This busying the wonder of both for the present the King afterwards when He saw the Malice of His Enemies press hard upon His Life and Ruine reflecting upon this Occurrence drew it into this Presage That though God would permit His Light to be extinguished for a time yet He would at last light it again which was verified in the Event for though God suffered the Faction to spill His blood yet after many years of Troubles and when he had permitted those Monsters to bring us to the brinks of destruction he restored His Son to the Crown in as much Splendour and Greatness as any of His Predecessors As His Abilities for the Publick administration of Government were all apt to raise Admiration so His Recreations and Privacies gave a Delight to such as communicated in the sight of them and there needed no more to beget an Honour of Him than to behold Him in His Diversions which were all serious and there was no part of His time which either wanted benefit or deserved not Commendation In His younger days His pleasures were in Riding and sometimes in breaking the great Horse and He did it so gracefully that He deserved that Statue of Brass which did represent Him on Horse-back Besides this He delighted in Hunting an active and stirring Exercise to accustom Him to toils and harden that body whose mind abhorred the softness of Luxury and Ease which Vicious Princes think a part of Power and the Rewards of Publick Cares but He used this as the way whereby the Antient Heroes were habituated to Labours and by contending with some beasts in Strength and others in Swiftness first to rout then to chase their flying Enemies When the season of the year did not permit this sport then Tennis Gough Bowls were the ways of His Diversions and in all these He was wonderfully active and excellent His softer pleasures were Books and of His time spent in these there were many Monuments In His Library at St James's there was kept a Collection of His of the excellent Sayings of Authors written with His own hand and in his Youth presented to His Father King JAMES and there is yet extant in the hands of a Worthy Person His Extracts written with His own hand out of My Lord of Canterbury's Book against Fisber of all the Arguments against the Papists digested into so excellent a Method that He gave Light and Strength to them even while He did epitomise them into a sheet or two of Paper The same Care and Pains He had bestowed in reading the most Judicious Hooker and the learned Works of Bishop Andrews out of all which He had gathered whatsoever was excellent in them and fitted them for His ready use When He was tired with Reading then He applied Himself to Discourse wherein He both benefited Himself and others and He was good at the relation of a Story or telling of an Occurrence When these were tedious by continuance He would either play at Chess or please Himself with His Pictures of which He had many choice Pieces of the best Masters as Titian Rafael Tintoret and others with which He had adorned His most frequented Palaces as also with most antique Pieces of Sculpture so that to those that had travelled it seemed that Italy was translated to His Court. As His Spirit was thus accomplished so His Body had its Elegancies His Stature was of a just height rather decent than tall His Body erect and not enclining to a Corpulency nor meager till His Afflictions wrought too strongly upon it to a Leanness His Limbs exactly proportioned His Face full of Majesty and His Brow large and fair His Eyes so quick and piercing that they went farther than the Superficies of men and searched their more Inward parts for at the first sight He would pass a judgment upon the frame of a man's Spirit and Faculties and He was not often mistaken having a strange happiness in Physiognomy and by reason of this He would remember any one He had seen but once many years after His Complexion was enclining to a Paleness His Hair a brown which He wore of a moderate length ending in gentle and easie curles upon His left side He indulged one Lock to a greater length in the youthful part of His Life His Beard He wore picked but after the Faction had passed those Votes of No Addresses He permitted it to grow neglectedly and to cover more of His face His Gestures had nothing of affectation but full of Majestick gravity His motions were speedy and His gate fast which shewed the Alacrity and Vigour of His Mind for His Affections were temperate He was of a most healthful Constitution and after the infirmities of His Childhood was never sick Once He had the small Pox but the Malignity of it was so small that it altered not His Stomach nor put Him to the abstinence of one Meal neither did it detain Him above a fortnight under the Care of His Physicians He was Father of four Sons and five Daughters 1. Charles James born at Greenwich on Wednesday May 13th 1628. but died almost as soon as born having been first christned 2. Charles Duke of Cornwall and Prince of Wales born at St. James's May 29th 1630. whom after a fellowship in the Sufferings of His Father some brave but unsuccessful attempts to recover the Rights of His Inheritance and twelve years various fortune abroad God was pleased by a wonderful Providence without blood or ruine to conduct to His Native Throne and make Him the Restorer of Peace to a People wearied and wasted almost to a Desolation by several
as you shall think fit to Treat with the like number of Persons to be appointed by His Majesty upon the said Propositions and such other things as shall be proposed by His Majesty for the preservation and defence of the Protestant Religion with due regard to the ease of tender Consciences as His Majesty hath often offered the Rights of the Crown the Liberty and Property of the Subject and the Priviledges of Parliament and upon the whole matter to conclude a happy and blessed Peace XIII From OXFORD Dec. 5. MDC XLV For a safe Conduct for certain Persons of Honour to be sent with Propositions of Peace For the Speaker of the House of Peers pro tempore CHARLES R. HIS Majesty being still deeply sensible of the continuation of this bloody and unnatural War cannot think Himself discharg'd of the duty He ows to God or the affection and regard He hath to the preservation of His People without the constant application of His earnest endeavours to find some Expedient for the speedy ending of these unhappy Distractions if that may be doth therefore desire That a safe Conduct may be forthwith sent for the Duke of Richmond the Earl of Southampton John Ashburnham and Jeffry Palmer Esquires and their attendants with Coaches Horses and other accommodations for their journey to Westminster during their stay there and return when they shall think fit whom His Majesty intends to send to the Lords and Commons assembled in the Parliament of England at Westminster and the Commissioners of the Parliament of Scotland furnished with such Propositions as His Majesty is confident will be the foundation of a happy and well-grounded Peace Given at our Court at Oxford 5. December 1645. XIV From OXFORD Dec. 15. MDCXLV In pursuance of the former For the Speaker of the House of Peers pro tempore CHARLES R. HIS Majesty cannot but extremely wonder that after so many expressions on your part of a deep and seeming sense of the Miseries of this afflicted Kingdom and of the dangers incident to His Person during the continuance of this unnatural War your many great and so often repeated Protestations that the raising of these Arms hath been only for the necessary defence of God's true Religion His Majesty's Honour Safety and Prosperity the Peace Comfort and Security of His People you should delay a safe Conduct to the persons mentioned in His Majesty's Message of the fifth of this instant December which are to be sent unto you with Propositions for a well-grounded Peace A thing so far from having been denied at any time by His Majesty whensoever you have desired the same that He believes it hath been seldom if ever practised among the most avowed and professed Enemies much less from Subjects to their King But His Majesty is resolved that no discouragements whatsoever shall make Him fail on His part in doing His uttermost endeavours to put an end to these Calamities which if not in time prevented must prove the ruine of this unhappy Nation and therefore doth once again desire that a safe Conduct may be forthwith sent for those Persons expressed in His former Message and doth therefore conjure you as you will answer to Almighty God in that day when He shall make inquisition for all the blood that hath and may yet be spilt in this unnatural War as you tender the preservation and establishment of the true Religion by all the bonds of Duty and Allegiance to your King or compassion to your bleeding and unhappy Countrey and of charity to your selves that you dispose your hearts to a true sense and imploy all your faculties in a more serious endeavour together with His Majesty to set a speedy end to these wasting Divisions and then He shall not doubt but that God will yet again give the blessing of Peace to this distracted Kingdom Given at our Court at Oxford the 15. of Decemb. 1645. XV. From OXFORD Dec. 26. MDCXLV For a Personal Treaty For the Speaker of the House of Peers pro tempore to be communicated to the two Houses of Parliament at Westminster and to the Commissioners of the Parliament of Scotland CHARLES R. NOtwithstanding the strange and unexpected delays which can be precedented by no former times to His Majesties two former Messages His Majesty will lay aside all expostulations as rather serving to lose time than to contribute any remedy to the evils which for the present do afflict this distracted Kingdom Therefore without further preamble His Majesty thinks it most necessary to send these Propositions this way which He intended to do by the Persons mentioned in His former Messages though He well knows the great disadvantage which overtures of this kind have by the want of being accompanied by well-instructed Messengers His Majesty conceiving that the former Treaties have hitherto proved ineffectual chiefly for want of Power in those Persons that Treated as likewise because those from whom their Power was derived not possibly having the particular informations of every several debate could not give so clear a Judgment as was requisite in so important a business If therefore His Majesty may have the engagement of the two Houses of Parliament at Westminster the Commissioners of the Parliament of Scotland the Mayor Aldermen Common-Council and Militia of London of the chief Commanders in Sir Thomas Fairfax his Army as also those in the Scots Army for His Majesties free and safe coming to and abode in London or Westminster with such of His Servants now attending Him and their followers not exceeding in all the number of three hundred for the space of forty days and after the said time for His free and safe repair to any of His Garrisons of Oxford Worcester or Newark which His Majesty shall nominate at any time before His going from London or Westminster His Majesty propounds to have a Personal Treaty with the two Houses of Parliament at Westminster and the Commissioners of the Parliament of Scotland upon all matters which may conduce to the restoring of Peace and happiness to these miserable distracted Kingdoms and to begin with the three Heads which were Treated on at Vxbridge And for the better clearing of His Majesties earnest and sincere intentions of putting an end to these unnatural Distractions knowing that point of security may prove the greatest obstacle to this most blessed work His Majesty therefore declares That He is willing to commit the great trust of the Militia of this Kingdom for such time and with such powers as are exprest in the Paper delivered by His Majesties Commissioners at Vxbridge the sixth of February last to these persons following viz. the Lord Privy Seal the Duke of Richmond the Marquess of Hertford the Marquess of Dorchester the Earl of Dorset Lord Chamberlain the Earl of Northumberland the Earl of Essex Earl of Southampton Earl of Pembroke Earl of Salisbury Earl of Manchester Earl of Warwick Earl of Denbigh Earl of Chichester Lord Say Lord Seymour Lord Lucas Lord
intention to continue this War any longer or to make any Division between His two Kingdoms but to give such contentment to both as by the blessing of God He might see a happy and well-grounded Peace thereby to bring Prosperity to these Kingdoms answerable to the best times of His Progenitors And since the setling of Religion ought to be the chiefest care of all Counsels His Majesty most earnestly and heartily recommends to His two Houses of Parliament all the ways and means possible for speedy finishing this pious and necessary work and particularly that they take the advice of the Divines of both Kingdoms assembled at Westminster Likewise concerning the Militia of England for securing His People against all pretensions of Danger His Majesty is pleased to have it setled as was offered at the Treaty at Vxbridge all the persons being to be named for the trust by the two Houses of the Parliament of England for the space of seven years and after the expiring of that term that it be regulated as shall be agreed upon by His Majesty and His two Houses of Parliament And the like for the Kingdom of Scotland Concerning the Wars in Ireland His Majesty will do whatsoever is possible for Him to give full satisfaction therein And if these be not satisfactory His Majesty then desires that all such of the Propositions as are already agreed upon by both Kingdoms may be speedily sent unto Him His Majesty being resolved to comply with His Parliament in every thing that shall be for the Happiness of His Subjects and for the removing of all unhappy Differences which have produced so many sad effects His Majesty having made these offers he will neither question the thankful acceptation of them nor doth He doubt but that His two Kingdoms will be careful to maintain Him in His Honour and in His just and lawful Rights which is the only way to make a happy composure of these unnatural Divisions and likewise will think upon a solid way of conserving the Peace between the two Kingdoms for the time to come and will take a speedy course for easing and quieting His afflicted People by satisfying the publick Debts by disbanding of all Armies and whatsoever else shall be judged conducible to that end that so all hindrances being removed He may return to His Parliament with mutual comfort Southwell May 18. 1646. POSTSCRIPT HIS Majesty being desirous to shun the further effusion of Blood and to evidence His real intentions to Peace is willing that His Forces in and about Oxford be disbanded and the Fortifications of the City dismantled they receiving honorable Conditions Which being granted to the Town and Forces there His Majesty will give the like Order to the rest of the Garrisons XXIV From NEW CASTLE Jun. 10. MDCXLVI For Propositions for Peace and a Personal Treaty For the Speaker of the House of Peers pro tempore to be communicated to the two Houses of Parliament at Westminster and the Commissioners of the Parliament of Scotland CHARLES R. HIS Majesty looking with grief of heart upon the sad sufferings of His People in His three Kingdoms for some years past and being afflicted with their distresses and unquiet conditions through the distractions about Religion the keeping of Forces on foot in the Fields and Garrisons the not satisfying of publick Debts and the fears of the further effusion of blood by the continuance of an unnatural War in any of these Kingdoms or by rending and dividing these Kingdoms so happily united and having sent a gracious Message unto both Houses of Parliament and the Commissioners of the Parliament of Scotland expressing the necessary causes of His coming from Oxford unto the Scotish Army without any intention to make a Division where He is in freedom and right capacity to settle a true Peace and containing such offers as He conceived would have been accepted with a general clause of complying with their desires and being impatient of delays and not acquainted with the particulars which may give contentment to them His Majesty doth earnestly desire That the Propositions of Peace so often promised and so much expected may be speedily sent unto Him that upon consideration of them He may apply Himself to give such satisfaction as may be the foundation of a firm Peace And for the better and more speedy attaining thereunto His Majesty doth further propound That He may come to London with Safety Freedom and Honour where He resolves to comply with His Houses of Parliament in every thing which may be most for the good of His Subjects and perfect what remains for setling both Kingdoms and People in a happy condition being likewise most confident that they according to their reiterated Declarations and solemn Protestations will be zealous in the maintenance of His Honour and just and lawful Rights And as His Majesty desires the Houses of Parliament to disburthen the Kingdom of all Forces and Garrisons in their power except such as before these unhappy times have been maintained for the necessary defence and safety of this Kingdom so He is willing forthwith to disband all His Forces and Garrisons within the same as the inclosed Order herewith sent will evidence And if upon these offers His Majesty shall have such satisfaction as He may be confident a firm Peace shall ensue thereon His Majesty will then give order for His Son the Prince his present return Newcastle the tenth of June 1646. To Our Trusty and Well-beloved Sir Thomas Glenham Sir Thomas Tildesley Col. H. Washington Col. Thomas Blagge Governours of Our Cities and Towns of Oxford Lichfield Worcester and Wallingford and all other Commanders of any Towns Castles and Forts in Our Kingdom of England CHARLES R. HAving resolved to comply with the desires of Our Parliament in every thing which may be for the good of Our Subjects and leave no means unassayed for removing all Differences amongst us therefore We have thought fit the more to evidence the reality of Our intentions of setling a happy and firm Peace to require you upon honourable terms to quit those Towns Castles and Forts intrusted to you by Vs and to disband all the Forces under your several Commands Newcastle the tenth of June 1646. XXV From NEWCASTLE Aug. 1. MDCXLVI For a Personal Treaty upon the Propositions sent Him To the Speaker of the House of Peers pro tempore to be communicated to the two Houses of Parliament at Westminster and the Commissioners of the Parliament of Scotland CHARLES R. THE Propositions tendered to His Majesty by the Commissioners from the Lords and Commons of the Parliament of England assembled at Westminster and the Commissioners of the Parliament of Scotland to which the Houses of Parliament have taken twice so many months for deliberation as they have assigned days for His Majesties Answer do import so great alterations in Government both in Church and Kingdom as it is very difficult to return a particular and positive Answer before a full
give way to the sale of Forest-Lands for that purpose this being the publick Debt which in His Majesties Judgment is first to be satisfied And for other publick Debts already contracted upon Church-Lands or any other Ingagements His Majesty will give His Consent to such Act or Acts for raising of monies for payment thereof as both Houses shall hereafter agree upon so as they be equally laid whereby His People already too heavily burthened by these late Distempers may have no more pressures upon them than this absolute necessity requires And for the further securing of all fears His Majesty will consent that an Act of Parliament be passed for the disposing of the great Offices of State and naming of Privy Councellors for the whole term of His Reign by the two Houses of Parliament their Patents and Commissions being taken from His Majesty and after to return to the Crown as is expressed in the Article of the Militia For the Court of Wards and Liveries His Majesty very well knows the consequence of taking that away by turning of all Tenures into common Soccage as well in point of Revenue to the Crown as in the protection of many of His Subjects being Infants Nevertheless if the continuance thereof seem grievous to His Subjects rather than He will fail on His part in giving satisfaction He will consent to an Act for taking of it away so as a full recompence be setled upon His Majesty and His Successors in perpetuity and that the Arrears now due be reserved unto Him towards the payment of the Arrears of the Army And that the memory of these late Distractions may be wholly wiped away His Majesty will consent to an Act of Parliament for the suppressing and making null of all Oaths Declarations and Proclamations against both or either House of Parliament and of all Indictments and other proceedings against any persons for adhering to them And His Majesty proposeth as the best expedient to take away all seeds of future Differences that there be an Act of Oblivion to extend to all His Subjects As for Ireland the Cessation there is long since determined but for the future all other things being fully agreed His Majesty will give full satisfaction to His two Houses concerning that Kingdom And although His Majesty cannot consent in Honour and Justice to avoid all His own Grants and Acts past under His great Seal since the two and twentieth of May 1642 or to the confirming of all the Acts and Grants passed under that made by the two Houses yet His Majesty is confident that upon perusal of particulars He shall give full satisfaction to His two Houses as to what may reasonably be desired in that particular And now His Majesty conceives that by these His offers which He is ready to make good upon the settlement of a Peace He hath clearly manifested His intentions to give full security and satisfaction to all Interests for what can justly be desired in order to the future Happiness of His People and for the perfecting of these Concessions as also for such other things as may be proposed by the two Houses and for such just and reasonable demands as His Majesty shall find necessary to propose on His part He earnestly desires a Personal Treaty at London with His two Houses in Honour Freedom and Safety it being in His Judgement the most proper and indeed only means to a firm and settled Peace and impossible without it to reconcile former or avoid future Misunderstandings All these things being by Treaty perfected His Majesty believes His Houses will think it reasonable that the Proposals of the Army concerning the Succession of Parliaments and their due elections should be taken into consideration As for what concerns the Kingdom of Scotland His Majesty will very readily apply Himself to give all reasonable satisfaction when the desires of the two Houses of Parliament on their behalf or of the Commissioners of that Kingdom or of both joyned together shall be made known unto Him CHARLES R. From the Isle of Wight November 17. 1647. XXXIII From CARISBROOK Dec. 6. MDCXLVII For an Answer to His last To the Speaker of the House of Peers pro tempore to be communicated to the two Houses of Parliament at Westminster and the Commissioners of the Parliament of Scotland CHARLES R. HAD His Majesty thought it possible that His two Houses could be imployed in things of greater concernment than the Peace of this miserable distracted Kingdom He would have expected with more patience their leisure in acknowledging the receipt of His Message of the 17. of November last But since there is not in nature any consideration preceding to that of Peace His Majesty's constant tenderness of the welfare of His Subjects hath such a prevalence with Him that He cannot forbear the vehement prosecution of a Personal Treaty which is only so much the more desired by His Majesty as it is superior to all other means of Peace And truly when His Majesty considers the several complaints He daily hears from all parts of this Kingdom That Trade is so decayed all commodites so dear and Taxes so insupportable that even natural subsistence will suddenly fail His Majesty to perform the Trust reposed in Him must use His uttermost endeavours for Peace though He were to have no share in the benefit of it And hath not His Majesty done His part for it by devesting Himself of so much Power and Authority as by His last Message He hath promised to do upon the concluding of the whole Peace And hath He met with that acknowledgement from His two Houses which this great Grace and Favour justly deserves Surely the blame of this great retarding of Peace must fall somewhere else than on His Majesty To conclude if ye will but consider in how little time this necessary good work will be done if you the two Houses will wait on His Majesty with the same resolutions for Peace as He will meet you He no way doubts but that ye will willingly agree to this His Majesty's earnest desire of a Personal Treaty and speedily desire His presence amongst you where all things agreed on being digested into Acts till when it is most unreasonable for His Majesty or His two Houses to desire each of other the least concession this Kingdom may at last enjoy the blessing of a long-wisht-for Peace Carisbrook-Castle Decemb. 6. 1647. XXXIV From CARISBROOK Dec. 28. MDCXLVII In Answer to the Four Bills and Propositions before the Votes of No address For the Speaker of the House of Peers pro tempore to be communicated to the Lords and Commons in the Parliament of England at Westminster and the Commissioners of the Parliament of Scotland CHARLES R. THE necessity of complying with all engaged Interests in these great Distempers for a perfect settlement of Peace His Majesty finds to be none of the least difficulties He hath met with since the time of His Afflictions Which is too visible when
at the same time that the two Houses of the English Parliament do present to His Majesty several Bills and Propositions for His Consent the Commissioners for Scotland do openly protest against them So that were there nothing in the case but the consideration of that difference His Majesty cannot imagine how to give such an Answer to what is now proposed as thereby to promise Himself His great end A perfect Peace And when His Majesty further considers how impossible it is in the condition He now stands to fulfil the desires of the two Houses since the only ancient and known ways of passing Laws are either by His Majesty's personal assent in the House of Peers or by Commission under His great Seal of England He cannot but wonder at such failings in the manner of address which is now made unto Him unless His two Houses intend that His Majesty shall allow of a great Seal made without His Authority before there be any consideration had thereupon in a Treaty Which as it may hereafter hazard the security it self so for the present it seems very unreasonable to His Majesty And though His Majesty is willing to believe that the intentions of very many in both Houses in sending these Bills before a Treaty was only to obtain a Trust from Him and not to take any advantage by passing them to force other things from Him which are either against His Conscience or Honour yet His Majesty believes it clear to all understandings that these Bills contain as they are now penned not only the devesting Himself of all Soveraignty and that without possibility of recovering it either to Him or His Successors except by repeal of those Bills but also the making His Concessions guilty of the greatest pressures that can be made upon the Subject as in other particulars so by giving an arbitrary and unlimited power to the two Houses for ever to raise and levy Forces for Land or Sea service of what persons without distinction or quality and to what numbers they please and likewise for the payment of them to levy what Moneys in such sort and by such ways and means and consequently upon the Estates of whatsoever persons as they shall think fit and appoint which is utterly inconsistent with the Liberty and Property of the Subject and His Majesty's Trust in protecting them So that if the major part of both Houses shall think it necessary to put the rest of the Propositions into Bills His Majesty leaves all the World to judge how unsafe it would be for Him to consent thereunto and if not what a strange condition after the passing of these four Bills His Majesty and all His Subjects would be cast into And here His Majesty thinks it not unfit to wish His two Houses to consider well the manner of their proceeding that when His Majesty desires a personal Treaty with them for the settling of a Peace they in answer propose the very subject matter of the most essential part thereof to be first granted A thing which will be hardly credible to Posterity Wherefore His Majesty declares That neither the desire of being freed from this tedious and irksom condition of life His Majesty hath so long suffered nor the apprehension of what may befal Him in case His two Houses shall not afford Him a Personal Treaty shall make Him change His Resolution of not consenting to any Act till the whole Peace be concluded Yet then He intends not only to give just and reasonable satisfaction in the particulars presented to Him but also to make good all other Concessions mentioned in His Message of the 16. of November last which He thought would have produced better effects than what He finds in the Bills and Propositions now presented unto Him And yet His Majesty cannot give over but now again earnestly presseth for a Personal Treaty so passionately is He affected with the advantages which Peace will bring to His Majesty and all his Subjects of which He will not at all despair there being no other visible way to obtain a well-grounded Peace However His Majesty is very much at ease within Himself for having fulfilled the offices both of a Christian and of a King and will patiently wait the good pleasure of Almighty God to incline the hearts of His two Houses to consider their King and to compassionate their fellow-Subjects miseries Given at Carisbrook-Castle in the Isle of Wight December 28. 1647. XXXV From CARISBROOK August 10. MDCXLVIII In Answer to the Votes for a Treaty For the Speaker of the Lords House pro tempore to be communicated to the Lords and Commons in the Parliament of England at Westminster C. R. IF the Peace of My Dominions were not much dearer to Me than any particular Interest whatsoever I had too much reason to take notice of the several Votes which passed against Me and the sad condition I have been in now above these seven months But since you My two Houses of Parliament have opened as it seems to He a fair beginning to a happy Peace I shall heartily apply My self thereunto and to that end I will as clearly and shortly as I may set you down those things which I conceive necessary to this blessed work so that We together may remove all impediments that may hinder a happy conclusion of this Treaty which with all chearfulness I do embrace And to this wished end your selves have laid most excellent grounds For what can I reasonably expect more than to Treat with Honour Freedom and Safety upon such Propositions as you have or shall present unto He and such as I shall make to you But withal remember that it is the definition not names of things which makes them rightly known and that without means to perform no Proposition can take effect Aud truly My present condition is such that I can no more treat than a blind man judge of colours or one run a race who hath both his feet fast tied together wherefore My first necessary demand is That you will recall all such Votes and Orders by which people are frighted from coming writing or speaking freely to Me. Next That such men of all professions whom I shall send for as of necessary use to Me in this Treaty may be admitted to wait upon Me. In a word that I may be in the same state of freedom I was in when I was last at Hampton-Court And indeed less cannot in any reasonable measure make good those offers which you have made Me by your Votes For how can I treat with Honour so long as people are terrified with Votes and Orders against coming to speak or write to Me And am I honourably treated so long as there is none about Me except a Barber who came now with the Commissioners that ever I named to wait upon Me Or with Freedom until I may call such unto Me of whose services I shall have use in so great and difficult a work And for Safety I
Advocate Rives and D. Duck. And afterward in a Letter of one of the Commissioners for the two Houses He sent inclosed this Note Nov. 2. C. R. The Bishop of Armagh the Bishop of Excester the Bishop of Rochester the Bishop of Worcester Dr. Ferne Dr. Morley XXXVIII From NEWPORT Sept. 29. MDCXLVIII Containing His Concessions HIS Majesty did use many earnest endeavours for a Personal Treaty which He hoped might have been obtained at Westminster between Him and His two Houses of Parliament immediately yet they having made choice of this way by you their Commissioners His Majesty did gladly and chearfully accept thereof in this place as a fit means to begin a Treaty for Peace which might put an end to His own sad condition and the Miseries of His Kingdom For an entrance whereunto His Majesty hath already expressed His consent to the First Proposition But finding you are limited by Instructions which you have no warrant to communicate unto Him and having cause by your Paper of the twentieth of this present to believe that you have no power to omit or alter any thing though He shall give you such reasons as may satisfie you so to do without transmitting the Papers to the two Houses at a far distance where His Majesties reasons expressions and offers upon debate cannot be fully represented and from whence their Answers cannot be returned without much waste of the time allotted for the Treaty here and having lately received another Paper concerning the Church containing in it self many particulars of great importance and referring to divers Ordinances Articles of Religion and other things eleven or twelve in number of great length and some of them very new and never before presented to His Majesty the due consideration whereof will take up much time and require His Majesties presence with His two Houses before a full resolution can well be had in matters of so high consequence To the end therefore that the good Work now in hand may by God's blessing proceed more speedily and effectually to an happy conclusion and that His two Houses of Parliament may at present have further security and an earnest of future satisfaction His Majesty upon consideration had of yours makes these Propositions following Concerning the Church His Majesty will consent that the calling and sitting of the Assembly of Divines at Westminster be confirmed for three years by Act of Parliament And will by Act of Parliament confirm for three years the Directory for the publick Worship of God in the Kingdoms of England and Ireland and Dominion of Wales And will likewise confirm for three years by Act of Parliament the Form of Church-Government which ye have presented to Him to be used for the Churches of England and Ireland and Dominion of Wales Provided that His Majesty and those of His Judgment or any others who cannot in Conscience submit thereunto be not in the mean time obliged to comply with the same Government or Form of Worship but have free practice of their own profession And that a free consultation and debate be had with the Assembly of Divines at Westminster in the mean time twenty of His Majesties nomination being added unto them whereby it may be determined by His Majesty and His two Houses of Parliament how the said Church-Government and Form of Publick Worship after the said time may be setled or sooner if Differences may be agreed and how also Reformation of Religion may be setled within the Kingdoms of England and Ireland and the Dominion of Wales And the Articles of Christian Religion now delivered to Him may in like manner be then considered of and determined and care taken for the ease of tender Consciences And concerning the Bishops Lands and Revenues His Majesty considering that during these troublesom times divers of His Subjects have made contracts and purchaces and divers have disbursed great summs of moneys upon security and engagement of those Lands His Majesty for their satisfaction will consent to an Act or Acts of Parliament whereby legal estates for lives or for years at their choice not exceeding 99 years shall be made of those Lands towards the satisfaction of the said Purchasers Contractors and others to whom they are engaged at the old Rents or some other moderate Rent whereby they may receive satisfaction And in case such Leases shall not satisfie His Majesty will propound and consent to some other way for their further satisfaction Provided that the propriety and inheritance of those Lands may still remain and continue to the Church and Church-men respectively according to the pious intentions of the Donors and Founders thereof and the rent that shall be reserved to be for their maintenance His Majesty will give his Royal assent for the better observation of the Lord's day for suppressing of Innovations in Churches and Chappels in and about the Worship of God and for the better advancement of the Preaching of God's Holy Word in all parts of this Kingdom and to an Act against enjoying pluralities of Benefices by Spiritual persons and Non-residency and to an Act for regulating and Reforming both Universities and the Colledges of Westminster Winchester and Eaton His Majesty will consent to an Act for the better discovery and speedy conviction of Popish Recusants as is desired in your Propositions and also to an Act for the education of the children of Papists by Protestants in the Protestant Religion As also to an Act for the true levying of the penalties against Papists to be levied and disposed in such manner as both Houses shall agree on and as is proposed on His Majesties behalf As also to an Act to prevent the practices of Papists against the State and for putting the Laws in Execution and for a stricter course to prevent hearing and saying of Mass But as to the Covenant His Majesty is not yet therein satisfied that He can either sign or swear it or consent to impose it on the Consciences of others nor doth He conceive it proper or useful at this time to be insisted on Touching the Militia His Majesty conceives that your Proposition demands a far larger power over the persons and estates of His Subjects than hath ever hitherto been warranted by the Laws and Statutes of this Realm Yet considering the present Distractions require more and trusting in His two Houses of Parliament that they will make no further use of the power therein mentioned after the present Distempers setled than shall be agreeable to the legal exercise thereof in times past or just necessity shall require His Majesty will consent to an Act of Parliament That the Lords and Commons in the Parliament of England now assembled or hereafter to be assembled or such as they shall appoint during the space of ten years shall arm train and discipline or cause to be armed trained or disciplined all the Forces of the Kingdoms of England and Ireland and Dominion of Wales the Isles of Gernesey and Jersey and the Town of Barwick
upon Tweed already raised both for Sea and Land service and shall from time to time during the space of ten years raise levy arm train and discipline or cause to be raised levied armed trained and disciplined any other Forces for Land and Sea service in the Kingdoms Dominions and places aforesaid as in their judgments they shall from time to time during the said spaceof ten years think fit to appoint and that neither the King His Heirs or Successors or any other but such as shall Act by the Authority or approbation of the said Lords and Commons shall during the said space of ten years exercise any of the powers aforesaid That Monies be raised and levied for the maintenance and use of the said Forces for Land-service and of the Navy and Forces for Sea-service in such sort and by such ways and means as the said Lords and Commons shall from time to time during the said space of ten years think fit and appoint and not otherwise That all the said Forces both for Land and Sea-service so raised or levied or to be raised or levied and also the Admiralty and Navy shall from time to time during the said space of ten years be imployed managed ordered and disposed by the Lords and Commons in such sort and by such ways and means as they shall think fit and appoint and not otherwise And the said Lords and Commons or such as they shall appoint during the said space of ten years shall have power 1. To suppress all Forces raised or to be raised without authority and consent of the said Lords and Commons to the disturbance of the publick Peace of the Kingdoms of England and Ireland Dominion of Wales the Isles of Gernesey and Jersey and the Town of Barwick upon Tweed or any of them 2. To suppress any foreign Forces who shall invade or indeavour to invade the Kingdoms of England and Ireland Dominion of Wales the Isles of Gernesey and Jersey and the Town of Barwick upon Tweed or any of them And after the expiration of the said ten years neither the King His Heirs or Successors or any person or persons by colour or pretence of any Commission power deputation or authority to be derived from the King His Heirs or Successors or any of them shall without the consent of the said Lords and Commons raise arm train discipline imploy order manage disband or dispose any the Forces by Sea or Land of the Kingdoms of England and Ireland the Dominion of Wales Isles of Gernesey and Jersey and the Town of Barwick upon Tweed nor exercise any of the said powers or authorities herein before-mentioned and expressed to be during the space of ten years in the said Lords and Commons nor do any act or any thing concerning the execution of the said powers or authorities or any of them without the consent of the said Lords and Commons first had and obtained And with the same Provisoes for saving the ordinary legal power of Officers of Justice not being Military Officers as is set down in your Propositions and with a Declaration That if any persons shall be gathered and assembled together in a warlike manner or otherwise to the number of thirty persons and shall not forthwith disperse themselves being required thereto by the said Lords and Commons or command from them or any by them especially authorized for that purpose then such person or persons not so dispersing themselves shall be guilty and incur the pains of high Treason being first declared guilty of such offence by the said Lords and Commons any Commission under the Great Seal or other Warrant to the contrary notwithstanding and he or they that shall so offend herein to be uncapable of any pardon from His Majesty His Heirs or Successors And likewise that it be provided that the City of London shall have and enjoy all their Rights Liberties c. in raising and imploying the Forces of that City in such sort as is mentioned in the said Proposition With these Provisoes following to be inserted in the said Act. First That none be compelled to serve in the War against their Wills but in case of coming in of strange Enemies into this Kingdom And that the powers above-mentioned as concerning the Land-Forces other than for keeping up and maintenance of Forts and Garrisons and the keeping up maintaining and pay of this present Army so long as it shall be thought fit by both Houses of Parliament be exercised to no other purposes than for the suppressing of Forces raised or to be raised without authority and consent of the said Lords and Commons as aforesaid or for suppressing of any Foreign Forces which shall invade or endeavour to invade the Kingdoms Dominions or places aforesaid And that the Monies be raised by general and equal Taxations saving that Tunnage and Poundage and such Imposts as have been applyed to the Navy be raised as hath been usual And that all Patents Commissions and other Acts concerning the premisses be made and acted in His Majesties name by Warrant signified by the Lords and Commons or such others as they shall authorize for that purpose If it shall be more satisfactory to His two Houses to have the Militia and powers thereupon depending during the whole time of His Majesty's Reign rather than for the space of ten years His Majesty gives them the election Touching Ireland His Majesty having in the two preceding Propositions given His consent concerning the Church and the Militia there in all things as in England as to all other matters relating to that Kingdom after advice with His two Houses He will leave it to their determination and give His consent accordingly as is herein hereafter expressed Touching publick Debts His Majesty will give His consent to such an Act for raising of Monies by general and equal Taxations for the payment and satisfying the Arrears of the Army publick Debts and engagements of the Kingdom as shall be agreed on by both Houses of Parliament and shall be audited and ascertained by them or such persons as they shall appoint within the space of twelve Months after the passing of an Act for the same His Majesty will consent to an Act that during the said space of ten years the Lord Chancellour or Lord Keeper Commissioners of the Great Seal or Treasury Lord Warden of the Cinque-ports Chancellour of the Exchequer and Dutchy Secretaries of State Master of the Rolls Judges of both Benches and Barons of the Exchequer of England be nominated by both Houses of the Parliament of England to continue quam diu se bene gesserint and in the intervals of Parliament by such others as they shall authorize for that purpose His Majesty will consent that the Militia of the City of London and Liberties thereof during the space of ten years may be in the ordering and Government of the Lord Mayor Aldermen and Commons in the Common Council assembled or such as they shall from time to
will only say one word to you Now that you are the Speaker I command you to do the office of a Speaker which is faithfully to report the great Cause of the Meeting that My Lord Keeper in My Name did represent unto you the last day with this assurance That you giving Me your timely help in this great Affair I shall give a willing ear to all your just Grievances XIX To the House of Lords at WESTMINSTER April 24. MDCXL His Majesty said THAT the cause of His coming was to put them in mind of what had been delivered by the Lord Keeper in His Name unto both Houses the first day of the Parliament and after at White-Hall How contrary to His expectation the House of Commons having held Consultation of matter of Religion Property of Goods and Liberty of Parliament and voted some things concerning those three Heads had therefore given them the precedence before the matter of His Supply That His Necessities were such they could not bear delay That whatsoever He had by the Lord Keeper promised He would perform if the House of Commons would trust Him For Religion that His Heart and Conscience went together with the Religion established in the Church of England and He would give Order to His Arch-Bishops and Bishops that no Innovation in matter of Religion should creep in For the Ship-money that He never made or intended to make any profit to Himself of it but only to preserve the Dominion of the Seas which was so necessary that without it the Kingdom could not subsist But for the way and means by Ship-money or otherwise He left it to them For Property of Goods and Liberty of Parliament He ever intended His People should injoy them holding no King so Great as he that was King of a rich and free People and if they had not Property of Goods and Liberty of Persons they could be neither rich nor free That if the House of Commons would not first trust Him all His Affairs would be disordered and His business lost That though they trusted Him in part at first yet before the Parliament ended He must totally trust them and in conclusion they must for execution of all things wholly trust Him Therefore since the matter was no more than who should be first trusted and that the trust of Him first was but a trust in part He desired the Lords to take into their consideration His and their own Honour the Safety and Welfare of this Kingdom with the great Danger it was in and that they would by their Advice dispose the House of Commons to give His Supply the precedence before the Grievances XX. To the Lords and Commons at the Dissolving of His Fourth Parliament at WESTMINSTER May 5. MDCXL MY Lords There can no occasion of My coming to this House be so unpleasing to Me as this is at this time The fear of doing that which I am to do at this day made Me not long agoe come to this House where I expressed as well My fears as the remedies I thought necessary for the eschewing of it Unto which I must confess and acknowledge that you My Lords of the Higher House did give me so willing an ear and with such affection did shew your selves thereafter that certainly I may say if there had been any means to have given an happy end to this Parliament you took it So that it was neither your Lordships fault nor Mine that it is not so Therefore in the first place I must give your Lordships thanks for your good endeavours I hope you remember what My Lord Keeper said to you the first day of the Parliament in My Name what likewise he said in the Banquetting-House in White-Hall and what I lately said to you in this place My self I name all this unto you not in doubt that you do not well remember it but to shew that I never said any thing in way of favour to My People but that by the Grace of God I will really and punctually perform it I know that they have insisted very much on Grievances and I will not say but that there may be some though I will confidently affirm that there are not by many degrees so many as the publick voice doth make them Wherefore I desire you to take notice now especially at this time that out of Parliament I shall be as ready if not more willing to hear and redress any just Grievances as in Parliament There is one thing which is much spoken of though not so much insisted on as others and that is Religion Concerning which albeit I expressed My self fully the last day in this place to your Lordships yet I think it fit again on this occasion to tell you that as I am most concerned so I shall be most careful to preserve that purity of Religion which I thank God is so well established in the Church of England and that as well out as in Parliament My Lords I shall not trouble you long with words it being not My fashion wherefore to conclude What I offered the last day to the House of Commons I think is well known to you all as likewise how they accepted it which I desire not to remember but wish that they had remembred how at first they were told in My Name by My Lord Keeper That Delay was the worst kind of Denial Yet I will not lay this fault on the whole House for I will not judge so uncharitably of those whom for the most part I take to be Loyal and well-affected Subjects but that it hath been the malicious cunning of some few seditiously-affected men that hath been the cause of this Misunderstanding I shall now end as I began in giving your Lordships thanks for your affection shewed to Me at this time desiring you to go on to assist Me in the maintaining of that Regal Power that is truly Mine And as for the Liberty of the People that they now so much seem to startle at know My Lords that no King in the World shall be more careful to maintain them in the Property of their Goods Liberty of their Persons and true Religion than I shall be And now My Lord Keeper do what I have commanded you XXI To the Great Council of Lords at YORK September 24. MDCXL MY Lords Upon sudden Invasions where the dangers are near and instant it hath been the custom of My Predecessors to assemble the Great Council of the Peers by their Advice and Assistance to give a timely remedy to such evils as cannot admit a delay so long as must of necessity be allowed for the assembling the Parliament This being our condition at this time and an Army of Rebels lodged within the Kingdom I thought it most fit to conform My self to the practice of My Predecessors in like cases that with your advice and assistance we might joyntly proceed to the chastisement of their Insolencies and securing of Our good Subjects In the first
Considerations the inconveniences as I conceive that may upon this occasion fall upon My Subjects and other Protestants abroad especially since it may seem to other States to be a severity Which having thus represented I think My self discharged from all ill consequences that may ensue upon the Execution of this person XXVI To the House of Lords at WESTMINSTER Feb. 10. MDCXL XLI MY Lords That freedom and confidence which I expressed at the beginning of this Parliament to have of your love and fidelity towards My Person and Estate hath made Me at this time come hither to acquaint you with that Alliance and Confederacy which I intend to make with the Prince of Orange and the States which before this time I did not think expedient to do because that part I do desire your Advice and Assistance upon was not ready to be treated on I will not trouble you with a long digression by shewing the steps of this Treaty but leave you to be satisfied in that by those who under Me do manage that Affair Only I shall shew you the reasons which have induced Me to it and in what I expect your Assistance and Counsel The Considerations that have induced Me to it are these First the matter of Religion Here needs no Dispensation no fear that My Daughter's Conscience may be any way perverted Secondly I do esteem that a strict Alliance and Confederacy with the States will be as useful to this Kingdom as that with any of My Neighbouâ—â— especially considering their Affinity Neighbourhood and way of their Strength And lastly which I must never forget in these occasions the use I may make of this Alliance towards the establishing of My Sister and Nephews Now to shew you in what I desire your Assistance You must know that the Articles of Marriage are in a manner concluded but not to be totally ratified until that of Alliance be ended and agreed which before I demanded your assistance I did not think fit to enter upon And that I may not leave you too much at large how to begin that Counsel I present you here the Propositions which are offered by Me to the States Ambassadours for that intent And so My Lords I shall only desire you to make as much expedition in your Counsels as so great a business shall require and shall leave your Lordships to your own free debate XXVII To the Lords and Commons at His Passing the Bill for Triennial Parliaments at WESTMINSTER Feb. 15. MDCXL XLI MY Lords and you the Knights Citizens and Burgesses of the House of Commons You may remember when both Houses were with Me at the Banquetting-House at White-Hall I did declare unto you two Rocks I wished you to eschew This is one of them and of that consequence that I think never Bill passed here in this House of more favour to the Subject than this is And if the other Rock be as happily passed over as this shall be at this time I do not know what you can ask for ought I can see at this time that I can make any question to yield unto Therefore I mention this to shew unto you the sense that I have of this Bill and the Obligation as I may say that you have to Me for it For hitherto to speak freely I had no great incouragement to do it if I should look to the outward face of your Actions or Proceedings and not to the inward Intentions of your hearts I might make question of doing it Hitherto you have gone on in that which concerns your selves to amend and not in those things that nearly concern the strength of this Kingdom neither for the State nor My Own particular This I mention not to reproach you but to shew you the state of things as they are You have taken the Government all in pieces and I may say it is almost off the Hinges A skilful Watch-maker to make clean his Watch will take it asunder and when it is put together it will go the better so that he leave not out one pin of it Now as I have done all this on My part you know what to do on yours And I hope you shall see clearly that I have performed really what I expressed to you at the beginning of this Parliament of the great trust I have of your affections to Me. And this is the great expression of trust that before you do any thing for Me I do put such a Confidence in you XXVIII To the Lords and Commons about Disbanding the Armies in Ireland and England at the Banquetting-House in WHITE-HALL April 28. MDCXLI MY Lords and Gentlemen For Answer to your Desires I say First Concerning the removal of Papists from Court I am sure you all know what legal trust the Crown hath in this particular and therefore I need not say any thing to give you assurance that I shall use it so that there shall be no just cause of Scandal Secondly For disarming of Papists I am very well content it shall be done according to Law Thirdly For the Irish Army you must understand I am already upon Consultation how to disband it but I find many difficulties in it therefore I hold it not only fit to wish it but to shew the way how it may be conveniently done This is not all I desire but since you have mentioned the disbanding of Armies it is My Duty to My Country to wish for disbanding of all Armies and to restore the same Peace to all My three Kigndoms that the King My Father did leave them in And I conjure you as you will answer the same to God and to your Country to join with Me heartily and speedily for the disbanding of the two Armies in England This is a very good time to speak of it and there are but two waies to do it One is to answer their Petitions and the second is to provide Monies You are Masters of the one and with Me you are Judges of the other And you shall not be readier nor so ready to bring this to a happy Conclusion than I My self shall be XXIX To the House of Lords concerning the Bill of Attainder of the Earl of STRAFFORD at WESTMINSTER May 1. MDCXLI MY Lords I had no intention to have spoken to you of this business this day which is the great business concerning My Lord of Strafford because I would do nothing that might serve to hinder your occasions But now it comes so to pass that seeing of necessity I must have part in the Judgment I think it most necessary for Me to declare My Conscience therein I am sure you all know I have been present at the hearing of this great Case from the one end to the other And I must tell you that in My Conscience I cannot condemn him of High Treason It is not fit for Me to argue this business I am sure you will not expect that A Positive Doctrine best becomes the Mouth of a Prince Yet I must
Esq Edmond Wilde Esquire James Chaloner Esquire Josias Barners Esquire Dennis Bond Esq Humphry Edwards Esquire Gregory Clement Esquire John Fry Esquire Thomas Wogan Esq Sir Gregory Norton Serjeant John Bradshaw Colonel Edmund Harvey John Dove Esq Colonel John Venne John Foulk Alderman Thomas Scot Esquire Thomas Andrews Alderman William Cawley Esquire Abraham Burrell Esquire Colonel Anthony Stapely Roger Gratwicke Esquire John Downes Esquire Colonel Thomas Horton Colonel Thomas Hammond Colonel George Fenwick Serjeant Robert Nichols Robert Reynolds Esquire John Liste Esquire Nicholas Love Esquire Vincent Potter Sir Gilbert Pickering John Weaver Esquire John Lenthal Esquire Sir Edward Baynton John Corbet Esquire Thomas Blunt Esquire Thomas Boone Esquire Augustine Garland Esquire Augustine Skinner Esquire John Dixwel Esquire Colonel George Fleetwood Simon Maine Esquire Colonel James Temple Colonel Peter Temple Daniel Blagrave Esquire Sir Peter Temple Colonel Thomas Waite John Brown Esquire John Lowry Esquire shall be and are hereby appointed Commissioners and Judges for the hearing Trying and Judging of the said Charles Stuart And the said Commissioners or any twenty or more of them shall be and are hereby Authorized and constituted an High Court of Justice to meet at such convenient times and places as by the said Commissioners or the major part or twenty or more of them under their hands and seals shall be appointed and notified by publick Proclamation in the great Hall or Palace-yard of Westminster and to adjourn from time to time and from place to place as the said High Court or the major part thereof meeting shall hold fit and to take order for the charging of him the said Charles Stuart with the Crimes above mentioned and for the receiving His Personal Answer thereunto and for examination of Witnesses upon Oath if need be concerning the same and thereupon or in default of such Answer to proceed to final Sentence according to Justice and the merit of the Cause to be executed speedily and impartially And the said Court is hereby Authorized and required to chuse and appoint all such Officers Attendanrs and other circumstances as they or the major part of them shall in any sort judge necessary or useful for the orderly and good managing of the premisses and Thomas Lord Fairfax the General with all Officers of Justice and other well-affected persons are hereby Authorized and required to be aiding and assisting unto the said Commissioners in the due execution of the Trust hereby committed unto them Provided that this Ordinance and the Authority hereby granted do continue for the space of one Month from the Date of the making hereof and no longer After the reading of this the several Names of the Commissioners were called over every one who was present rising up and answering to his call The King having again placed Himself in the Chair with His face towards the Commissioners Silence was again ordered and Bradshaw with Impudence befitting his person and his place stood up and said CHARLES STUART King of England The Commons of England assembled in Parliament being deeply sensible of the Calamities that have been brought upon this Nation which is fixed upon you as the principal Author of it have resolved to make inquisition for Blood and according to that Debt and Duty they owe to Justice to God the Kingdom and themselves and according to the Fundamental Power that rests in themselves they have resolved to bring you to Trial and Judgment and for that purpose have constituted this High Court of Justice before which you are brought Then their Solicitor John Cook standing within a Bar on the right hand began My Lord in behalf of the Commons of England and of all the People thereof I do accuse CHARLES STUART here present of high Treason and high Misdemeanures and I do in the name of the Commons of England desire the Charge may be read unto him As he was speaking the King held up his Staffe and laying it on his shoulders two or three times bid him Hold a little But Bradshaw ordered him to go on and the Charge being delivered to their Clerk Bradshaw told the King Sir the Court Commands the Charge to be read If you have any thing to say afterwards you may be heard Then the Clerk being ordered to read began The Charge of the Commons of England against CHARLES STUART King of England of High Treason and other High Crimes exhibited to the High Court of Justice THat the said CHARLES STUART being admitted King of England and therein trusted with a limited Power to govern by and according to the Laws of the Land and not otherwise and by his Trust Oath and Office being obliged to use the Power committed to him for the good and benefit of the People and for the preservation of their Rights and Liberties yet nevertheless out of a wicked Design to erect and uphold in himself an unlimited and Tyrannical Power to Rule according to his Will and to overthrow the Rights and Liberties of the People yea to take away and make void the Foundations thereof and of all redress and remedy of Mis-government which by the Fundamental Constitutions of this Kingdom were reserved on the Peoples behalf in the Right Power of frequent and successive Parliaments or National Meetings in Council he the said Charles Stuart for accomplishment of such his Designs and for the protecting himself and his Adherents in his and their wicked practices to the same Ends hath traiterously and maliciously levied War against the present Parliament and the People therein Represented Particularly upon or about the thirtieth day of June in the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred forty and two at Beverly in the County of York and upon or about the thirtieth day of July in the year aforesaid in the County of the City of York and upon or about the twenty fourth day of August in the same year at the County of the Town of Nottingham when and where he set up his Standard of War and upon or about the twenty third day of October in the same year at Edge-Hill and Kineton field in the County of Warwick and upon or about the thirtieth day of November in the same year at Brainford in the County of Middlesex and upon or about the thirtieth day of August in the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred forty and three at Cavesham Bridge near Reading in the County of Berks and upon or about the thirtieth day of October in the year last mentioned at or near the City of Gloucester and upon or about the thirtieth day of November in the year last mentioned at Newbury in the County of Berks and upon or about the one and thirtieth day of July in the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred forty and four at Croperdy Bridge in the County of Oxon and upon or about the thirtieth day of September in the year last mentioned at Bodmin and other places near adjacent in the County of Cornwall and
hither I do stand more for the Liberty of My People than any here that come to be My pretended Judges and therefore let Me know by what lawful Authority I am seated here and I will answer it otherwise I will not answer it Bradshaw Sir how really you have managed your Trust is known your way of Answer is to interrogate the Court which beseems not you in this Condition You have been told of it twice or thrice KING Here is a Gentleman Lieutenant Colonel Cobbet ask him if he did not bring Me from the Isle of Wight by force I do not come here as submitting to the Court. I will stand as much for the Privilege of the House of Commons rightly understood as any man here whatsoever I see no House of Lords here that may constitute a Parliament and the King too should have been Is this the bringing of the King to His Parliament Is this the bringing an end to the Treaty in the Publick Faith of the World Let Me see a Legal Authority warranted by the Word of God the Scriptures or warranted by the Constitutions of the Kingdom and I will answer Bradshaw Sir you have propounded a Question and have been answered Seeing you will not answer the Court will consider how to proceed In the mean time those that brought you hither are to take charge of you back again The Court desires to know whether this be all the Answer you will give or no. KING Sir I desire that you would give Me and all the World satisfaction in this Let Me tell you It is not a slight thing you are about I am sworn to keep the Peace by that Duty I owe to God and My Countrey and I will do it to the last breath of My body And therefore you shall do well to satisfie first God and then the Country by what Authority you do it If you do it by an usurped Authority you cannot answer it There is a God in Heaven that will call you and all that give you Power to account Satisfie Me in that and I will answer otherwise I betray My Trust and the Liberties of the People and therefore think of that and then I shall be willing For I do avow That it is as great a Sin to withstand Lawful Authority as it is to submit to a Tyrannical or any otherways unlawful Authority And therefore satisfie God and Me and all the World in that and you shall receive My Answer I am not afraid of the Bill Bradshaw The Court expects you should give them a final Answer Their purpose is to adjourn till Monday next If you do not satisfie your self though we do tell you our Authority we are satisfied with our Authority and it is upon God's Authority and the Kingdoms and that Peace you speak of will be kept in the doing of Justice and that 's our present Work KING For Answer let Me tell you you have shewn no Lawful Authority to satisfie any reasonable man Bradshaw That 's in your apprehension we are satisfied that are your Judges KING 'T is not My apprehension nor yours neither that ought to decide it Bradshaw The Court hath heard you and you are to be disposed of as they have commanded So commanding the Guard to take Him away His Majesty only replied Well Sir And at His going down pointing with His Staff toward the Ax He said I do not fear that As He went down the stairs the People in the Hall cried out God save the King notwithstanding some were there set by the Faction to lead the clamour for Justice O yes being called they adjourn Westminster-Hall Monday Jan. 22. Afternoon SVnday being spent in Fasting and Preaching according to their manner of making Religion a pretence and prologue to their Villanies on Monday afternoon they came again into the Hall and after Silence commanded called over their Court where Seventy persons being present answered to their Names His Majesty being brought in the People gave a shout Command given to the Captain of their Guard to fetch and take into his custody those who make any Disturbance Then their Solicitor Cook began May it please your Lordship my Lord President I did at the last Court in the behalf of the Commons of England exhibite and give into this Court a Charge of High Treason and other high Crimes against the Prisoner at the Bar whereof I do accuse him in the name of the People of England and the Charge was read unto him and his Answer required My Lord he was not then pleased to give an Answer but in stead of answering did there dispute the Authority of this High Court My humble motion to this High Court in behalf of the Kingdom of England is That the Prisoner may be directed to make a Positive Answer either by way of Confession or Negation which if he shall refuse to do that the matter of Charge may be taken pro confesso and the Court may proceed according to Justice Bradshaw Sir you may remember at the last Court you were told the occasion of your being brought hither and you heard a Charge read against you containing a Charge of High Treason and other high Crimes against this Realm of England you heard likewise that it was prayed in the behalf of the People that you should give an Answer to that Charge that thereupon such proceedings might be had as should be agreeable to Justice you were then pleased to make some scruples concerning the Authority of this Court and knew not by what Authority you were brought hither you did divers time propound your Questions and were as often answer'd That it was by the Authority of the Commons of England assembled in Parliament that did think fit to call you to account for those high and capital Misdemeanours wherewith you were then charged Since that the Court hath taken into consideration what you then said they are fully satisfied with their own Authority and they hold it fit you should stand satisfied with it too and they do require it that you do give a positive and particular Answer to this Charge that is exhibited against you They do expect you should either confess or deny it If you deny it is offered in the behalf of the Kingdom to be made good against you Their Authority they do avow to the whole World that the whole Kingdom are to rest satisfied in and you are to rest satisfied with it and therefore you are to lose no more time but to give a positive Answer thereunto KING When I was here last 't is very true I made that Question and if it were only My own particular Case I would have satisfied My self with the Protestation I made the last time I was here against the Legality of this Court and that a King cannot be tried by any superior Jurisdiction on Earth But it is not My Case alone it is the Freedom and the Liberty of the People of England and do you pretend what
concerned But the Duty I owe to God in the preservation of the true Liberty of My People will not suffer Me at this time to be silent For how can any free-born Subject of England call Life or any thing he possesseth his own if Power without Right daily make new and abrogate the old Fundamental Law of the Land which I now take to be the present Case Wherefore when I came hither I expected that you would have endeavoured to have satisfied Me concerning these grounds which hinder Me to answer to your pretended Impeachment But since I see that nothing I can say will move you to it though Negatives are not so naturally proved as Affirmatives yet I will shew you the Reason why I am confident you cannot Judge Me nor indeed the meanest man in England For I will not like you without shewing a Reason seek to impose a belief upon My Subjects There is no proceeding just against any man but what is warranted either by God's Laws or the Municipal Laws of the Countrey where he lives Now I am most confident this dayes proceeding cannot be warranted by God's Law for on the contrary the authority of Obedience unto Kings is clearly warranted and strictly commanded both in the Old and new Testament which if denyed I am ready instantly to prove And for the question now in hand there it is said That where the Word of a King is there is Power and who may say unto him What dost thou Eccl. 8. 4. Then for the Law of this Land I am no less confident that no learned Lawyer will affirm that an Impeachment can lye against the King they all going in His Name and one of their Maxims is That the King can do no wrong Besides the Law upon which you ground your proceedings must either be old or new if old shew it if new tell what Authority warranted by the Fundamental Laws of the Land hath made it and when But how the House of Commons can erect a Court of Judicature which was never one it self as is well known to all Lawyers I leave to God and the world to judge And it were full as strange that they should pretend to make Laws without King or Lords House to any that have heard speak of the Laws of England And admitting but not granting that the People of England's Commission could grant your pretended Power I see nothing you can shew for that for certainly you never asked the question of the tenth man in the Kingdom and in this way you manifestly wrong even the poorest Plough-man if you demand not his free consent nor can you pretend any colour for this your pretended Commission without the consent at least of the major part of every man in England of whatsoever quality or condition which I am sure you never went about to seek so far are you from having it Thus you see that I speak not for My own Right alone as I am your King but also for the true Liberty of all My Subjects which consists not in the power of Government but in living under such Laws such a Government as may give themselves the best assurance of their Lives and propriety of their Goods Nor in this must or do I forget the Privileges of both Houses of Parliament which this days Proceedings do not only violate but likewise occasion the greatest breach of their publick Faith that I believe ever was heard of with which I am far from charging the two Houses for all pretended Crimes laid against Me bear Date long before this late Treaty at Newport in which I having concluded as much as in Me lay and hopefully expecting the Houses agreement thereunto I was suddenly surprized and hurried from thence as a Prisoner upon which account I am against My will brought hither where since I am come I cannot but to My power defend the ancient Laws and Liberties of this Kingdom together with My own just Right Then for any thing I can see the Higher House is totally excluded And for the House of Commons it is too well known that the major part of them are detained or deterred from sitting so as if I had no other this were sufficient for Me to protest against the Lawfulness of your pretended Court. Besides all this the Peace of the Kingdom is not the least in My thoughts and what hopes of Settlement is there so long as Power reigns without Rule or Law changing the whole frame of that Government under which this Kingdom hath flourished for many hundred years nor will I say what will fall out in case this Lawless unjust proceeding against Me do go on And believe it the Commons of England will not thank you for this Change for they will remember how happy they have been of late years under the Reign of Queen Elizabeth the King My Father and My self until the beginning of these unhappy Troubles and will have cause to doubt that they shall never be so happy under any new And by this time it will be too sensibly evident that the Arms I took up were only to defend the Fundamental Laws of this Kingdom against those who have supposed My Power hath totally changed the ancient Government Thus having shewed you briefly the Reasons why I cannot submit to your pretended Authority without violating the Trust which I have from God for the Welfare and Liberty of My People I expect from you either clear Reasons to convince My Judgment shewing Me that I am in an Error and then truly I will answer or that you will withdraw your proceedings This I intended to speak in Westminster-Hall on Monday 22. January but against Reason was hindred to shew My Reasons Westminster-Hall Tuesday Jan. 23. Afternoon O Yes made Silence commanded The Court called Seventy one present The King brought in by the Guard looks with a Majestick Countenance upon his pretended Judges and sits down After the second O yes and Silence commanded Cooke began more insolently May it please your Lordship my Lord President this is now the third time that by the great grace and favour of this High Court the Prisoner hath been brought to the Bar before any Issue joyned in the Cause My Lord I did at the first Court exhibite a Charge against him containing the Highest Treason that ever was wrought upon the Theatre of England That a King of England trusted to keep the Law that had taken an Oath so to do that had Tribute pay'd him for that end should be guilty of a wicked Design to subvert and destroy our Laws and introduce an Arbitrary and Tyrannical Government in the defence of the Parliament and their Authority set up his Standard for War against the Parliament and People and I did humbly pray in the behalf of the People of England that he might speedily be required to make an Answer to the Charge But My Lord in stead of making any Answer he did then dispute the Authority of this High
Court Your Lordship was pleased to give him a further day to consider and to put in his Answer which day being yesterday I did humbly move that he might be required to give a direct and positive Answer either by denying or confession of it But my Lord he was then pleased for to demur to the Jurisdiction of the Court which the Court did then over-rule and command him to give a direct and positive Answer My Lord besides this great delay of Justice I shall now humbly move your Lordship for speedy Judgment against him My Lord I might press your Lordship upon the whole that according to the known rules of the Law of the Land That if a Prisoner shall stand as contumacious in contempt and shall not put in an issuable Plea guilty or not guilty of the Charge given against him whereby he may come to a fair Tryal that as by an implicite confession it may be taken pro confesso as it hath been done to those who have deserved more favour than the Prisoner at the Bar has done But besides my Lord I shall humbly press your Lordship upon the whole fact The House of Commons the Supreme Authority and Jurisdiction of the Kingdom they have declared That it is notorious that the matter of the Charge is true as it is in truth my Lord as clear as Crystal and as the Sun that shines at noon day which if your Lordship and the Court be not satisfied in I have notwithstanding on the People of England's behalf several Witnesses to produce And therefore I do humbly pray and yet I must confess it is not so much I as the innocent blood that hath been shed the Cry whereof is very great for Justice and Judgment and therefore I do humbly pray that speedy Judgment be pronounced against the Prisoner at the Bar. Bradshaw went on in the same strain Sir you have heard what is moved by the Counsel on the behalf of the Kingdom against you Sir you may well remember and if you do not the Court cannot forget what dilatory dealings the Court hath found at your hands You were pleased to propound some Questions you have had your Resolution upon them You were told over and over again that the Court did affirm their own Jurisdiction That it was not for you nor any other man to dispute the Jurisdiction of the supreme and highest Authority of England from which there is no Appeal and touching which there must be no dispute yet you did persist in such carriage as you gave no manner of Obedience nor did you acknowledge any authority in them nor the High Court that constituted this Court of Justice Sir I must let you know from the Court that they are very sensible of these delays of yours and that they ought not being thus authorized by the supreme Court of England to be thus trifled withal and that they might in Justice if they pleased and according to the rules of Justice take advantage of these delays and proceed to pronounce Judgment against you yet nevertheless they are pleased to give direction and on their behalfs I do require you that you make a positive Answer unto this Charge that is against you Sir in plain terms for Justice knows no respect of Persons you are to give your positive and final Answer in plain English whether you be guilty or not guilty of these Treasons laid to your Charge The King after a little pause said When I was here yesterday I did desire to speak for the Liberties of the People of England I was interrupted I desire to know yet whether I may speak freely or not Bradshaw Sir you have had the Resolution of the Court upon the like Question the last day and you were told That having such a Charge of so high a nature against you your work was that you ought to acknowledge the Jurisdiction of the Court and to answer to your Charge Sir if you answer to your Charge which the Court gives you leave now to do though they might have taken the advantage of your Contempt yet if you be able to answer to your Charge when you have once answered you shall be heard at large make the best Defence you can But Sir I must let you know from the Court as their Commands that you are not to be permitted to issue out into any other discourses till such time as you have given a positive Answer concerning the matter that is charged upon you KING For the Charge I value it not a rush It is the Liberty of the People of England that I stand for For Me to acknowledge a new Court that I never heard of before I that am your King that should be an Example to all the People of England for to uphold Justice to maintain the old Laws indeed I do not know how to do it You spoke very well the first day that I came here on Saturday of the Obligations that I had laid upon Me by God to the maintenance of the Liberties of My People the same Obligation you spake of I do acknowledge to God that I owe to Him and to My People to defend as much as in Me lies the ancient Laws of the Kingdom therefore until that I may know that this is not against the Fundamental Laws of the Kingdom by your favour I can put in no particular Charge If you will give Me time I will shew you My Reasons why I cannot do it and this Here being interrupted He said By your favour you ought not to interrupt Me. How I came here I know not there 's no Law for it to make your King your Prisoner I was in a Treaty upon the Publick Faith of the Kingdom that was the known two Houses of Parliament that was the Representative of the Kingdom and when that I had almost made an end of the Treaty then I was hurried away and brought hither and therefore Bradshaw Sir you must know the pleasure of the Court. KING By your favour Sir Bradshaw Nay Sir by your favour you may not be permitted to fall into those discourses you appear as a Delinquent you have not acknowledged the Authority of the Court The Court craves it not of you but once more they command you to give your positive Answer Clerk Do your Duty KING Duty Sir The Clerk reads Charles Stuart King of England you are accused in the behalf of the Commons of England of divers high Crimes and Treasons which Charge hath been read unto you the Court now requires you to give your positive and final Answer by way of Confession or Denial of the Charge KING Sir I say again to you so that I might give satisfaction to the People of England of the clearness of My Proceeding not by way of Answer not in this way but to satisfie them that I have done nothing against that Trust that hath been committed to Me I would do it but to acknowledge a new Court against their
so much desired and hoped that nothing might be wanting on His part to bring them into the right way for His Honour the safety of the Kingdom and their own good He resolved to desire the assistance of the Lords of the higher House as persons in rank and degree nearest to the Royal Throne and who having received Honour from Him and His Royal Progenitors He doubted not would for those and many other reasons be moved in honour and dutiful affection to His Person and Crown to dispose the House of Commons to express their duties to His Majesty in expediting the matter of Supply for which they were called together and which required so present a dispatch For this purpose His Majesty in His Royal Person came again to the Lords House on Wednesday the 24. day of April where Himself declared to the Lords the cause of His coming which was to put them in mind of what had been by the Lord Keeper in His name delivered unto both Houses the first day of the Parliament and after at White-Hall how contrary to His expectation the House of Commons having held consultation of matter of Religion Property of Goods and Liberty of Parliament and voted some things concerning those three heads had thereby given them the precedence before the matter of His Supply that His necessities were such they could not bear delay that whatever He had by the Lord Keeper promised He would perform if the House of Commons would trust Him For Religion that His Heart and Conscience went together with the Religion established in the Church of England and He would give order to His Archbishops and Bishops that no Innovation in matter of Religion should creep in For the Ship-money that He never made or intended to make any profit to Himself of it but only to preserve the Dominion of the Seas which was so necessary that without it the Kingdom could not subsist but for the way and means by Ship-money or otherwise He left it to them For Property of Goods and Liberty of Parliament He ever intended His People should enjoy them holding no King so great as He that was King of a rich and free people and if they had not Property of Goods and Liberty of Persons they could be neither rich nor free That if the House of Commons would not first trust Him all His affairs would be disordered and His business lost That though they trusted Him in part at first yet before the Parliament ended He must totally trust them and in conclusion they must for execution of all things wholly trust Him Therefore since the matter was no more than who should be first trusted and that the trust of Him first was but a trust in part His Majesty desired the Lords to take into their considerations His and their own Honour the Safety and welfare of this Kingdom with the great danger it was in and that they would by their advice dispose the House of Commons to give His Supply the precedence before the Grievances His Majesty being departed the Lords took into serious consideration what His Majesty had commended to their care and forthwith laying aside all other debates such was their Lordships dutiful and affectionate carriage they remembring well what had been formerly declared in His Majestie 's name to both Houses His Majestie 's gracious promises and expressions then and at this time with the pressing and urgent occasions which so much imported the Honour of His Majesty and the good of this Kingdom their Lordship 's delivered their votes in these words We are of opinion that the matter of His Majestie 's Supply should have precedence and be resolved of before any other matter whatsoever and we think fit there shall be a Conference desired with the House of Commons to dispose them thereunto Accordingly the next day being Saturday the 25. day of April a Conference was had in the Painted Chamber by a Committee of both Houses where the Lord Keeper by the Lords command told the House of Commons of His Majestie 's being the day before in person in the higher House how graciously he had expressed Himself in matter of Religion Property of Goods and Liberty of Parliament and that He would therein graciously hear and relieve them and give them what in reason could be desired with the effect of what else had been graciously delivered unto them by his Majesty as well touching His constant Zeal and affection to the Religion established in the Church of England as touching the Ship-money and the necessity of His affairs which was such that delay was as prejudicial as denial and that if time were lost both Houses could not recover it and therefore their Lordship's though they would move nothing nor give any advice concerning Subsidies but decline it as that which naturally was to begin with the House of Commons yet being alike interessed and concerned in the Honour and Safety of the Kingdom they held it fit to let them know their opinions and desires which was That they should go first on with the matter of his Majestie 's Supply as that which was most necessary and fit to have precedence and that being done they would chearfully joyn with them in the presenting of their Grievances The House of Commons having heard their Lordships opinion and desire in stead of concurring with their Lordships in preferring the consideration of his Majestie 's Supply before their Grievances they spent the whole day on Monday following being the 27 of April in taking causless exceptions to what had been at the Conference related to them and the next day being Tuesday the 28. of April they desired a Conference with the Lords and their Lordships meeting them presently in the Painted Chamber they were so far from their expressing of any willingness to joyn with their Lordships in what had been upon so weighty reasons recommended unto them that on the contrary they challenged the Lords for invading the Privileges of the House of Commons alledging That the Lords having in the former Conference acknowledged that the matter of Subsidie and Supply ought to begin in the House of Commons had in their voting that it was fit and most necessary that matter of Supply should have precedence before all other business not only been transported beyond the bounds which their Lordships had formerly set to themselves but by medling with matter of Supply had as far as in them lay concluded both the matter and order of proceeding which the House of Commons took to be a breach of their Privilege and for it desired reparation of their Lordships And because the Lords had in the first Conference enumerated those three particulars of Religion Propriety of Goods and Privilege of Parliament the House of Commons collected they had taken notice of some proceedings in their House concerning those particulars and thereby broken another great Privilege of the House of Commons established in Parliament and called the Indempnity of the Commons
the advice of private men or by any unknown or unsworn Counsellors but that such matters as concern the publick and are proper for the High Court of Parliament which is Your Majesties great and supreme Council may be debated resolved and transacted only in Parliament and not elsewhere and such as shall presume to do any thing to the contrary shall be reserved to the censure and judgment of Parliament And such other matters of State as are proper for Your Majesties Privy Council shall be debated and concluded by such of the Nobility and others as shall from time to time be chosen for that place by approbation of both Houses of Parliament And that no publick Act concerning the Affairs of the Kingdom which are proper for Your Privy Council may be esteemed of any validity as proceeding from the Royal Authority unless it be done by the advice and consent of the major part of Your Council attested under their hands And that Your Council my be limited to a certain number not exceeding twenty five nor under fifteen And if any Counsellors place happen to be void in the Intervals of Parliament it shall not be supplied without the assent of the major part of the Council which choice shall be confirmed at the next sitting of the Parliament or else to be void III. That the Lord High Steward of England Lord High Constable Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper of the Great Seal Lord Treasure Lord Privy Seal Earl Marshal Lord Admiral Warden of the Cinque-Ports chief Governor of Ireland Chancellor of the Exchequer Master of the Wards Secretaries of State two Chief Justices and Chief Baron may always be chosen with the approbation of both Houses of Parliament and in the Intervals of Parliament by assent of the major part of the Council in such manner as is before exprest in the choice of Counsellors IV. That he or they unto whom the government and education of the King's Children shall be committed shall be approved of by both Houses of Parliament and in the Intervals of Parliaments by the assent of the major part of the Council in such manner as is before exprest in the choice of Counsellours And that all such Servants as are now about Them against whom both Houses shall have any just exception shall be removed V. That no Marriage shall be concluded or treated for any of the King's Children with any foreign Prince or other person whatsoever abroad or at home without the consent of Parliament under the penalty of a Praemunire unto such as shall so conclude or treat any Marriage as aforesaid and that the said Penalty shall not be pardoned or dispensed with but by the consent of both Houses of Parliament VI. That the Laws in force against Jesuites Priests and Popish Recusants be strictly put in execution without any toleration or dispensation to the contrary and some more effectual course may be enacted by authority of Parliament to disable them from making any disturbance in the State or eluding the Law by trusts or otherwise VII That the Votes of Popish Lords in the House of Peers may be taken away so long as they continue Papists And that His Majesty would consent to such a Bill as shall be drawn for the Education of the Children of Papists by Protestants in the Protestant Religion VIII That Your Majesty will be pleased to consent that such a Reformation be made in the Church-Government and Liturgy as both Houses of Parliament shall advise wherein they intend to have consultations with Divines as is expressed in their Declaration to that purpose And that your Majesty will contribute Your best assistance to them for the raising of a sufficient maintenance for Preaching Ministers through the Kingdom And that Your Majesty will be pleased to give Your consent to Laws for the taking away of Innovations and Superstition and of Pluralities and against Scandalous Ministers IX That Your Majesty will be pleased to rest satisfied with that course that the Lords and Commons have appointed for ordering the Militia until the same shall be further setled by a Bill And that Your Majesty will recall Your Declarations and Proclamations against the Ordinance made by the Lords and Commons concerning it X. That such Members of either House of Parliament as have during this present Parliament been put out of any Place and Office may either be restored to that Place and Office or otherwise have satisfaction for the same upon the Petition of that House whereof he or they are Members XI That all Privy-Counsellours and Judges may take an Oath the form whereof to be agreed on and setled by Act of Parliament for the maintaining of the Petition of Right and of certain Statutes made by this Parliament which shall be mentioned by both Houses of Parliament And that an inquiry of all the breaches and violations of these Laws may be given in charge by the Justices of the King's Bench every Term and by the Judges of Assize in their Circuits and Justices of Peace at the Sessions to be presented and punished according to Law XII That all the Judges and all Officers placed by approbation of both Houses of Parliament may hold their places Quam diu bene se gesserint XIII That the Justice of Parliament may pass upon all Delinquents whether they be within the Kingdom or fled out of it And that all persons cited by either House of Parliament may appear and abide the censure of Parliament XIV That the General Pardon offered by Your Majesty may be granted with such Exceptions as shall be advised by both Houses of Parliament XV. That the Forts and Castles of this Kingdom may be put under the Command and Custody of such persons as Your Majesty shall appoint with the approbation of Your Parliament and in the Intervals of Parliament with the approbation of the major part of the Council in such manner as is before expressed in the choice of Counsellours XVI That the extraordinary Guards and Military Forces now attending Your Majesty may be removed and discharged And that for the future You will raise no such Guards or extraordinary Forces but according to Law in case of actual Rebellion or Invasion XVII That Your Majesty will be pleased to enter into a more strict Alliance with the States of the United Provinces and other neighbour-Princes and States of the Protestant Religion for the defence and maintenance thereof against all designs and attempts of the Pope and his adherents to subvert and suppress it whereby Your Majesty will obtain a great access of strength and reputation and Your Subjects be much encouraged and enabled in a Parliamentary way for Your aid and assistance in restoring Your Royal Sister and the Princely Issue to those Dignities and Dominions which belong unto them and relieving the other distressed Protestant Princes who have suffered in the same Cause XVIII That Your Majesty will be pleased by Act of Parliament to clear the Lord Kimbolton and the
Miseries and the general Calamities of this Kingdom which must if this War continue speedily overwhelm this whole Nation take no Advantage of it But if you shall really pursue what you presented to Us at Colebrook We shall make good all that We then gave you in Answer to it whereby the hearts of Our distressed Subjects may be raised with the Hopes of Peace without which Religion the Laws and Liberties can no ways be settled and secured Touching the late and sad Accident you mention if you thereby intend that of Brainceford We desire you once to deal ingenuously with the People and to let them see Our last Message to you and Our Declaration to them concerning the same both which We sent to Our Press at London but were taken away from Our Messenger and not suffered to be published and then We doubt not but they will be soon undeceived and easily find out those Counsels which do rather perswade a desperate Division than a good Agreement betwixt Us Our two Houses and People MDCXLII III. The Proceedings in the late Treaty of Peace Together with several Letters of His MAJESTY to the Queen and of Prince Rupert to the Earl of Northampton which were intercepted and brought up to the Parliament With a Declaration of the Lords and Commons upon those Proceedings and Letters The humble Desires and Propositions of the Lords and Commons in Parliament assembled tendred unto His Majesty Feb. 1. 1642. WE Your Majesty's most humble and faithful Subjects the Lords and Commons in Parliament assembled having in our thoughts the Glory of God Your Majesty's Honour and the Prosperity of Your People and being most grievously afflicted with the pressing Miseries and Calamities which have overwhelmed Your two Kingdoms of England and Ireland since Your Majesty hath by the perswasion of evil Counsellors withdrawn Your Self from the Parliament raised an Army against it and by force thereof protected Delinquents from the Justice of it constraining us to take Armes for the defence of our Religion Laws Liberties Privileges of Parliament and for the sitting of the Parliament in safety which Fears and Dangers are continued and increased by the raising drawing together and arming of great numbers of Papists under the command of the Earl of Newcastle likewise by making the Lord Herbert of Ragland and other known Papists Commanders of great Forces whereby many grievous Oppressions Rapines and Cruelties have been and are daily exercised upon the persons and estates of Your People much innocent blood hath been spilt and the Papists have attained means of attempting and hopes of effecting their mischievous Design of rooting out the Reformed Religion and destroying the professors thereof in the tender sense and compassion of these evils under which Your People and Kingdom lie according to the duty which we owe to God Your Majesty and the Kingdom for which we are intrusted do most earnestly desire that an end may be put to these great Distempers and Distractions for the preventing of that Desolation which doth threaten all Your Majesties Dominions And as we have rendred and still are ready to render to Your Majesty that Subjection Obedience and Service which we owe unto You so we most humbly beseech Your Majesty to remove the Cause of this War and to vouchsafe us that Peace and Protection which we and our Ancestors have formerly enjoyed under Your Majesty and Your Royal Predecessors and graciously to accept and grant these most humble Desires and Propositions I. That Your Majesty will be pleased to disband Your Armies as we likewise shall be ready to disband all those Forces which we have raised and that You will be pleased to return to your Parliament II. That You will leave Delinquents to a Legal Trial and Judgement of Parliament III. That the Papists may not only be disbanded but disarmed according to Law IV. That Your Majesty will be pleased to give Your Royal Assent unto the Bill for taking away Superstitious Innovations to the Bill for the utter abolishing and taking away of all Archbishops Bishops their Chancellors and Commissaries Deans Subdeans Deans and Chapters Archdeacons Canons and Prebendaries and all Chanters Chancellors Treasurers Subtreasurers Succentors and Sacrists and all Vicars Choral and Choristers old Vicars and new Vicars of any Cathedral or Collegiate Church and all other their under-Officers out of the Church of England to the Bill against Scandalous Ministers to the Bill against Pluralities and to the Bill for Consultation to be had with godly religious and learned Divines That Your Majesty will be pleased to promise to pass such other good Bills for settling of Church-Government as upon consultation with the Assembly of the said Divines shall be resolved on by both Houses of Parliament and by them be presented to your Majesty V. That Your Majesty having exprest in Your Answer to the Nineteen Propositions of both Houses of Parliament a hearty affection and Intentions for the rooting out of Popery out of this Kingdom and that if both the Houses of Parliament can yet find a more effectual course to disable Jesuits Priests and Popish Recusants from disturbing the State or eluding the Laws that You would willingly give Your Consent unto it That You would be graciously pleased for the better discovery and speedier conviction of Recusants that an Oath may be established by Act of Parliament to be administred in such manner as by both Houses shall be agreed on wherein they shall abjure and renounce the Popes Supremacy the doctrine of Transubstantiation Purgatory worshipping of the consecrated Hoast Crucifixes and Images and the refusing the said Oath being tendred in such manner as shall be appointed by Act of Parliament shall be a sufficient Conviction in Law of Recusancy And that Your Majesty will be graciously pleased to give Your Royal Assent unto a Bill for the Education of the Children of Papists by Protestants in the Protestant Religion That for the more effectual execution of the Laws against Popish Recusants Your Majesty would be pleased to consent to a Bill for the true levying of the Penalties against them and that the same Penalty may be levyed and disposed of in such manner as both Houses of Parliament shall agree on so as Your Majesty be at no loss and likewise to a Bill whereby the practice of Papists against the State may be prevented and the Laws against them duly executed VI. That the Earl of Bristol may be removed from Your Majesty's Counsels and that both he and the Lord Herbert eldest Son to the Earl of Worcester may likewise be restrained from coming within the verge of the Court and that they may not bear any Office or have any imployments concerning the State or Commonwealth VII That Your Majesty will be graciously pleased by Act of Parliament to settle the Militia both by Sea and Land and for the Forts and Ports of the Kingdom in such a manner as shall be agreed on by both Houses VIII That Your Majesty will be pleased
Cessation so limited and qualified they may forthwith proceed to treat upon the Propositions and because the time is so far elapsed in these preparations they desire the Cessation may begin the five and twentieth of this instant March or sooner if it may be and in the mean time notice to be given to all the Forces in the several and remote parts and the Commanders Officers Souldiers are enjoyned to observe this Cessation accordingly to which they hope and pray that God will give such a blessing that thereupon Peace Safety and Happiness may be produced and confirmed to His Majesty and all His People H. Elsinge Cler. Parl. Dom. Com. INSTRUCTIONS agreed on by the Lords and Commons in Parliament for Algernon Earl of Northumberland William Lord Viscount Say and Seal William Pierrepont Esq Sir William Armyne Bar. Sir John Holland Bar. and Bulstrode Whitelocke Esq Committees appointed to attend His MAJESTY upon the Propositions made by His Majesty to the Parliament and likewise upon the other Propositions humbly presented from them to His Majesty I. YOU shall present to His Majesty the Articles agreed on for the Cessation of Arms humbly desiring His Majesty to ratifie and confirm the same under the Great Seal which being obtained you are to send it up to the Parliament with all possible speed and shall likewise beseech the King to dispatch away Messengers to the Generals Commanders and Soldiers of all His Armies and Forces with a strict Command Injunction that they observe those Articles of Cessation according as they are agreed upon as the two Houses likewise intend to give the like direction to the Lord General of the Armies raised for their Defence II. After His Majesty hath declared and ratified the Cessation you shall then proceed to the Treaty beginning with the first Proposition on His Majesty's behalf concerning His Majesty's own Revenue his Magazines Towns Forts and Ships and thereunto make this Answer You shall declare That the two Houses of Parliament have not made use of His Majesty's own Revenue but in a very small proportion which for a good part hath been employed in the maintenance of His Majesty's Children according to the allowance established by Himself and they will satisfie what shall remain due to His Majesty of those Sums received out of His Majesty's own Revenues and shall leave the same to His Majesty for the time to come And you likewise shall propound to His Majesty that He will restore what hath been taken for His use upon any of the Bills assigned to other purposes by several Acts of Parliament or out of the provision made for the War of Ireland That they will remove the Garrisons out of all Towns and Forts in their hands wherein there were no Garrisons before these Troubles and slight all Fortifications made since that time which Towns and Forts it is to be agreed on both parts shall continue in the same condition they were in before and that those Garrisons shall not be renewed nor the Fortifications repaired without Consent of His Majesty and both Houses of Parliament That for those Towns and Forts which are within the Jurisdiction of the Cinque Ports they shall be delivered up into the hands of such a Noble person as His Majesty shall appoint to be Warden of the Cinque-Ports being such a one as they shall confide in That the Town of Portsmouth shall be reduced to the number of the Garrison as was at the time when the Lords and Commons undertook the custody thereof and such other Forts Castles and Towns as were formerly kept by Garrisons as have been taken by them into their care and custody since the beginning of these Troubles shall be reduced to such proportion of Garrison as they had in the year 1636 and shall be so continued and that all the said Towns Forts and Castles shall be delivered up into the hands of such persons of Quality and Trust to be likewise nominated by His Majesty as the two Houses shall confide in That the Warden of the Cinque-Ports and all Governours and Commanders of Towns Castles and Forts shall keep the same Towns Castles and Forts respectively for the Service of His Majesty and the Safety of the Kingdom and that they shall not admit into any of them any Forein Forces raised without His Majesty's Authority and Consent of the two Houses of Parliament and they shall use their uttermost endeavours to suppress all Forces whatsoever raised without such Authority and Consent and they shall seise all Arms and Ammunition provided for any such Forces That the Ships shall be delivered into the Charge of such a Noble person as His Majesty shall nominate to be Lord High-Admiral of England and the two Houses of Parliament confide in who shall receive the same Office by Letters Patent quamdiu bene se gesserit and shall have power to nominate and appoint all subordinate Commanders and Officers and have all other powers appertaining to the Office of High-Admiral which Ships he shall employ for the defence of the Kingdom against all Forein Forces whatsoever and for the safeguard of Merchants securing of Trade and the guarding of Ireland and the intercepting of all Supplies to be carried to the Rebels and shall use his uttermost endeavour to suppress all Forces which shall be raised by any person without His Majesty's Authority and Consent of the Lords and Commons in Parliament and shall seise all Arms and Ammunition provided for supply of any such Forces That all the Arms and Ammunition taken out of His Majesty's Magazines which shall remain in their hands shall be delivered into His Stores and whatsoever shall be wanting they will in convenient time supply in kind according to the proportions which they have received and that the Persons to whose charge those publick Magazines shall be committed being nominated by His Majesty shall be such as the Lords and Commons shall confide in And you shall propound to His Majesty that He will restore all such Arms and Ammunition as have been taken for His use from the several Counties Cities and Towns To the Proposition made by the two Houses concerning the disbanding of the Armies you shall humbly desire His Majesties speedy and positive Answer unto which if He shall be pleased to give His Assent you shall then beseech His Majesty in the name of both Houses that a near day may be agreed upon for the disbanding of all the Forces in the remote parts of Yorkshire and the other Northern Counties as also in Lancashire Cheshire and in the Domiion of Wales and in Cornwal and Devon and they being fully disbanded another day may be agreed on for the disbanding of all Forces in Lincolnshire Nottinghamshire Leicestershire and all other places except at Oxford and the Quarters thereunto belonging and Windsor and the Quarters thereunto belonging and that last of all a speedy day be appointed for the disbanding those two Armies at Oxford and Windsor and all the Forces
Members of either of them That some Officers of both Armies may speedily meet to agree of the manner of the disbanding and that fit Persons may be appointed by His Majesty and the Parliament who may repair to the several Armies and see the disbanding put in speedy execution accordingly That his Majesty do likewise remove the Garrisons out of Newcastle and all other Towns Castles and Forts where any Garrisons have been placed by Him since these Troubles and that the Fortifications be likewise slighted and the Towns and forts left in such state and condition as they were in the year 1636. That all other Towns Forts and Castles where there have been formerly Garrisons before these Troubles be committed to the charge of such Persons to be nominated by His Majesty as the Parliament shall confide in and under such Instructions as are formerly mentioned That if His Majesty shall be pleased to assent to these Propositions concerning the Towns Forts Castles Magazines and Ships that then His Majesty be humbly intreated to name Persons of Quality to receive the charge of the several Offices and Forts Castles and Towns to be forthwith certified to the two Houses of Parliament that thereupon they may express their confidence in those persons or humbly beseech His Majesty to name others none of which Persons shall be removed during three years next ensuing without just cause to be approved by Parliament and if any be so removed or shall dye within the said space the Person to be put into the same Office shall be such as both Houses shall confide in That all Generals and Commanders in any of the Armies on either side as likewise the Lord Admiral of England the Lord Warden of the Cinque-ports all Commanders of any Ships and Commanders of any Town Castle or Fort shall take an Oath to observe these Articles afore-mentioned and to use their uttermost power to preserve the true Reformed Protestant Religion and the Peace of the Kingdom against all Forein Force and all other Forces raised without His Majesties Authority and Consent of the two Houses of Parliament You shall move His Majesty that for the better dispatch of the Treaty and the free intercourse of Instructions and Advertisements betwixt the two Houses of Parliament and the Committee there may be a free pass of Messengers to and from the Parliament and the Committee without search or interruption and His Majesty's safe Conduct to be obtained to that effect to such Persons as are or shall be appointed for that service viz. for Master John Rushworth Master Mithael Welden Master John Corbet of Graies Inn and Master James Standish H. Elsinge Cler. Parl. D. Com. The KING's Message concerning the Cessation 23 Martii 1642. CHARLES R. HIS Majesty hath immediately upon their arrival admitted the Committee sent to Him from both Houses of Parliament as the Messengers of Peace to His Royal Presence and received the Articles of Cessation brought by them which are in effect the same His Majesty formerly excepted to though their expression in the Preface to these Articles of their readiness to agree to those Alterations and Additions offered by His Majesty in such manner as is expressed made Him expect to have found at least some of the real Alterations and Additions made by Him admitted which He doth not discover I. His Majesty desired that Provision might be made and Licence given to His good Subjects for their freedom of Trade Traffick and Commerce though in matters which concerned Himself more immediately as in Arms Ammunition Mony Bullion and Victual for the use of His Army and the Passage of all Officers and Souldiers of His Army He was contented the restraint should be in such manner as was proposed of which His Majesty is so tender that as he hath provided for the same by His gracious Proclamations so He doth daily release and discharge such Merchandize and Commodities as are contrary to those Proclamations stayed by any of His Majesties Forces To this Freedom and Liberty of His good Subjects there is not the least admission given by these Articles so that they have not any ease or benefit by this Cessation which His Majesty desires both Houses to consider of and whether if His Majesty should take the same course to stop and interrupt the Trade of the Kingdom as the other Army doth a general Loss and Calamity would not seize upon His good Subjects II. His Majesty to the end that a full Cessation might be as well at Sea as at Land and He might be secured that the Ships proposed to be set forth for the Defence of His Majesties Dominions should be employed only to that end and purpose desired that they might be put under the Command of Persons to be approved of by His Majesty which is not consented to by these Articles but their former to which His Majesty excepted strictly and entirely insisted on by which besides that part of Hostility remains the conveying of any number of Forces from any part to any other by that means remains free to them III. For the prevention of any Inconveniences which might arise upon real Differences or Mistakes upon the latitude of Expressions as if His Majesty should now consent to these Articles proposed in the Terms proposed He must confess the Army of which He complains to be raised by the Parliament and either Himself to be no part of the Parliament or Himself to have raised that Army and for prevention of that Delay which He foresaw could not otherwise be avoided if upon every Difference the Questions must be remitted to London His Majesty desired that the Committee for whom He then sent a safe Conduct might have liberty to debate any such Differences and Expressions and reconcile the same that all possible Expedition might be used to the main Treaty In this point of so high Concernment no power is given in these Articles and the Committee confessed to His Majesty they have no Power given but are strictly and precisely bound to the very words of the Articles now sent and that before these are consented to by Us they cannot enter into any Treaty concerning the other Propositions IV. His Majesty desired that during the Cessation none of His good Subjects might be imprisoned otherwise than according to the known Laws of the Land This is in no degree consented to but the priviledge and liberty to which they were born reserved from them till the disbanding of both Armies though they are no part of either Army and so have no benefit by this Cessation V. His Majesty desired that during this Cessation there should be no Plundering or Violence offered to any of His Subjects In the Answer to which His desire against Violence is not at all taken notice of nor is His desire against Plundering any ways satisfied His Majesty not only intending by it the robbing of the Subject by the unruliness of the uncommanded Souldier which their Clause of requiring the Generals and
of Power as a security to enable Him to keep His Forts when He hath them than they to make any difficulty to restore them to Him in the same condition they were before But as His Majesty contents Himself with so He takes God to witness His greatest desire is always to observe and maintain the Law of the Land and expects the same from His Subjects and believes the mutual observance of that Rule and neither of them to fear what the Law fears not to be on both parts a better Cure for that dangerous Disease of Fears and Jealousies and a better means to establish a happy and perpetual Peace than for His Majesty to devest Himself of those Trusts which the Law of the Land hath settled in the Crown alone to preserve the Power and Dignity of the Prince for the better Protection of the Subject and of the Law and to avoid those dangerous Distractions which the interest of any Sharers with Him would have infallibly produced Falkland The Papers concerning the Ships March 27. 1643. TO that part of Your Majesty's first Proposition which concerns Your Ships we humbly give this Answer That the Ships shall be delivered into the charge of such a Noble person as Your Majesty shall nominate to be Lord High-Admiral of England and the two Houses of Parliament confide in who shall receive the same Office by Letters Patents quamdiu se bene gesserit and shall have power to nominate and appoint all subordinate Commanders and Officers and have all other powers appertaining to the Office of High-Admiral which Ships he shall employ for the defence of the Kingdom against all forein Forces whatsoever and for the safeguard of Merchants securing of Trade and the guarding of Ireland and the intercepting of all supplys to be carried to the Rebels and shall use his utmost endeavour to suppress all Forces which shall be raised by any person without Your Majesty's Authority and Consent of the Lords and Commons in Parliament and shall seize all Arms and Ammunition provided for supply of any such Forces Northumberland W. Pierrepont W. Armyne J. Holland B. Whitelocke March 28. 1643. HIS Majesty expects that His own Ships be forthwith delivered to Him as by the Law they ought to be And when He shall please to nominate a Lord High-Admiral of England it shall be such a Noble person against whom no just Exception can be made and if any shall be His Majesty will always leave him to his due tryal and examination and grant his Office to him by such Letters Patents as have been used In the mean time His Majesty will govern the said Admiralty by Commission as in all times hath been accustomed And whatever Ships shall be set forth by His Majesty or His Authority shall be imployed for the defence of the Kingdom against all Forein Forces whatsoever for the safeguard of Merchants securing of Trade guarding of Ireland and the intercepting of all Supplys to be carried to the Rebels and shall use their utmost endeavours to suppress all Forces which shall be raised by any Person whatsoever against the Laws and Statutes of the Kingdom and to seize all Arms and Ammunition provided for the supply of any such Forces Falkland March 29. 1643. WE humbly desire Your Majesty would be pleased to give a more full Answer to the Clause for the Ships to be delivered into the charge of such a Noble person as Your Majesty shall nominate to be Lord High-Admiral of England and the two Houses of Parliament confide in who shall receive the same Office by Letters Patents quamdiu se bene gesserit And to that Clause to suppress all Forces which shall be raised by any person without Your Majesty's Authority and Consent of the Lords and Commons in Parliament Whereunto if Your Majesty shall be pleased to give Your Assent we conceive we are then directed by our Instructions humbly to desire Your Majesty to nominate such a Noble person to be Lord High-Admiral of England that we may forthwith certifie both Houses of Parliament that thereupon they may express their confidence in that Person or humbly beseech Your Majesty to name another and that in case such Noble person who shall be appointed to be Lord High-Admiral of England shall be removed or shall dye within the space of three years next ensuing that the Person to be put in the same Office shall be such as both Houses shall confide in Northumberland W. Pierrepont W. Armyne J. Holland B. Whitelocke April 5. 1643. HIS Majesty conceives His former Answer of the 28. of March concerning His Ships to be so full that He can add nothing thereunto in any part of it His Majesty conceiving it all the Justice in the world for Him to insist that what is by Law His own and hath been contrary to Law taken from Him be fully restored unto Him without conditioning to impose any new limitation upon His Majesty or His Ministers which were not formerly required from them by Law and thinking it most unreasonable to be prest to diminish His own just Rights Himself because others have violated and usurped them Falkland April 10. 1643. BY Instructions yesterday received from both Houses of Parliament we are commanded humbly to insist upon the desires of both Houses expressed in our former Papers concerning the Ships And both Houses of Parliament do observe in Your Majesties Answer not only a Denial to all their Desires but likewise a Censure upon their Proceedings Northumberland W. Pierrepont W. Armyne J. Holland B. Whitelocke April 14. 1643. HIS Majesty for the present forbears any farther Answer touching His Ships desiring first to receive the Answer of both Houses to His Message of the twelfth of this month But His Majesty will howsoever before their departure hence give them a further Answer Falkland April 15. 1643. HIS Majesty gave so clear a Reason to justifie what He insisted upon in the point of the Ships that He cannot but wonder to see the same again prest to Him and yet both the Reason He gave left unanswered and no other Reason opposed to weight against it His Majesty's end in this was not to lay any Censure upon their Proceedings but it being necessary to the matter in question for His Majesty to say what had been done and the matter of fact being such as it seems could not be repeated but it must appear to be censured His Majesty did not think Himself bound to be so tender of seeming to censure their Proceedings as by waving His own true reasonable Justifications to leave His own naked and exposed to a general Censure And His Majesty hopes that since they esteem His saying that they have taken His Ships from Him contrary to Law to be a Censure they will either produce that Law by which they took them or free themselves from so just and unconfutable a Censure by a speedy and unlimited Restauration Upon which Demand His Majesty's care of His ancient and
undoubted Rights doth oblige Him to insist And when His Majesty shall think fit to make an Admiral as near as He can He shall be such an one against whom no just Exception can be made and if any shall be offered He will readily leave him to the tryal of the Law Falkland The Papers concerning an Oath for Officers March 29. 1643. WE are humbly to desire Your Majesty that all Generals and Commanders in any of the Armies on either side as likewise the Lord Admiral of England the Lord Warden of the Cinque-Ports all Commanders of any Ships and Commanders of any Town Castle or Fort may take an Oath to observe the Articles formerly mentioned and to use their utmost power to preserve the true Reformed Protestant Religion and the Peace of the Kingdom against all Foreign Forces and all other Forces raised without Your Majesty's Authority and Consent of the two Houses of Parliament Northumberland W. Pierrepont W. Armyne J. Holland B. Whitelocke April 5. 1643. HIS Majesty conceives the Oaths which all those Officers are already by Law obliged to take to be very fully sufficient But if any thing shall be made appear unto Him necessary to be added thereunto when there shall be a full and peaceable Convocation in Parliament His Majesty will readily consent to an Act for such an addition Falkland April 10. 1643. BY Instructions yesterday received from both Houses of Parliament we are commanded humbly to inform Your Majesty that both Houses of Parliament conceive the ordinary Oaths of the Officers mentioned in Your Answer concerning the same are not sufficient to secure them against the extraordinary causes of Jealousie which have been given them in these troublesome times and that Your Majesty's Answer lays some tax upon the Parliament as if defective and thereby uncapable of making such a provisional Law for an Oath Therefore we are humbly to insist upon our former desires for such an Oath as is mentioned in those Papers which we have formerly presented to Your Majesty concerning this matter Northumberland John Holland W. Armyne W. Pierrepont B. Whitelocke April 14. 1643. HIS Majesty did not refuse by His former Answer to consent to any such Oath as shall be thought necessary though He did and doth still conceive the Oaths already settled by Law to be sufficient neither did He ever suppose the Parliament incapable of making a provisional Law for such an Oath but as He would be willing to apply any proper remedy to the extraordinary causes of Jealousies if He could see that there were such causes so He will be always most exact in observing the Articles agreed on in preserving the true Reformed Protestant Religion and the Peace of the Kingdom against Foreign Forces and other Forces raised or imployed against Law And when both Houses shall prepare and present such an Oath as they shall make appear to His Majesty to be necessary to those ends His Majesty will readily consent to it Falkland The Papers concerning the Disbanding of the Armies March 28. 1643. His MAJESTY's Answer to the first Proposition of both His Houses of Parliament HIS Majesty is as ready and willing that all Armies be disbanded as any person whatsoever and conceives the best way to it to be a happy and speedy conclusion of the present Treaty which if both Houses will contribute as much to it as His Majesty shall do will be suddenly effected And that this Treaty may the sooner produce that effect His Majesty desires that the time given to the Committee of both Houses to treat may be enlarged And as His Majesty desires nothing more than to be with His two Houses so He will repair thither as soon as He can possibly do it with His Honour and Safety Falkland March 29. 1643. WE are directed by our Instructions humbly to desire Your Majesty's speedy and positive Answer concerning the Disbanding of the Armies to which if Your Majesty be pleased to assent we are then to beseech Your Majesty in the name of both Houses that a near day may be agreed upon for the Disbanding of all the Forces in the remote parts of Yorkshire and the other Northern Counties as also in Lancashire Cheshire and in the Dominion of Wales and in Cornwall and Devonshire and they being fully disbanded another day may be agreed on for the Disbanding of all Forces in Lincolnshire Nottinghamshire Leicestershire and all other places except at Oxford and the Quarters thereunto belonging and Windsor and the Quarters thereunto belonging and that last of all a speedy day may be appointed for the Disbanding of those two Armies at Oxford and Windsor and all the Forces members of either of them That some Officers of both Armies may speedily meet to agree of the manner of the Disbanding and that fit persons may be appointed by Your Majesty and both Houses of Parliament who may repair to the several Armies and the see Disbanding put in speedy execution accordingly Northumberland W. Pierrepont J. Holland W. Armyne B. Whitelocke March 29. 1643. COncerning Your Majesty's Answer to the Proposition of both Houses for Disbanding of the Armies We humbly desire to know if by the words By a happy and speedy Conclusion of the present Trevty Your Majesty do intend a Conclusion of the Treaty on Your Majesty's first Proposition and their Proposition for Disbanding the Armies or a Conclusion of the Treaty in all the Propositions of both parts We have given speedy notice to both Houses of Parliament of Your Majesty's desires that the time given to the Committee of both Houses to treat may be enlarged To the last Clause we have no Instructions Northumberland Will. Pierrepont Will. Armyne Joh. Holland B. Whitelocke April 5. 1643. HIS Majesty intended by the words By a happy and speedy Conclusion of the Treaty such a Conclusion of or in the Treaty as there might be a clear evidence to Himself and His good Subjects of a future Peace and no ground left for the continuance or growth of these bloody Dissentions which He doubts not may be obtained if both Houses shall consent that the Treaty may proceed without further interruption or limitation of days Falkland April 5. 1643. WHEN the time for Disbanding the Armies shall be agreed upon His Majesty well approves that some Officers of both Armies may speedily meet to agree of the manner of Disbanding and that fit persons may be appointed by His Majesty and both Houses of Parliament who may repair to the several Armies and see the Disbanding speedily put in execution accordingly Falkland April 6. 1643. WE humbly desire to know if by the words By a happy and speedy conclusion of the present Treaty Your Majesty intends a Conclusion of the present Treaty on Your Majesty's first Proposition and the Proposition of both Houses for Disbanding of the Armies or a Conclusion of the Treaty on all the Propositions of both parts And what Your Majesty intends to be a clear evidence to Your Self and Your good
for the Defence of themselves their Religion and Liberty and strengthen the Malignant and Popish Army raised against them which they made appear by their humble Answer to those Alterations and Articles which are herewith at large published and therefore do refer themselves thereunto And in the interim while His Majesty was considering of this their humble Answer they gave power to their Committee to treat upon the two first Propositions for four days which afterwards they enlarged to the end of twenty days And within some distance of time afterwards they received a very long Message from His Majesty which indeed carried not with it the face or semblance of a Treaty but in plain down-right language was a bitter Invective against the two Houses of Parliament and their Proceedings so that by this time it might very well appear That the enemies of the Kingdoms Peace so really prosecuted and likely to be effected by the earnest endeavours of both Houses thought it high time to cast in their tares of Sedition to prevent the growth of so blessed a fruit In this Message after very heavy Taxes and unjust Scandals and Accusations laid to their charge forced in quite besides the question His Majesty condescended to the Cessation in manner as was agreed on by both Houses to continue only for five days expecting a liberty notwithstanding to be given the Committee to word it according to the real Intention and so that His Majesty might not be understood to consent to any Imposing upon Levying Distraining or Imprisoning of His Subjects to force them to Contribute expresly protesting against it and inhibiting His Subjects to submit thereunto and requiring them to resist and so that there might not be a liberty for Seizing upon His Subjects by any Soldiers of the Army for not submitting to such Impositions Which offer of His Majesty's being but a Cessation only for five days and some part of that time to be first spent by the Committee in wording of it and limited with a Protestation against and a Command to resist that Power whereby their Forces must be paid and supported which if not answered and justified would by a consent to His Majesty's offer imply a declining of that power which might indanger the Disbanding of their Army and if answered would necessarily have enforced them to some sharpness of language which the enemies of this Treaty would easily take occasion to quarrel at and perswade His Majesty to break off which the Lords and Commons out of their hearty zeal to bring it to a happy conclusion did purposely avoid therefore they did not only pass by these Scandals and unjust Accusations laid to their charge by that Message but purposely declined to enter into any dispute of their power for maintaining the Forces raised for their own necessary defence and therefore thought it best to spend the remainder of the time in Treating upon the Propositions and for that end enjoyned their Committee as much as in them lay to hasten it especially that part touching the Disbanding which being concluded would not only produce a temporary Cessation but an absolute abolition of all acts of Hostility The proceedings and issue of which Treaty the Lords and Commons think it necessary to publish to the Kingdom to the end the sincerity of their endeavours to procure a happy settlement of these miserable Distractions may appear When they perceived that the most part of the time prescribed for the Treaty was like to be spent about the Cessation they gave power to their Committee in the mean time to treat upon the Propositions in order as they had formerly Voted and therefore beginning with His Majesty's first Proposition whereby His Majesty demanded That his own Revenue Magazines Towns Forts and Ships which had been taken or kept from Him by force should be forthwith restored unto Him the Lords and Commons by their Committee made Him this humble Answer First That as to his Revenue they had not made use of it but in a small proportion and a good part of that was employed for the maintenance of His own Children according to the allowance established by Himself That what should remain due to His Majesty they would satisfy and would leave the same to His Majesty for the time to come They likewise thereupon propounded to His Majesty That He would restore what had been taken for His use upon any of the Bills assigned to other purposes by several Acts of Parliament as out of the provision made for the Wars of Ireland Which offer of theirs after some debate thereupon with the Committee was thought reasonable and in effect concluded And as to the Demand of the Towns Forts and Ships they in substance gave this humble Answer That they would deliver up such as remained in their hands into the hands of such persons of worth quality and trust to be nominated by His Majesty as the two Houses of Parliament should confide in none of which persons to be removed during three years next ensuing without just cause to be approved of by both Houses That the Warden of the Cinque-Ports and all Governours and Commanders of Towns Forts and Castles should keep the same respectively for the Service of His Majesty and the Safety of the Kingdom and that they should not admit into them any Forein Forces or any other Forces raised without His Majesty's Authority and Consent of the two Houses of Parliament and they should use their uttermost endeavours to suppress all Forces raised without such Authority and Consent and seize all Arms and Ammunition provided for any such Forces Unto which Offer of theirs His Majesty gave this conclusive Answer That His Majesty did not intend that both Houses of Parliament should express their Confidence of the persons to whose trust the Cinque-Ports or other His Majesty's Towns and Forts were or should be committed but that they should have liberty to proceed against them according to Law His Majesty claiming the nomination and free election to belong to Him of right And to the Clause concerning the admission of Forces into those Forts Castles and Towns His Majesty would consent no further than these general terms that is That no Forces raised or brought in contrary to Law should be admitted and that all Arms and Ammunition should be seized upon which by the Laws and Statutes of the Kingdom they ought to seize They made the like Answer concerning the Ships That they should be delivered into the hands of such a Noble Person as His Majesty should nominate to be Lord High-Admiral of England and the two Houses of Parliament confide in To which Offer his Majesty refused His Consent declaring His Resolution to insist upon what by Law was His own as His Majesty was pleased to express it and taken from Him should be restored unto Him without any conditioning or new limitations to be put upon Him or His Ministers And now the Lords and Commons will refer it to the World
Letters to the Speaker of the House of Commons a Copy of which was sent to Us were forthwith sent to them That Our Army would be forced through wants to disband or depart the Kingdom and that there would be nothing to be exspected there but the instant Loss of the Kingdom and the destruction of the remnant of Our good Subjects yet left there In stead of any redress or relief according to these Letters such Ships as were by the care and charity of well-affected Persons provided to transport Cloths and Victual to them were in their Voyage thither seized and taken by the Ships under the Command of the Earl of Warwick and in stead of endeavours to send more Forces thither attempts were made to draw the Scotch Forces from thence into this Kingdom So that We thought Our Self bound in Duty and Conscience since it was not in Our power otherwise to preserve that Kingdom from utter Ruine at least to admit any Expedient which with God's blessing might be a means to preserve that People and therefore We directed the Lord Marquess Ormond whom for his Courage Affection and Loyalty We had made Our Lieutenant-General of that Our Army and who having gotten so many notable Victories upon the Rebels was very well approved of by the two Houses of Parliament to agree on Our behalf to such a Cessation of Arms with the Rebels as upon his understanding and knowledge of the condition of Our affairs there should be thought reasonable This Cessation was concluded on the 15. day of September for one whole year and the Articles thereof printed at Dublin were sent to Us by Our Lords Justices and Council and arrived here on Saturday last with a Letter from them to one of Our Secretaries expressing the great sufferings of Our Army there through want of relief out of England We have thought fit with this true and plain relation to publish the said Articles according to the Copy sent Us that all Our good Subjects may see how We have proceeded herein What opinion the principal Persons as well of Our Council as the Officers of Our Army there have of this Cessation may appear by the Testimony which We have caused to be Printed after the Articles with their names who have set their hands to the same And let all Our good Subjects be assured that as We have for these Reasons and with this Caution and deliberation consented to this Preparation to Peace and to that purpose do continue Our Parliament there so We shall proceed in the accomplishing thereof with that care and circumspection that We shall not admit even Peace it self otherwise than as it may be agreeable to Conscience Honour and Justice By the Lords Justices and Council Jo. Borlase Hen. Tichborne UPON consideration had of the annexed Articles of Cessation of Arms whereby it is concluded and accorded that there be a Cessation of Arms and of all Acts of Hostility for one whole year beginning the fifteenth day of September Anno Domini one thousand six hundred forty three at the hour of twelve of the Clock of the said day We the Lords Justices and Council according to His Majesty's Letters of the one and thirtieth of July last do by this Proclamation in His Majesty's Name ratifie confirm and publish the same and do require all His Majesty's Subjects whom it may concern by Sea and Land to take notice thereof and to yield all due Obedience thereunto in all the parts thereof Given at His Majesty's Castle of Dublin the 19th day of September 1643. R. Bolton Canc. Roscomon Cha. Lambart Tho. Rotherham Tho. Lucas La. Dublin Edw. Brabazon Geo. Shurley Ormonde Ant. Midensis Gerard Lowther Fr. Willoughby Ja. Ware God Save the KING ARticles of Cessation of Arms agreed and concluded on at Singingstown in the County of Kildare the 15. day of September in the nineteenth year of His Majesty's Reign by and between James Marquess of Ormond Lieutenant-General of His Majesty's Army in the Kingdom of Ireland for and in the Name of Our Gracious Sovereign Lord CHARLES by the Grace of God King of Great Britain France and Ireland c. by virtue of His Majesty's Commission bearing date at Dublin the last of August in the said nineteenth year of His Majesty's Reign of the one part and Donnogh Viscount Muskery Sir Lucas Dillon Knight Nicholas Plunket Esquire Sir Robert Talbot Baronet Sir Richard Barnewell Baronet Torlogh O-Neal Geffry Brown Ever Mac-Gennis and John Walsh Esquires authorized by His Majesty's Roman Catholick Subjects of whose party they are and now in Arms in the said Kingdom c. to treat and conclude with the said Marquess for a Cessation of Arms by virtue of an Authority given unto them bearing date at Cashel the 7. day of September in the said nineteenth year of His Majesty's Reign of the other part FIrst It is concluded and accorded that there be a Cessation of Arms and of all Acts of Hostility between His Majesty 's said Roman Catholick Subjects who are now in Arms c. in this Kingdom and their Party and all others His Majesty's good Subjects for one whole year to begin the fifteenth day of Septemb. Anno Dom. 1643. at the hour of 12. of the clock of the said day Item It is concluded and accorded that free passage Entercourse Commerce and Traffick during the said Cessation shall be between His Majesty 's said Roman Catholick Subjects who are now in Arms c. and their Party and all others His Majesty's good Subjects and all others in League with His Majesty by Sea and Land Item It is concluded and accorded and the said Viscount Muskery and the rest of the above-named Persons do promise and undertake for and in the behalf of those for whom they are authorized to treat and conclude as aforesaid that all Ships Barques and Vessels which shall bring Provisions to any Harbour in this Kingdom in the hands or possession of such as shall obey the Articles of this Cessation from Minehead and White-haven and from all the Ports between on that side where Wales is situate so as they be Ships belonging to any of the said Ports and do not use any Acts of Hostility to any of the said Roman Catholicks who are now in Arms c. or to any of their Party or to any who shall be waged or employed unto or by them shall not be interrupted by any of their Party nor by any Ships or other Vessels of what Country or Nation soever under their Power or Command or waged employed or contracted with on their behalf or by any Forts Garrisons or forces within this Kingdom under their power in their coming to this Kingdom or returning from thence Item It is concluded and accorded and the said Lord Viscount Muskery and the rest of the above-named parties do promise and undertake for and in the behalf of those for whom they are authorized as aforesaid that all Ships Barques and Vessels which shall bring
We are to receive Advice for the Preservation of the Religion Laws and Safety of the Kingdom and as far as in Us lyes to restore it to its former Peace and Security Our chief and only end from those whom they have trusted though We cannot receive it in the place where We appointed And for the better encouragement of those Members of either House to resort to Us who may be conscious to themselves of having justly incurred Our Displeasure by submitting to or concurring in unlawful Actions and that all the World may see how willing and desirous We are to forget the Injuries and Indignities offered to Us and by an Union of English Hearts to prevent the lasting Miseries which this Foreign Invasion must bring upon this Kingdom We do offer a free and General Pardon to all the Members of either House who shall at or before the said twenty second day of January appear at Our City of Oxford and desire the same without Exceptions which considering the manifest Treasons committed against Us and the Condition We are now in improved by God's wonderful blessing to a better degree than We have enjoyed at any time since these Distractions is the greatest instance of Princely and Fatherly Care of Our People that can be expressed and which malice it self cannot suggest to proceed from any other Ground And therefore We hope and are confident that all such who upon this our gracious Invitation will not return to their Duty and Allegiance shall be no more thought Promoters of the Religion laws and liberty of the Kingdom which this way may be without doubt setled and secured but Persons engaged from the beginning out of their own Pride Malice and Ambition to bring Confusion and Desolation upon their Country and to that purpose having long since contrived the Design to invite and joyn with a Foreign Nation to ruine and extinguish their own and shall accordingly be pursued as the most desperate and malicious Enemies of the Kingdom And Our pleasure is That this Our Proclamation be read in all Churches and Chapels within this Our Kingdom and Dominion of Wales Given at Our Court at Oxford the two and twentieth day of December in the Nineteenth year of Our Reign 1643. God Save the KING MDCXLIII IV. A Letter from the Lords at Oxford and other Lords whose Names are subscribed to the Lords of the Privy-Council and the Conservators of the Peace of the Kingdom of Scotland Our very good Lords IF for no other Reason yet that Posterity may know we have done our Duties and not sate still while our Brethren of Scotland were transported with a dangerous and fatal mis-understanding that the Resolution now taken among them for an Expedition into England is agreeable to their obligation by the late Treaty and to the Wishes and Desires of this Kingdom expressed by the two Houses of Parliament we have thought it necessary to let your Lordships know That if we had dissented from that Act it could never have been made a Law And when you have examined and considered the Names of us who subscribe this Letter who we hope are too well known to your Lordships and to both Kingdoms to be suspected to want Affection to Religion or to the Laws and Liberties of our Country for the Defence and maintenance of which we shall always hold our Lives a cheap Sacrifice and when you are informed that the Earls of Arundel and Thanet and the Lords Stafford Stanhope Coventry Goring and Craven are in the parts beyond the Seas and the Earl of Chesterfield Westmorland and the Lord Mountague of Boughton under restraint at London for their Loyalty and Duty to His Majesty and the Kingdom your Lordships will easily conclude how very few now make up the Peers at Westminster there being in truth not above five and twenty Lords present or privy to those Councils or being absent consenting or concurring with them whereas the House of Peers consist of above one hundred besides Minors and Recusant Lords neither of which keep us company in this Address to your Lordships How we and the major part of the House of Commons come to be absent from thence is so notorious to all the World that we believe your Lordships cannot be strangers to it How several times during our sitting there Multitudes of the meanest sort of People with weapons not agreeing with their condition or custom in a manner very contrary and destructive to the privilege of Parliament fill'd up the way between both Houses offering Injuries both by words and actions to and laying violent hands upon several Members and crying out many Hours together against the established Laws in a most tumultuous and menacing way How no remedy would be submitted to for preventing those Tumults After which and other unlawful and unparliamentary Actions many things rejected and setled upon solemn debate in the House of Peers were again after many Threats and Menaces resumed altered and determined contrary to the Custom and Laws of Parliaments and so many of us withdrew ourselves from thence where we could not Sit Speak and Vote with Honour Freedom and Safety and are now kept from thence for our Duty and Loyalty to our Sovereign And we must therefore protest against any Invitation which hath been made to our Brethren of Scotland to enter this Kingdom with an Army the same being as much against the Desires as against the Duty of the Lords and Commons of England And we do conjure your Lordships by our common Allegiance and Subjection under one gracious Sovereign by the Amity and Affection between the two Nations by the Treaty of Pacification which by any such Act is absolutely dissolved and by all Obligations both Divine and Humane which can preserve Peace upon earth to use your utmost endeavours to prevent the effusion of so much Christian blood and the Confusion and Desolation which must follow the unjust Invasions of this Kingdom which we and we are confident all true English men must interpret as a Design of Conquest and to impose new Laws upon us And therefore your Lordships may be assured we shall not so far forget our own Interests and the Honour of our Nation as not to expose our Lives and Fortunes in the just and necessary defence of the Kingdom But if your Lordships in truth have any doubts or apprehensions that there now is or hereafter may be a purpose to infringe your Laws or Liberties from any Attempt of this Kingdom we do engage our Honours to your Lordships to be our selves most religious observers of the Act of Pacification and if the Breach and violation do not first begin within that Kingdom we are most confident you shall never have cause to complain of this And having thus far expressed Our selves to your Lordships we hope to receive such an Answer from you as may be a means to preserve a right understanding between the two Nations and lay an Obligation upon us to continue Your Lordships
most affectionate humble Servants Ed. Littleton C. S. L. Cottington D. Richmond M. Hartford M. Newcastle E. Huntington E. Bathon E. Southampton E. Dorset E. Northampton E. Devonshire E. Bristol E. Berkshire E. Cleveland E. Marlburgh E. Rivers E. Lindsey E. Dover E. Peterburgh E. Kingston E. Newport E. Portland E. Carbury V. Conway V. Falconbridge V. Wilmot V. Savile L. Mowbray and Maltravers L. Darcy and Coniers L. Wentworth L. Cromwell L. Rich. L. Paget L. Digby L. Howard of Charleton L. Deincourt L. Lovelace L. Pawlet L. Mohun L. Dunsmore L. Seymour L. Herbert L. Cobham L. Capell L. Percy L. Leigh L. Hatton L. Hopton L. Jermyn L. Loughborough L. Byron L. Widderington MDCXLIII IV. Votes of the Commons at Oxford Die Veneris Januar. 26. 1643. Resolved upon the Question Nemine contradicente THat all such Subjects of Scotland as have consented to the Declaration intituled the Declaration of the Kingdom of Scotland and concerning the present Expedition into England according to the Commission and Order of the Convention of Estates from their meeting at Edinburgh August 1643. have thereby denounced War against the Kingdom of England and broke the Act of Pacification Resolved upon the Question Nemine contradicente That all such of the Subjects of Scotland as have in a Hostile manner entred into the Town of Berwick upon Twede have thereby broke the Act of Pacification Resolved upon the Question Nemine contradicente That all His Majesty's Subjects of the Kingdom of England and Dominion of Wales are both by their Allegiance and the Act of Pacification bound to resist and repress all such of the Subjects of Scotland as have in a Hostile manner already entred or shall hereafter enter into the Town of Barwick upon Twede or any other part of His Majesty's Realm of England or Dominion of Wales as Traytors and Enemies to the State Resolved upon the Question Nemine contradicente That shall such of His Majesty's Subjects of the Realm of England or Dominion of Wales that shall be abetting aiding and assisting to the Subjects of Scotland in their Hostile Invasion of any part of His Majesty's Realm of England or Dominion of Wales shall be deemed and taken as Traitors and Enemies to the State Resolved upon the Question Nemine contradicente That all His Majesty's Subjects of Scotland are bound by the Act of Pacification to resist and repress all of that Kindom that already haveraised Arms or shall rise in Arms to invade this Kingdom of England or Dominion of Wales Votes of the Commons at Oxford March 12. 1643. Resolved upon the Question Nemine contradicente THat the Lords and Commons now remaining at Westminster that have given their Votes or consent to the raising of Forces under the Command of the Earl of Essex or have been abetting aiding or assisting thereunto have levied and made War against the King and are therein guilty of High Treason Resolved upon the Question Nemine contradicente That the Lords and Commons now remaining at Westminster that have given their Votes and consents for the making and using of a new Great Seal have thereby counterfeited the Kings Great Seal and therein committed High Treason Resolved upon the Question Nemine contradicente That the said Lords and Commons now remaining at Westminster that have given their consents or have been abetting aiding or assisting to the present coming in of the Scots into England in a Warlike manner have therein committed High Treason Resolved upon the Question Nemine contradicente That the Lords and Commons now remaining at Westminster who have committed the Crimes mentioned in the three former Votes have therein broken the Trust in them reposed by their Country and ought to be proceeded against as Traitors to the King and Kingdom Resolved upon the Question Nemine contradicente That all the Endeavours and Offers of Peace and Treaty made by His Majesty by the advice of the Lords and Commons of Parliament assembled at Oxford have been refused and rejected by the Lords and Commons remaining at Westminster MDCXLIII IV. A Declaration of the Lords and Commons of Parliament assembled at Oxford of their Proceedings touching a Treaty for Peace and the Refusal thereof with the several Letters and Answers that passed therein IF our most earnest Desires and Endeavours could have prevailed for a Treaty our Proceedings therein without this Declaration would have manifested to all the World the clearness of our Intentions for the restoring the Peace of this Kingdom But seeing all the means used by Us for that purpose have been rendred fruitless we hold our selves bound to let our Countries know what in discharge of our Duty to God and to them we on our parts have done since our coming to Oxford to prevent the further effusion of Christian blood and the Desolation of this Kingdom His Majesty having by His Proclamation upon occasion of the Invasion from Scotland and other weighty reasons commanded our attendance at Oxford upon the 22. of January last there to advise Him for the preservation of the Religion Laws and Safety of the Kingdom and to restore it to its former Peace and Security these Motives with the true sense of our Countries Miseries quickned our duty to give ready obedience to those His Royal Commands hoping by God's blessing to have become happy Instruments for such good Ends. And upon our coming hither we applyed our selves with all diligence to advise of such means as might most probably settle the Peace of this Kingdom the thing most desired by His Majesty and our selves And because we found many gracious offers of Treaty for Peace by His Majesty had been rejected by the Lords and Commons remaining at Westminster we deemed it fit to write in our own names and thereby make tryal whether that might produce any better effect for accomplishing our desires and our Countries Happiness And they having under pain of Death prohibited the address of any Letters or Message to Westminster but by their General and we conceiving him a Person who by reason of their trust reposed in him had a great influence into and Power over their Proceedings resolved to recommend it to his Care and to engage him in that Pious Work with our earnest desire to him to represent it to those that trusted him to prevent all exceptions and delay And thereupon the 27. of the same January dispatched a Letter away under the hands of the Prince His Highness the Duke of York and of 43. Dukes Marquesses Earls Viscounts and Barons of the House of Peers and 118. Members of the House of Commons there present many others of us by reason of distance of place sickness and imployments in His Majesty's Service and for want of timely notice of the Proclamation of Summons not being then come hither which Letter we caused to be inclosed in a Letter from the Earl of Forth the Kings General A true Copy of which Letter from us to the Earl of Essex hereafter followeth viz. My Lord HIS
Majesty having by His Proclamation of the 22. of December upon the occasion of the Invasion threatned and in part begun by some of His Subjects of Scotland summoned all the Members of both Houses of Parliament to attend him here at Oxford we whose Names are under-written are here met and Assembled in obedience to those His Majesty's Commands His Majesty was pleased to invite us in the said Proclamation by these gracious expressions That His Subjects should see how willing He was to receive Advice for the preservation of the Religion Laws and Safety of the Kingdom and as far as in Him lay to restore it to its former Peace and Security His chief and only end from those whom they had trusted though He could not receive it in the Place where He appointed This most gracious Invitation hath not only been made good unto us but seconded and heightned by such unquestionable Demonstrations of the deep and Princely sense which possesses His Royal Heart of the Miseries and Calamities of His poor Subjects in this unnatural War and of His most entire and passionate Affections to redeem them from that sad and deplorable condition by all ways possible consistent either with His Honour or with the future Safety of the Kingdom that as it were Impiety to question the Sincerity of them so were it great want of Duty and Faithfulness in us His Majesty having vouchsafed to declare that He did call us to be Witnesses of His Actions and privy to His Intentions should we not testifie and witness to all the World the assurance we have of the Piety and sincerity of both We being most entirely satisfied of this truth we cannot but confess that amidst our highest afflictions in the deep and piercing sense of the present Miseries and Desolations of our Country and those farther Dangers threatned from Scotland we are at length erected to some chearful and comfortable thoughts that possibly we may yet by God's Mercy if his Justice have not determined this Nation for its Sins to total Ruine and Desolation hope to be happy Instruments of our Countries Redemption from the Miseries of War and restitution to the Blessings of Peace And we being desirous to believe your Lordship howsoever ingaged a person likely to be sensibly touched with these considerations have thought fit to invite you to that part in this blessed Work which is only capable to repair all our misfortunes and to buoy up the Kingdom from Ruine that is by conjuring you by all the Obligations that have Power upon Honour Conscience or publick Piety that laying to heart as we do the inwardly-bleeding condition of your Country and the outward more menacing Destruction by a Foreign Nation upon the very point of invading it you will co-operate with us to its Preservation by truly representing to and faithfully and industriously promoving with those by whom you are trusted this following most sincere and most earnest desire of ours That they joyning with us in a right sense of the past present and more threatning Calamities of this deplorable Kingdom some persons be appointed on either part and a place agreed on to treat of such a Peace as may yet redeem it from the brink of Desolation This Address we should not have made but that His Majesty's Summons by which we are met most graciously proclaiming Pardon to all without exception is evidence enough that His Mercy and Clemency can transcend all former Provocations and that He hath not only made us witnesses of His Princely Intentions but honoured us also with the name of being Security for them God Almighty direct your Lordship and those to whom you shall present these our most real desires in such a course as may produce that happy Peace and Settlement of the present Distractions which is so heartily desired and prayed for by us and which may make us Your c. From Oxford the 27. of Jan. 1643. We are not ashamed of that earnest meek and Christian request we made in that Letter though it was cryed through London Streets in scorn as the Petition of the Prince and Duke of York for Peace and we thought it would have prevailed to have procured a Treaty for so blessed a thing as Peace and for such an end as redeeming the Kingdom from Desolation the only desire of that our Letter But instead of a compliance with us in this Christian work of Treaty and Accommodation we received a mere frivolous Answer or rather a paper of Scorn in form of a Letter directed to the Earl of Forth wherein was inclosed a Printed paper called A National Covenant of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland and two other Papers in writing one called A Declaration of both those Kingdoms and the other A Declaration of the Kingdom of Scotland Pamphlets full of Treason Sedition and Disloyalty which being publick and needless here to be inserted the Copy of the Letter hereafter followeth My Lord I Received this day a Letter of the nine and twentieth of this instant from your Lordship and a Parchment subscribed by the Prince Duke of York and divers other Lords and Gentlemen but it neither having Address to the two Houses of Parliament nor therein there being any acknowledgment of them I could not communicate it to them My Lord the maintenance of the Parliament of England and of the Privileges thereof is that for which we are all resolved to spend our blood as being the foundation whereupon all our Laws and Liberties are built I send your Lordship herewith a National Covenant solemnly entred into by both the Kingdoms of England and Scotland and a Declaration passed by them both together with another Declaration of the Kingdom of Scotland I rest Your Lordships humble Servant Essex Essex-House Jan. 30. 1643. Whosoever considers this Letter will easily find it was fully understood to whom ours was desired to be communicated under the expression of those by whom their General was trusted And although it be pretended because there was no Address to the two Houses of Parliament nor ackuowledgment of them it could not be communicated to them it is notoriously known he did so far impart it that a Committee of theirs advised the Answer and it appears by the penning they all concurred in the resolution therein mentioned whereby it is evident that this was but an excuse framed to avoid a Treaty And what could that printed Covenant and two Declarations enclosed signifie but to let us know that before we come to any Treaty we must also joyn in that Covenant with them for the absolute extirpation of Church-Government here without nay though against the Kings Consent submit the Lives Liberties and Estates of us and all those who according to their Allegiance have assisted His Majesty to their Mercy and admit and justifie the Invasion from Scotland according to the plain sense of their Declaration which all indifferent Men will think strange Preparatives to a Treaty for Peace and after such
by His Majesty or us in order to Peace here being so great a Condescending from a King to Subjects all indifferent Advantages left to them both for time and place of Treaty and choice of Persons to Treat But what their Intentions to Peace are will appear by their Letter enclosed in one from their General to the Earl of Forth both which are as followeth My Lord I Am commanded by both Houses of Parliament to send a Trumpeter with the inclosed Letter to His Majesty which I desire your Lordship may be most humbly presented to His Majesty I rest Essex-House March 9. 1643. Your Lordships humble Servant Essex May it please Your MAJESTY WE the Lords and Commons assembled in the Parliament of England taking into our Consideration a Letter sent from Your Majesty dated the third of March instant and directed to the Lords and Commons of Parliament assembled at Westminster which by the Contents of a Letter from the Earl of Forth unto the Lord General the Earl of Essex we conceive was intended to our selves have resolved with the concurrent advice and consent of the Commissioners of the Kingdom of Scotland to represent to Your Majesty in all humility and plainness as followeth That as we have used all means for a just and safe Peace so will we never be wanting to do our utmost for the procuring thereof But when we consider the Expressions in that Letter of Your Majesty's we have more sad and dispairing thoughts of attaining the same than ever because thereby those Persons now assembled at Oxford who contrary to their Duty have deserted Your Parliament are put into an equal Condition with it and this present Parliament convened according to the known and Fundamental Laws of the Kingdom the continuance whereof is established by a Law consented unto by Your Majesty is in effect denied to be a Parliament The Scope and Intention of that Letter being to make provision how all the Members as is pretended of both Houses may securely meet in a full and free Convention of Parliament Whereof no other conclusion can be made but that this present Parliament is not a full nor free Convention and that to make it a full and free Convention of Parliament the presence of those is necessary who notwithstanding that they have deserted that great Trust and do levy War against the Parliament are pretended to be Members of the two Houses of Parliament And hereupon we think our selves bound to let Your Majesty know That seeing the Continuance of this Parliament is settled by a Law which as all other Laws of Your Kingdoms Your Majesty hath sworn to maintain as we are sworn to our Allegiance to Your Majesty these obligations being reciprocal we must in duty and accordingly are resolved with our Lives and Fortunes to defend and preserve the Just Rights and full Power of this Parliament And do beseech Your Majesty to be assured that Your Majesty's Royal and hearty Concurrence with us herein will be the most effectual and ready means of procuring a firm and lasting Peace in all Your Majesty's Dominions and of begetting a perfect understanding between Your Majesty and Your People without which Your Majesty's most earnest Professions and our most real Intentions concerning the same must necessarily be frustrated And in case Your Majesty's three Kingdoms should by reason thereof remain in this sad and bleeding Condition tending by the continuance of this unnatural War to their Ruine Your Majesty cannot be the least nor the last Sufferer God in his goodness incline Your Royal Breast out of pity and compassion to those deep Sufferings of Your Innocent People to put a speedy and happy issue to these desperate Evils by the joynt Advice of both Your Kingdoms now happily united in this Cause by their late solemn League and Covenant Which as it will prove the surest Remedy so is it the earnest prayer of Your Majesty's Loyal Subjects the Lords and Commons assembled in the Parliament of England Westminster the 9 of March 1643. Gray of Wark Speaker of the House of Peers in Parliament pro tempore William Lenthall Speaker of the Commons House in Parliament Whosoever considers that this should be a Letter from Subjects might well think it very unbeseeming Language in them to call His Majesty's earnest endeavours for Peace but Professions and their own feigned pretence most real Intentions but much more menacing Language that is Majesty cannot be the least or last Sufferer which expressions from Subjects in Arms to their Soveraign what dangerous Construction they may admit we are unwilling to mention But we need not wonder at the manner of their expressions when we see in this Letter the Parliament it self as far as in them lies destroyed and those who here style themselves the Lords and Commons assembled in the Parliament of England not to resolve upon their Answer to their King without the concurrent advice and consent of the Commissioners as they call them of the Kingdom of Scotland If they had only taken the Advice of the Scotish Commissioners they had broken the Fundamental Constitution of Parliament the very Writs of Summons the Foundation of all Power in Parliament being in express terms for the Lords to treat and advise with the King and the Peers of the Kingdom of England and for the Commons to do and consent to those things which by that Common-Council of England should be ordained thereby excluding all others But their League it seems is gone further the Scots must consent as well as advise so that they have gotten a negative voice and they who in the former Letter would be the Kings only Council are now become no Council without the Scotish Commissioners The truth is they have besides the solemn League and Covenant with the Scots which their Letter mentions a strange and traitourous presumption for Subjects to make a Covenant and League with Subjects of another Kingdom without their Prince made private bargains with the Scots touching our Estates and a private agreement not to treat without their consent as some of themselves being afraid of a Treaty openly declared to the Common-Council of London And therefore 't is no wonder that being touched to the quick with the apprehension that they are not nor can be in this condition a full and free Convention of Parliament they charge us with deserting our Trust and would have us to be no Members of the Parliament They may remember it was our want of freedom within and the seditious Tumults without their many multiplied Treasons there and imposing traitourous Oaths which inforced our absence But concerning that and the want of freedom in Parliament we shall say no more here that being the Subject of another Declaration only we wish them to consider by what Fundamental Laws of the Kingdom which they have lately wrested to serve all turns they can exclude us from our Votes in Parliament who were duely summoned chosen and returned Members of Parliament and
D. in Physick Will. Constantine Esq Hen. Killegrew Esq Ric. King Esq John Dutton Esq Hen. Bret Esq Will. Chadwel Esq Sir Theobald Gorges John George Esq Sir Tho. Fanshaw Humf. Conningesby Esq Ri. Seaborne Esq Arth. Lord Ranelaugh Tho. Tomkins Esq Sir Sampson Evers Sir John Culpeper Jeffrey Palmer Esq Sir John Harrison Tho. Fanshaw Esq Sir Rog. Palmer Sir Orlando Bridgman Will. Watkins Esq John Smith Esq Sir Tho. Bludder Sir Ed. Littleton Sir Harvy Bagot Sir Ri. Leveson Sir Ri. Cave Ri. Weston Esq Sir Ri. Lee. Sir Tho. Whitmore Sir Ed. Acton C. Baldwin Esq R. Goodwin Esq Tho. Howard Esq Tho. Littleton Esq Sir Ro. Howard Sir John Meux Matthew Davis Esq Sir F. Cornwallis Tho. Jermyn Esq John Taylor Esq William Basset Esq Sir William Portman Sir Edw. Rodney Tho. Hanham Esq Ed. Phelips Esq John Digby Esq Ed. Kirton Esq Christ. Leuknor Esq Sir Edw. Alford John White Esq John Ashburnham Esq Will. Smith Esq Tho. Leedes Esq Sir Ja. Thynne W. Pleydell Esq Ro. Hyde Serjeant at Law Sir Ed. Griffin Sir Walter Smith Geo. Lawe Esq Ric. Harding Esq Sir Hen. Herbert End Porter Esq Sam. Sandys Esq John Bodvill Esq Will. Morgan Esq Will. Thomas Esq Jo. Mostyn Esq Hen. Bellasis Esq Sir Geo. Wentworth Will. Mallory Esq Ri. Aldburgh Esq John Salisbury Esq Will. Herbert Esq William Price Esq Sir John Price Sir Ri. Herbert Charles Price Esq Phil. Warwick Esq Tho. Cooke Esq Sir Rob. Crooke Herb. Price Esq John Whistler Esq These Peers following being disabled by several accidents to appear sooner have since attended the Service and concurred with us Viscount Cambden Lord Abergavenny Lord Arundell Lord Capell Lord Newport Peers imployed in His Majesty's Service or absent with leave Marquess of Winchester Marquess of Worcester Marquess of New-castle Earl of Darby Earl of Huntingdon Earl of Clare Earl of Marleborough V. Falconbridge L. Morly L. Darcy and Coniers L. Stourton L. Evers L. Daincourt L. Pawlet L. Brudenel L. Powys L. Herbert of Cherbury L. Hopton L. Loughborough L. Byron L. Vaughan L. Widderington Peers absent in the parts beyond the Seas Earl of Arundell Earl of St. Albans L. Viscount Montague L. Viscount Stafford L. Stanhope L. Coventry L. Goring L. Craven of Hamsted L. Craven of Ryton Peers in Prison for their Loyalty to His Majesty Earl of Chesterfield L. Mountague of Boughton Whoever views these numbers and considers how many Peers are at this time under Age will quickly know who and how many are privy or consenting to the Counsels at Westminster These Members of the Commons House following being disabled by several accidents to appear sooner have since attended the Service and concurred with us Peter Venables Esquire Sir John Pawlet Edward Bagshaw Esq Sir John Burlasey Francis Newport Esquire Anthony Hungerford Esq John Russel Esquire Thomas Chichley Esquire Earl of Cork Sir Gervase Clifton Sir Guy Palmes Robert Sutton Esquire Gervase Hollis Esquire Sir Patricius Curwen Sir Henry Bellingham Sir George Dalston Sir Thomas Sandford Sir William Dalston Michael Wharton Esquire Sir Robert Hatton James Scudamore Esq Sir John Brooke Sir John Stepney Imployed in His Majesty's Service or absent with leave or by Sickness Sir John Fenwick Hugh Potter Esquire Walter Kirle Esquire William Stanhope Esquire Sir William Carnaby Sir Thomas Danby John Fenwick Esquire Ralph Sneade Esquire Sir William Ogle Sir Thomas Jermyn Sir John Stowell Sir Robert Strickland Sir Philip Musgrave John Cowcher Esquire John Coventry Esquire Sir Henry Slingsby Sir John Mallory John Bellassis Esquire Sir Thomas Ingram Lord Mansfield Thomas Heblethwayte Esquire Sir Hugh Cholmely Sir George Wentworth Sir Walter Lloyd Sir Henry Vaughan Francis Lloyd John Vaughan Esquire Richard Ferrers Esq George Hartnoll Esq Sir William Vdall Robert Hunt Esquire Thomas May Esquire Sir Thomas Bowyer Sir Thomas Roe Whoever now considers how many have retired themselves unto several Counties and so are absent from Westminster and yet cannot through the danger of Travelling be present at Oxford how many have withdrawn themselves into the parts beyond the Seas how many of their own principal Instruments are Voted out of the House by themselves as Sir John Hotham and his Son Sir Alexander Carew Mr. Martin Mr. Fiennes and many others and how many now are Imprisoned by them how many Members from the beginning have been factiously kept from the House upon questions of Election and how many without any colour are kept in by not suffering their Elections to be reported and that there are Thirty five Members dead into whose rooms no new Persons are chosen how many since are become Barons by descent or Creation will easily conclude how small the number is which remains and of those how few in truth have Right in sit there CHARLES R. March 19. 1643. Our express Pleasure is That this Declaration of the Lords and Commons of Parliament assembled at Oxford be read by the Parson Vicar or Curate in every Church and Chapel within Our Kingdom of England and Dominion of Wales The Declaration of the Lords and Commons of Parliament assembled at Oxford according to His MAJESTY'S Proclamation Concerning their Endeavours since they came thither for the Peace of the Kingdom and the Reasons enforcing their Abscence from Westminster VVE the Lords and Commons of Parliament being upon just and important reasons absent from the City of Westminster whither we were Legally called or sent by the Power and Authority of His Majesty's Writ when He summoned His Parliament and being by His gracious Proclamation of the two and twentieth day of December convened at Oxford with full liberty to present our humble Advice to His Majesty for the preservation of the Religion Laws and Safety of the Kingdom thought it most agreeable to our Duty to God our zeal and tenderness of His Majesty's Honour and Safety and our Affection and Compassion of the bleeding condition of our miserable Country to use our utmost and earliest endeavours to prevent the effusion of more Christian English Blood and to close those Wounds through which this Kingdom is in danger in a short time to languish even to Desolation And finding the ill success which had attended all the Overtures of Treaty and Accommodation made by His Majesty His Majesty's most gracious Message from Nottingham being with so much contempt rejected which being sent by Members of both Houses those Messengers were not suffered to deliver it as Members or to sit in the House whilst the same was debated contrary to the Privilege of Parliament and that to the two last Messages sent by Him of the twelfth of April and nineteenth of May in both which are most gracious expressions of His Princely and passionate inclinations to Peace as may appear by those Messages herewith again re-printed there hath not been the least Answer returned to His Majesty but on the contrary His Messenger imprisoned and to this day detained and an Order that on pain of Death none should presume to come thither from His Majesty upon
lastly after having lived so many years in the most glorious and most unblemished Church of Christendom the total defacing and pulling down the whole Fabrick of it censuring and reproaching the Doctrine and destroying the Discipline and as if we were cast ashore in some uninhabited Climate where the Elements of Christianity were not known the calling without the least shadow or colour of Law or Lawful Authority against His Majesty's express Consent manifestly against the Statute of 25 th year of King Henry the Eighth an assembly of Divines composed of some Noblemen Gentlemen and Ministers all under the style of Godly and Learned Divines most of which are not otherwise known than by their Schism and Separation from that Church in which they were born and to which they have subscribed and these Men now must new-make and mould the Religion by which we must all be saved God in his good time we hope will vindicate his own Cause and repair the breaches which have been lately made For the Laws of the Land and the Liberty of the Subject so speciously urged and pretended to be the end of those who have disturbed our Peace we need say little every place and every person is an ample evidence and testimony of the bold and avowed violation of either The Charter of our Liberties Magna Charta so industriously and Religiously preserved by our Ancestors and above Thirty several times confirmed in Parliament that Rampire and Bulwark of all the precious Privileges and Immunities which the Subjects of this Kingdom could boast of and which distinguishes them from all the Subjects of Christendom is levelled and trampled under foot scorned despised and superseded by Votes and Orders Men of all sorts Clergy and Laity imprisoned without the least charge that by the Law is called a Crime and their Estates are sequestred by Persons of whom the Law can take no notice Committees made by Committees Rob Banish and Imprison the Lords and Commons of England Men committed by Persons of no Authority for no cause to Prison have by Habeas Corpus the good old Remedy and Security for our Liberty been brought to the Kings Bench and by command of those who first committed them remanded and Commands given to the Judges that they should grant no Habeas Corpus which they were sworn to grant to any Persons committed by them or by those to whom they grant Authority to commit which themselves have not Power to do Neither can we pass over the motion made by Mr. Rigby a Member of the House of Commons to transport those Lords and Gentlemen who were Prisoners and by them accounted Malignants to be sold as Slaves to Argiers or sent to the new Plantation in the West Indies urged the second time with much earnestness because the Proposer had contracted with two Merchants to that purpose the which though it took no effect at that time may awaken those who have observed so many things to pass and be ordered long after they have been once or twice denied and rejected And who sees the new and inhumane way of imprisoning Persons of Quality under Decks on Ship-board by which cruel usage many of our Country-men have been murthered may have reason to fear they may be hereafter carried a longer voyage than is yet avowed The twentieth part of our Estates is at once taken and if we are not willing to obey that Order the other Nineteen are taken from us as Malignants a term unknown and undefined and yet crime enough to forfeit our Lives and all that we have Our fellow-Subjects have been executed in cold blood for doing that which by the Laws of God and Man they were bound to do and after their Murther their Estates seized and their Wives and Children exposed to Misery and Famine Laws made and Penalties imposed by Laws this Parliament are suspended dispensed withal and those things done by Order against which those Laws were made And that there may be no face of Justice over the Land the Judges are prohibited to ride their Circuits for the administration of that Justice which the King owes His People and they are bound to execute And after all this and after the merciless shedding so much English Blood after the expending so much Money much of which was given for relief of our poor Protestant Brethren of Ireland and diverted for the improving the Distractions at home after the transportation of such vast sums of Money and great Treasure into Foreign parts to the unspeakable impoverishing this Poor Kingdom to make our Misery lasting and our Confusion compleat a Foreign Enemy is invited and brought into the Bowels of this Kingdom to drink our blood to divide our Possession to give us new Laws and to Rule over us And the better to make way to those horrid Impositions by confounding and making void all civil Rights and Proprieties and the better preparing the Kingdom to be shared by Strangers a New Great Seal the special Ensign of Monarchy and the only way by which Justice is derived and distributed to the People is counterfeited and used albeit it be by the express letter of the Statute of the 25 th year of King Edward the Third declared to be High Treason Having now made this clear plain Narration to the Kingdom the truth and particulars whereof are known to most Men that when Posterity shall find our names in the Records of these times as Members trusted by our Country in that great Council by whose Authority and Power the present Alteration and Distraction seems to be wrought it may likewise see how far we have been and are from consenting to these desperate and fatal Innovations we cannot rest satisfied without Declaring and Publishing to all our fellow-Subjects and to the whole World that all our Intentions and Actions have been are and shall be directed to the defence of His Majesty's Person and just Rights the preservation of the true Protestant Religion and Liberties of the Kingdom established by Law That as we do with all humility to God Almighty and as a great Blessing from him acknowledge His Majesty's happy and Religious Reign and Government over this Kingdom and especially the excellent Laws and Statutes made in His time and particularly those in this Parliament so we do with all duty and submission Declare That His Majesty is the only Supream Governour of this Realm in all Causes Ecclesiastical and Temporal That His Natural Person is not to be divided from His Kingly Office but that our natural Allegiance and the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy do bind us and all His other Subjects to Loyalty and Allegiance to His Natural Person That His Majesty's Negative Voice without which Monarchy is dissolved is an inherent Right of His Crown and that no Orders of one or both Houses of Parliament without His Majesty's express Consent can make a Law to bind the Subjects either in their Property or Liberty That we do from our Souls abhor
the present Rebellion raised in this Kingdom against His Majesty and that all His Majesty's Subjects are bound by their natural Allegiance and the Oaths lawfully taken by them to the utmost of their power to resist and repress the same and particularly the Army now under the Command of the Earl of Essex and all other Armies raised or to be raised without His Majesty's Consent under pretence of the two Houses of Parliament And we do disclaim all Votes Orders and Declarations in countenance or maintenance of the said Armies and Declare That no Oath or Covenant voluntarily taken or inforced doth or can bind or dispense with the breach of those other Oaths formerly and lawfully taken to His Majesty and that all those who aid assist or abett this horrid and odious Rebellion are and ought to be accounted and pursued as Traitors by the known Laws of the Land That we utterly detest and disclaim the Invitation which hath been made to His Majesty's Subjects of Scotland to enter this Kingdom with an Army the same being as much against the Desires as against the Duty of the Lords and Commons of England and all true-hearted English-Men And we do Declare and publish to the World That as any such Invasion or Hostile entry into the Kingdom by the Rebellious Subjects of Scotland is a direct and peremptory breach of the late Act of Pacification between the two Kingdoms so that we and all the Subjects of this Kingdom are bound by our Allegiance and by that very Act to resist and repress such Invasion And whosoever is or shall be abetting aiding or assisting to those of Scotland in their Hostile Invasion of this Kingdom ought to be looked upon as betrayers of their Country and are guilty of High Treason by the known Laws of the Kingdom And that our weak misled and seduced Country-men may no longer pay an implicite regard and reverence to the abused name of Parliament which these guilty Persons usurp to themselves and so submit to those Actions and Commands which two Houses of Parliament never so legally and regularly constituted have not Authority to require or enjoyn and since these Men will not suffer their poor Country to be restored by a Treaty to the benefit of a Parliament which would with Gods blessing easily remove these Miseries and prevent the like for the time to come we must and do declare to the Whole Kingdom That as at no time either or both Houses of Parliament can by any Orders or Ordinances impose upon the People without the Kings Consent so by reason of the want of Freedom and Security for all the Members of Parliament to meet at Westminster and there to Sit Speak and Vote with Freedom and Safety all the Actions Votes Orders Declarations and pretended Ordinances made by those Members who remain still at Westminster are void and of none effect and that as many of the Lords and Commons assembled at Westminster as have at any time consented to the raising of Forces under the Command of the Earl of Essex or to the making and using of the new Great Seal or to the present coming of the Scots into England in a warlike manner have therein broken the Trust reposed in them by their Country and are to be proceeded against as Traitors And yet we are far from dissolving or attempting the dissolution of this Parliament or the violation of any Act made and confirmed by His Majesty's Royal Assent this Parliament which we shall always maintain and defend Acts of Parliament are only in danger to be destroyed by those who undervalue and despise the Authority and Power of Acts of Parliament who therefore deny the Kings Negative Voice and neglect His Concurrence that their own Resolutions may be reputed as Acts of Parliament to the Ruine and Confusion of all Laws and Interest It is our grief in the behalf of the whole Kingdom that since the Parliament is not dissolved the Power thereof should by the Treason and Violence of these Men be so far suspended that the Kingdom should be without the fruit and benefit of a Parliament which cannot be reduced to any Action or Authority till the Freedom and Liberty due to the Members be restored and admitted and they who oppose this must be only looked upon as the Enemies to Parliament In the mean time we neither have nor shall attempt any thing for the Adjourning Dissolving or Proroguing thereof otherwise than as it may stand with the Act in that case provided Lastly we Declare That our endeavours actions and resolutions tend and are directed and shall always be directed to the maintenance of God's true Religion established by Law within this Kingdom to the defence of His Majesty's Sacred Person His Honour and just Rights to the preservation of the Liberty and Property of the Subject settled and evident by the Laws Statutes and Customs of the Realm and the just Freedom Liberty and Privilege of Parliament and that what we shall do for the defence and maintenance of all these proceeds from the Conscience of our Duty to God our King and Country without any private and sinister ends of our own and out of our sincere love to Truth and Peace the which as we have so we shall always labour to procure as the only blessed End of all our Labours And we do therefore conjure all our Country-Men and fellow-Subjects by all those precious obligations of Religion to God Almighty of Loyalty towards their Soveraign of Affection towards one another and of Charity and Compassion towards their bleeding Country to assist and joyn with us in the suppressing those Enemies to Peace who are so much delighted with the Ruine and Confusion they have made that they will not so much as vouchsafe to Treat with us that all specious Pretences might be taken away and the grounds of this bloody Contention clearly stated to the World If these Men with a true sence and remorse of the ill they have done shall yet return to their Duty and Loyalty they shall God willing find us of another temper towards them than they have been towards us And if the Conscience of their Duty shall not draw all our fellow-Subjects and Country-Men to joyn with us in assisting His Majesty we hope that the prudent consideration That 't is impossible to Reason for our miserable Country ever to be restored to Peace and Happiness but by restoring all just and legally-due Power and Authority into His Majesty's hands again will direct them what is fit to be done by them And if any yet shall be so unskilful and to say no worse vulgar-spirited to hope by a Neutrality and odious Indifferency to rest secure in this Storm though we shall not follow the examples of other Men in telling them that their Estates shall be forfeited and taken from them as pernicious and publick Enemies God be thanked the Law is not so supprest but that it proceeds in Attainders and Forfeitures and all Men
Parliament as they had upon the first of January 1641. the same of right belonging unto them by their Birth-rights and the free Election of those that sent them and having been Voted from them for adhering to His Majesty in these Distractions His Majesty not intending that this should extend either to the Bishops whose Votes have been taken away by Bill or to such in whose places upon new Writs new Elections have been made 3. As soon as His Majesty and both Houses may be secured from such tumultuous Assemblies as to the great breach of the Privileges and the high Dishonour of Parliaments have formerly assembled about both Houses and awed the Members of the same and occasioned two several complaints from the Lords House and two several desires of that House to the House of Commons to joyn in a Declaration against them the complying with which desire might have prevented all these miserable Distractions which have ensued which Security His Majesty conceives can be only settled by Adjourning the Parliament to some other place at the least twenty Miles from London the choice of which His Majesty leaves to both Houses His Majesty will most chearfully and readily consent that both Armies be immediately disbanded and give a present meeting to both His Houses of Parliament at the time and place at and to which the Parliament shall be agreed to be Adjourned His Majesty being most confident that the Law will then recover the due credit and estimation and that upon a free debate in a full and peaceable Convention of Parliament such Provisions will be made against Seditious Preaching and Printing against His Majesty and the established Laws which hath been one of the chief causes of the present Distractions and such care will be taken concerning the Legal and known Rights of His Majesty and the Property and Liberty of His Subjects that whatsoever hath been published or done in or by colour of any illegal Declaration Ordinance or Order of one or both Houses or any Committee of either of them and particularly the Power to raise Arms without His Majesty's Consent will be in such manner recalled disclaimed and provided against that no seed will remain for the like to spring out of for the future to disturb the Peace of the Kingdom and to endanger the very Being of it And in such a Convention His Majesty is resolved by His readiness to consent to whatsoever shall be proposed to Him by Bill for the Real good of His Subjects and particularly for the better discovery and speedier conviction of Recusants for the Education of the Children of Papists by Protestants in the Protestant Religion for the prevention of practices of Papists against the State and the due execution of the Laws and true levying of the Penalties against them to make known to all the World how causeless those fears and jealousies have been which have been raised against Him and by that so distracted this miserable Kingdom And if this Offer of His Majesty be not consented to in which He asks nothing for which there is not apparent Justice on His side and in which He defers many things highly concerning both Himself and People till a full and peaceable Convention of Parliament which in Justice He might now require His Majesty is confident that it will then appear to all the World not only who is most desirous of Peace and whose fault it is that both Armies are not now disbanded but who have been the true and first cause that this Peace was ever interrupted or these Armies raised and the beginning or continuance of the War and the Destruction and Desolation of this poor Kingdom which is too likely to ensue will not by the most interessed passionate or prejudicate Person be imputed to His Majesty His MAJESTY'S Message to both Houses May 19. in pursuance of the foregoing Message SInce His Majesty's Message of the twelfth of April in which he conceived He had made such an Overture for the immediate Disbanding of all Armies and Composure of these present miserable Distractions by a full and free Convention in Parliament that a perfect and settled Peace would have ensued hath in all this time above a full Month procured no Answer from both Houses His Majesty might well believe Himself absolved before God and Man from the least possible Charge of not having used His utmost endeavour for Peace Yet when He considers that the Scene of all this Calamity is in the Bowels of His own Kingdom that all the Blood which is spilt is of His own Subjects and that what Victory soever it shall please God to give Him must be over those who ought not to have lifted up their hands against Him when He considers that these desperate civil Dissentions may encourage and invite a Foreign Enemy to make a Prey of the whole Nation that Ireland is in present danger to be totally lost that the heavy Judgments of God Plague Pestilence and Famine will be the inevitable Attendants of this unnatural Contention and that in a short time there will be so general a habit of uncharitableness and Cruelty contracted throughout the Kingdom that even Peace it self will not restore His People to their old Temper and Security His Majesty cannot but again call for an Answer to that His Message which gives so fair a Rise to end these unnatural Distractions And His Majesty doth this with the more earnestness because He doubts not the condition of His Armies in several parts His strength of Horse Foot and Artillery His plenty of Ammunition which some Men lately might conceive He wanted is so well known and understood that it must be confessed that nothing but the Tenderness and Love to His People and those Christian Impressions which always have and He hopes always shall dwell in His heart could move Him once more to hazard a Refusal And He requires them as they will answer to God to Himself and all the World That they will no longer suffer their fellow-Subjects to welter in each others Blood that they will remember by whose Authority and to what end they met in that Council and send such an Answer to His Majesty as may open a door to let in a firm Peace and Security to the whole Kingdom If His Majesty shall again be disappointed of His Intentions herein the Blood Rapine and Distraction which must follow in England and Ireland will be cast upon the Account of those who are deaf to the motion of Peace and Accommodation CHARLES R. May 19. 1643. OUR express Pleasure is That this Declaration of the Lords and Commons of Parliament assembled at Oxford be read by the Parson Vicar or Curate in every Church and Chapel within Our Kingdom of England and Dominion of Wales MDCXLIV April 15. The Petition of the Lords and Commons of Parliament assembled at Oxford Presented to His MAJESTY the day before the Recess And His MAJESTY'S Gracious Answer to the same To the Kings most excellent
Estates of the Parliament in Scotland or the said Commissioners of that Kingdom whereof they are Subjects and that in those cases of joynt concernment to both Kingdoms the Commissioners to be directed to be there all or such part as aforesaid to act and direct as joynt Commissioners of both Kingdoms 4. To order the War of Ireland according to the Ordinance of the 11 th of April and to order the Militia and conserve the peace of the Kingdom of Ireland XVIII That His Majesty give His assent to what the two Kingdoms shall agree upon in prosecution of the Articles of the large Treaty which are not yet finished XIX That by Act of Parliament all Peers made since the day that Edward Lord Littleton then Lord Keeper of the great Seal deserted the Parliament and that the said great Seal was surreptitiously conveyed away from the Parliament being the 21. day of May 1642. and who shall be hereafter made shall not sit or Vote in the Parliament of England without consent of both Houses of Parliament and that all Honour and Title conferred on any without consent of both Houses of Parliament since the 20. day of May 1642. being the day that both Houses declared That the King seduced by evil Counsel intended to raise War against the Parliament be declared null and void The like for the Kingdom of Scotland those being excepted whose Patents were passed the great Seal before the 4. of June 1644. XX. That by Act of Parliament the Deputy or chief Governour or other Governours of Ireland be nominated by both Houses of Parliament or in the Intervals of Parliament by the Commissioners to continue during the pleasure of the said Houses or in the Intervals of Parliament during the pleasure of the said Houses or in the Intervals of Parliament during the pleasure of the aforementioned Commissioners to be approved or disallowed by both Houses at their next sitting And that the Chancellor or Lord Keeper Lord Treasurer Commissioners of the great Seal or Treasury Lord Warden of the Cinque-Ports Chancellors of the Exchequer and Dutchy Secretaries of State Judges of both Benches and of the Exchequer of the Kingdoms of England and Ireland be nominated by both Houses of Parliament to continue quamdiu se bene gesserint and in the Intervals of Parliament by the aforementioned Commissioners to be approved or disallowed by both Houses at their next sitting The like for the Kingdom of Scotland adding the Justice General and in such manner as the Estates in Parliament there shall think fit XXI That by Act of Parliament the Education of Your Majesty's Children and the Children of Your Heirs and Successors be in the true Protestant Religion and that their Tutors and Governours be of known Integrity and be chosen by the Parliaments of both Kingdoms or in the Intervals of Parliaments by the aforenamed Commissioners to be approved or disallowed by both Parliaments at their next sitting and that if they be Male they be married to such only as are of the true Protestant Religion if they be Female they may not be marryed but with the advice and consent of both Parliaments or in the Intervals of Parliament by their Commissioners XXII That Your Majesty will give Your Royal Assent to such ways and means as the Parliaments of both Kingdoms shall think fitting for the uniting of the Protestant Princes and for the entire Restitution and Re-establishment of Charles Lodwick Prince Elector Palatine His Heirs and Successors to His Electoral Dignity Rights and Dominions Provided that this extend not to Prince Rupert or Prince Maurice or the Children of either of them who have been the Instruments of so much blood-shed and mischief against both Kingdoms XXIII That by Act of Parliament the concluding of Peace or War with Foreign Princes and States be with advice and consent of both Parliaments or in the Intervals of Parliaments by their Commissioners XXIV That an Act of Oblivion be passed in the Parliaments of both Kingdoms respectively relative to the Qualifications in the Propositions aforesaid concerning the joint Declaration of both Kingdoms with the exception of all Murderers Thieves and other Offenders not having relation to the War XXV That the Members of both Houses of Parliaments or others who have during this Parliament been put out of any Place or Office Pension or Benefit for adhering to the Parliament may either be restored thereunto or otherwise have Recompence for the same upon the humble desire of both Houses of Parliament The like for the Kingdom of Scotland XXVI That the Armies may be Disbanded at such time and in such manner as shall be agreed upon by the Parliaments of both Kingdoms or such as shall be Authorized by them to that effect XXVII That an Act be passed for the granting and confirming of the Charters Customs Liberties and Franchises of the City of London notwithstanding any Non-user Mis-user or Abuser That the Militia of the City of London may be in the ordering and Government of the Lord Major Aldermen and Commons in Common-Council assembled or such as they shall from time to time appoint whereof the Lord Major and Sheriffs for the time being to be three And that the Militia of the Parishes without London and the Liberties within the weekly Bills of Mortality may be under Command of the Lord Major Aldermen and Commons in Common-Council of the said City to be ordered in such manner as shall be agreed on and appointed by both Houses of Parliament That the Tower of London may be in the Government of the City of London and the chief Officer and Governour thereof from time to time be nominated and removable by the Common-Council That the Citizens or Forces of London shall not be drawn out of the City into any other parts of the Kingdom without their own consent and that the drawing of their Forces into other parts of the Kingdom in these distracted times may not be drawn into example for the future And for prevention of Inconveniences which may happen by the long intermission of Common-Councils it is desired that there be an Act that all By-Laws and Ordinances already made or hereafter to be made by the Lord Major Aldermen and Commons in Common-Council assembled touching the calling continuing directing and regulating of the same shall be as effectual in Law to all intents and purposes as if the same were particularly enacted by the Authority of Parliament and that the Lord Major Aldermen and Commons in Common-Council may add to or repeal the said Ordinances from time to time as they shall see cause That such other Propositions as shall be made for the City for their farther Safety Welfare and Government and shall be approved of by both Houses of Parliament may be granted and confirmed by Act of Parliament Upon consideration of which Propositions His Majesty sent the Duke of Richmond and the Earl of Southampton with this Message of the 13. of December HIS Majesty hath seriously
from His Majesty's Loyal Subjects assembled in the Parliaments of both His Kingdoms are mentioned to be sent to His Majesty from the Lords and Commons of Parliament assembled at Westminster and upon His Majesty's Answers Messages and Propositions to them and their Returns to His Majesty that a Treaty is to begin and wherein we also observe you have no Power thereby to Treat upon the Propositions sent to His Majesty from His humble and Loyal Subjects assembled in the Parliaments of both Kingdoms and the Answers Messages and Propositions sent from His Majesty to the Lords and Commons assembled in the Parliament of England at Westminster and the Commissioners of the Parliament of Scotland then at London and their Returns to His Majesty We desire those defects may be cleared and speedily amended The King's Commissioners Answer 31. January VVE conceive our Power being to Treat upon the Propositions brought by the Earl of Denbigh and others and those Propositions being sent from the Parliaments of both Kingdoms there need no mention of the Parliaments of both Kingdoms in that place but that our Power is ample to Treat with your Lordships upon the whole both by express words and by other general words in the Commission which give power to Treat upon those Propositions or any other which general words are not observed by your Lordships in your Paper and our Power is to Treat with the Lords and others authorized for the Estates of the Parliament of Scotland by name yet since you insist upon it it shall be altered by Tuesday next And in the mean time if your Lordships please we desire the Papers promised yesterday in the Paper delivered by the Earl of Northumberland may be delivered unto us that there may be as little loss of time as may be Their Reply 31. January IN Answer to your Lordships Paper concerning your power to Treat we are content to proceed in the Treaty with your Lordships in expectation that the Defects mentioned by us in our Paper shall be supplied by Tuesday next On Munday the third of February the King's Commissioners did deliver their Commission renewed as followeth CHARLES R. VVHereas certain Propositions were sent unto Us from the Lords and Commons assembled in the Parliament of England at Westminster and from the Commissioners of the Parliament of Scotland which were brought unto Us at Oxford in November last by the Earl of Denbigh and others and upon Our Answers c. as followeth verbatim in His Majesty's former Commission Touching the Manner of the Treaty The King's Commissioners Paper 31. January WE desire to the end there may be a greater freedom in debate which we conceive will much conduce to the happy conclusion of this Treaty that nothing may be understood to be concluded on either side but what is delivered in writing according as your Lordships have begun And we declare That what shall be delivered in writing upon any Proposition or upon any part of a Proposition is not to be binding or prejudicial to either Party if the Treaty break off upon any other Proposition or part of any other Proposition Their Answer 31. Jan. WE shall deliver our demands and Answers in writing and desire your Lordships to do the like The King's Commissioners Reply 1. February WE desire a full Answer of our Paper that nothing shall be taken as agreed upon but what is put in writing and your Concurrence in declaring That what shall be delivered in writing upon any Proposition or upon any part of a Proposition shall not be binding or prejudicial to either Party if the Treaty break off Their further Answer 1. February ACcording to our former Paper we shall deliver our Demands and Answers in writing and we desire your Lordships to do the like and nothing shall be taken as agreed upon but what is put in writing And we shall acquaint the Houses of Parliament that you have declared what shall be delivered in writing upon any Proposition or upon any part of a Proposition is not to be binding or prejudicial to either Party if the Treaty break off 3. February IN Answer to Your Lordships Paper formerly delivered we do declare that what shall be delivered in writing upon any Proposition or upon any part of a Proposition is not to be binding or prejudicial to either Party if the Treaty break off upon any other Propositions or part of any Proposition Touching the Seditious Sermon The King's Commissioners Paper 31. January WE have certain Information from divers Persons present in Vxbridge Church yesterday that there was then a Sermon preached by one Mr. Love in which were many passages very Scandalous to His Majesty's Person and derogatory to His Honour stirring up the People against this Treaty and incensing them against us telling them That we come with hearts full of Blood and that there is as great distance between this Treaty and Peace as between Heaven and Hell or words to that effect with divers other Seditious passages both against His Majesty and this Treaty We know His Majesty's hearty desire of a happy and well-grounded Peace such as may be for Gods Honour and the good of all His Subjects as well as Himself and we that are entrusted by His Commission come with clear Intentions to serve Him in it according to our Consciences and the best of our Judgments And this being preached in your Quarters where we are now under safe Conduct we desire your Lordships to consider how much this may reflect upon our Safety how much it may prejudice and blast the blessed hopes of this Treaty and how just offence and distrust it may beget in His Majesty And therefore we desire Justice against the Man that he may have exemplary Punishment Their Answer 31. Jan. TO the Paper delivered in by your Lordships this day concerning the Information received of several Scandalous passages preached in a Sermon in Vxbridge Church by one Master Love we do return this Answer That the said Master Love is none of our Retinue nor came hither by any privity of ours That we conceive it most reasonable and agreeable to the business we are now upon that all just occasions of Offence on either part be avoided and as it hath been our desire so it shall be our endeavour to take the best care we can to prevent all prejudices upon the present Treaty which may blast the blessed hopes thereof or may beget any just offence and distrust in His Majesty and shall be as tender of the Safety of your Lordships Persons according to the safe Conduct as of our own We shall represent your Lordships Paper concerning this business if your Lordships so desire unto the Lords and Commons assembled in the Parliament of England who will proceed therein according to Justice The King's Commissioners Reply 1. February VVE insist upon our former desire concerning the Sermon preached by Mr. Love and must refer the way of doing Justice to your Lordships and if
your Lordships are not satisfied that such Words as we have charged him with were spoken by him we are ready to produce the proof thereof to your Lordships Their further Answer 1. February WE will represent both your Lordships Papers concerning Master Love unto the Lords and Commons assembled in the Parliament of England at Westminster who will proceed therein according to Justice In the next place according to the order before mentioned do follow the Passages and Papers concerning Religion Their Paper 31. January ACcording to the Paper delivered by us to your Lordships yesternight we do now offer these Propositions following which concern Religion That the Bill be passed for abolishing and taking away of all Arch-Bishops Bishops c. according to the Third Proposition That the Ordinances concerning the Calling and sitting of the Assembly of Divines be confirmed by Act of Parliament That the Directory for Publick Worship already passed both Houses of the Parliament of England and the Propositions concerning Church-Government hereunto annexed and passed both Houses be enacted as a part of Reformation of Religion and Uniformity according to the Fifth Proposition That His Majesty take the Solemn League and Covenant and that the Covenant be enjoyned to be taken according to the Second Proposition To this was annexed the following Paper of the 31. January That the ordinary way of dividing Christians into distinct Congregations and most expedient for Edification is by the respective bounds of their Dwellings That the Minister and other Church-Officers in each particular Congregation shall joyn in the Government of the Church in such manner as shall be established by Parliament That many particular Congregations shall be under one Presbyterial Government That the Church be governed by Congregational Classical and Synodical Assemblies in such manner as shall be established by Parliament That Synodical Assemblies shall consist both of Provincial and National Assemblies The King's Commissioners Paper 1. February HAving considered your Lordships Paper containing the Propositions concerning Religion with the Paper annexed and finding the same to contain absolute Alterations in the Government both of the Ecclesiastical and Civil State we desire to know whether your Lordships have power to Treat and debate upon the said Propositions and upon debate to recede from or consent to any Alterations in the said Propositions if we shall make it appear to be reasonable so to do or whether your Lordships are bound up by your Instructions to insist upon the Propositions without any Alteration Their Answer 1. February OUR Paper given in to your Lordships concerning Religion doth contain no Alterations but such as are usual in a time of Reformation and by the wisdom of the Parliaments of both Kingdoms are judged necessary at this time for settling Religion and Peace And as by our Commissions and Papers formerly shewed your Lordships we have made known our Power to Treat upon them so are we ready by Debate to shew how reasonable they are and that there will be no reason to expect that we should alter or recede from them But as for your demand of our shewing what farther Power we have by our Instructions it is that we have no warrant to do as we have already signified to your Lordships by a former Paper The King's Commissioners Paper 1. February YOUR Lordships first Proposition in the Paper concerning Religion referring to the Third Proposition sent to His Majesty we find that refers to the Articles of the late Treaty of the date at Edenburgh 29. Nov. 1643. and to the joynt Declaration of both Kingdoms We desire your Lordships we may see those Articles and Declarations and your Lordships second Proposition in that Paper referring to the Ordinances concerning the Calling and sitting of the Assembly of Divines we desire to see those Ordinances Their Answer 1. Feb. ACcording to your Lordships desire in the third Paper we now deliver in the Articles of the late Treaty of the date at Edenburgh 29. of November 1643. and the joynt Declaration of both Kingdoms and we shall speedily deliver to your Lordships the Ordinances concerning the Calling and sitting of the Assembly of Divines The King's Commissioners Paper 1. Feb. VVE desire to know whether the Propositions which we have received from your Lordships touching Religion be all we are to expect from you upon that Subject Their Answer 1. Feb. THere are other things touching Religion to be propounded by us unto your Lordships upon the Propositions formerly sent unto His Majesty from the Parliaments of both Kingdoms which we shall in due time give in unto your Lordships But we do first desire your Answer to the Paper touching Religion given in yesterday that some good progress may be made therein before the three days assigned to Treat upon Religion in the first place do expire The King's Commissioners Paper 1. Feb. VVE desired to know whether the Propositions we formerly received from your Lordships concerning Religion were all that would be offered concerning that Subject because we thought it very necessary since so great Alterations are proposed by you to have a full view of the whole Alterations that are desired since in an Argument of the greatest weight and highest importance we cannot possible give a present Judgment of any part till we have a prospect of the Whole But since your Lordships do not yet think it time to let us have a sight of the rest but first desire our Answer to the Paper delivered yesterday which contains many particulars of which we never heard before we shall apply our selves to understand the things proposed by you in such manner as we may return your Lordships a speedy Answer and to that purpose must desire your Lordships information in some particulars which are comprized in your Lordships paper And when your Lordships consider that the Directory for Worship being so long was delivered to us but yesterday that the Covenant the Articles of the Treaty of Edenburgh the Declaration of both Kingdoms which are comprehended within the First Proposition were delivered to us but this day and therefore we could return no Answer concerning the Bill for abolishing Arch-bishops and Bishops which is proposed to be passed according to the Third Proposition in which the said Articles and Declarations are comprehended and that the Ordinances for the Sitting of the Assembly are not yet delivered unto us we are confident your Lordships will not think us negligent in making as good a progress in the Treaty upon Religion as is in our power which we shall endeavour to advance with all diligence and the best of our understanding Afterwards the same first of February the Ordinances for the Assembly of Divines were delivered in After some debate touching the nature of the Church Government intended by the Paper annexed to the first Paper upon the Subject of Religion which are here before set down the Kings Commissioners delivered in this following Paper 1. Feb. THE Information we
Commissioners insisted no farther The Kings Commissioners Second Paper 19. Feb. BY the thirteenth Proposition it is demanded that an Act be passed to settle the Prosecution of the War of Ireland in both Houses of Parliament of England to be managed by the joynt advices of both Kingdoms We desire to know whether if the two Kingdoms shall not agree in their advice touching that War each have a negative Voice or whether the Scots Commander in chief of the Forces in Ireland may manage that War in such case according to his own discretion Their Answer 19. Feb. IN Answer to your Lordships second Paper the Prosecution of the War of Ireland is to be setled in the two Houses of the Parliament of England but is to be managed by a joynt Committee of both Kingdoms wherein the Committee of each Kingdom hath a negative Voice but in case of disagreement the Houses of Parliament of England may prosecute the War as they shall think fit observing the Treaty of the sixth of August 1642. between the two Houses and the Estates of the Parliament of Scotland and the Ordinance of the 11. of April 1644. delivered to your Lordships formerly The Kings Commissioners Third Paper 19. Feb. BY the twentieth Proposition in the Intervals of Parliament the Commissioners for the Militia have power to nominate the Lord Deputy of Ireland and other Officers and Judges there We desire to know whether that Power be limited to the Commissioners of both Kingdoms or only to the Commissioners for England and whether in such cases the Commissioners of Scotland shall vote as single Persons Their Answer 19. Feb. THe power of the Commissioners in the Intervals of Parliament to nominate the Lord Deputy of Ireland and other Officers and Judges there mentioned in the twentieth Proposition being no matters of joynt concernment is to be limited to the Commissioners of the Parliament of England wherein the Commissioners of Scotland are to vote as single Persons The Kings Commissioners Fourth Paper 19. Feb. THe Articles of the Treaty of the sixth of August giving Power to the Lieutenant of Ireland when the Scotish Army shall be joyned with his Army to give Instructions to the Scotish Commander in chief and the Orders of the two Houses of the 9. of March 1644. and the 11. of April 1644. appointing the General of the Scotish Forces in Ireland to command in chief over all the Forces as well British as Scots and both being desired to be Enacted we desire to know whether the Lieutenant of Ireland shall command the Scots Forces or whether the Scotish General shall command all Forces both British and Scots Their Answer 19. Feb. IN Answer to your Lordships fourth Paper we say that the Ordinances of the 9. of March and 11. of April 1644. were made when there was no Lieutenant of Ireland and when a Lieutenant shall be made with the Approbation of both Houses according to our former Demands in the seventeenth and twentieth Propositions it will be a fitting time to give further Answer to your Lordships The Kings Commissioners Reply 20. Feb. VVE desire a full Answer from your Lordships to our fourth Paper delivered to your Lordships yesterday concerning the Power of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and the General of the Scots Forces your Lordships having proposed to us that the Articles of the Treaty and the Ordinance of the 11. of April be enacted by His Majesty by one of which the General of the Scots Forces is to receive Instructions for the managing the War there from the Lieutenant of Ireland and by the other which is the later the General of the Scots Forces is to command in chief both the British and Scots Forces by which it seems the Lievtenant of that Kingdom is to have no Power in the prosecution of that War Their Answer 20. Feb. WE do insist upon our former Papers that the prosecution of the War in Ireland is to be settled in both Houses of Parliament and is to be managed by the joynt advice of both Kingdoms as in those Papers is set down and when a Lievtenant of Ireland shall be appointed as is expressed in the Propositions and it shall be necessary for the good of the service that he and the Commander in chief of the Scotish Army joyn the Commander of the Scotish Army shall receive Instructions from the Lord Lievtenant or Deputy or other who shall have the chief Government of the Kingdom for the time according to the Orders which shall be given by the Commissioners of both Kingdoms The King's Commissioners fifth Paper 19. February THe last part of the seventeenth Proposition gives power to the Commissioners for the Militia of both Kingdoms as a joynt Committee to order the War of Ireland according to the Ordinance of the 11. of April and to order the Militia and conserve the Peace of the Kingdom of Ireland and by that of the 11. of April the Earl of Leven being appointed Commander in chief over all the Forces as well British as Scots we desire to know whether he shall be subordinate to those Commissioners for the Militia and be obliged to observe such Orders as he shall receive from them Their Answer 19. Feb. THe Commissioners of the Militia desired by the seventeenth Proposition are to order the War of Ireland according to the Ordinance of the 11. of April and the Earl of Leven being by that Ordinance Commander in chief of the Forces there is obliged to observe such Orders as he shall receive from those Commissioners Their Commissioners likewise the same 19. of Feb. delivered in some Papers of Demands on their part Their Answer 19. Feb. WE desire that no Cessation of Arms or Peace in Ireland may be Treated upon or concluded without consent of both Houses of Parliament of England Another 19. Feb. WE desire to know whether any Peace or Cessation of Arms in Ireland be consented unto by His Majesty and for what time and whether any Commission be now on foot or other Authority given by His Majesty for that purpose The King's Commissioners Answer to both 20. February TO your Lordships sixth and seventh Papers delivered to us yesterday concerning any Peace or Cessation of Arms in Ireland your Lordships well know that long after the War begun in this Kingdom and the want of a Supply from hence that a Cessation hath been made with His Majesties consent and we conceive that the same expires in March next and we are confident there is no Peace made there But for the making a Peace or a farther Cessation we can give no farther Answer till we may know whether there may be a blessed Peace made in England since if the miserable Civil Wars shall continue in this Kingdom we cannot conceive it possible for His Majesty by Force to reduce the Kingdom of Ireland or to preserve His Protestant Subjects there without a Peace or Cessation Their Reply 20. Febr. WE conceive your Lordships have given
by Acts of Parliament for that War have been formerly diverted to other uses of which Money 100000 l. at one time was issued out for the payment of the Forces under the Earl of Essex And as to diverting the Forces provided for the reducing of Ireland though we conceived it ought not to be objected to His Majesty considering the Forces under the Command of the Lord Wharton raised for Ireland had been formerly diverted and imployd against Him in the War here in England yet it is evident they were not brought over till after the Cessation when they could no longer subsist there and that there was no present use for them and before those Forces brought over there was an attempt to bring the Scotish Forces in Ireland as likewise divers of the English Officers there into this Kingdom and since the Earl of Leven their General and divers Scotch Forces were actually brought over To the Allegations that many Persons of all sorts have forsaken the Kingdom rather than they would submit to that Cessation we know of none but it is manifest that divers who had left that Kingdom because they would have been famished if they had continued there since that Cessation have returned Touching the Committee sent into Ireland we have already answered they were not discountenanced by His Majesty in what they lawfully might do although they went without His Privity but conceive your Lordships will not insist that they should sit with the Privy-Council there and assume to themselves to advise and interpose as Privy-Councellors And we again deny the Subscriptions of the Officers of the Army was diverted by His Majesty and it is well known that some Officers apprehending upon some speeches that the drift in requiring Subscriptions was to engage the Army against His Majesty in detestation thereof upon those speeches rent the Book of Subscription in pieces For the diversion of the Moneys raised for that War if they had been since repaid the contrary whereof is credibly informed to His Majesty yet that present Diversion might be and we believe was a great means of the future Wants of that Kingdom which induced the Cessation As to the Lord Wharton's Commission we conceive we have already fully satisfied your Lordships the just Reasons thereof For the Letters whereof your Lordships had Copies we conceive that you being thereby satisfied of the Contents and that they came from the Lords Justices and Council there your Lordships need not doubt of the truth of the matter and for the Names of the single Persons subscribing we cannot conceive it is desired for any other purpose than to be made use of against such of them as should come into your Quarters you having not granted though desired that it shall not turn to their Prejudice if we should give in their Names Upon what hath been said it appears that His Majesties English Protestant Subjects in Ireland could not subsist without a Cessation and that the War there cannot be maintained or prosecuted to the subduing of the Rebels there during the continuance of this unnatural War here is evident to any man that shall consider that this Kingdom labouring in a War which imploys all the Force and Wealth at home cannot nor will spare considerable Supplies to send abroad or if it could yet whiles there are mutual Jealousies that there cannot be that concurrence in joynt Advices betwixt the King and the two Houses as will be necessary if that War be prosecuted and that His Majesty cannot condescend or your Lordships in reason expect His Majesty should by His Consent to Acts of Parliament for the managing of that War and raising moneys to that purpose put so great a Power into their hands who during these Troubles may if they will turn that Power against Him and it is apparent that the continuance of the War here must inevitably cause the continuance of the Miseries there and endanger the rending of that Kingdom from this Crown The Kings Commissioners other Paper 20. Feb. VVE do very much wonder that it doth not clearly appear to your Lordships that upon any difference between the Committees of both Kingdoms in the managing the War of Ireland in the manner proposed by your Lordships the War there must stand still or be dissolved for if the Ordinance of the 11th of April be by His Majesties Royal Assent made an Act of Parliament as your Lordships desire all the Forces of that Kingdom both British and Scotish are put under the absolute Command of the Earl of Leven the Scotish General and the managing the War committed wholly to the Committee of both Kingdoms without any reference to the two Houses of the Parliament of England by themselves so that whatsoever your Lordships say of your intentions that the the two Houses of Parliament here shall upon such difference manage the War which yet you say must be observing the Treaty of the 6th of August and the said Ordinance of the 11th of April it is very evident if that Ordinance should be made a Law the War must stand still or be dissolved upon difference of opinion between the Committee of both Kingdoms or else the Earl of Leven must carry on the War according to his discretion for he is in no degree bound to observe the Orders or Directions of the Houses of Parliament in England by themselves Neither doth the asking His Majesties Consent at all alter the Case from what we stated it to your Lordships in our Paper of the 20. of this Instant for we said then and we say still that if His Majesty should consent to what you propose He would devest himself of all his Royal Power in that Kingdom and reserve no Power or Authority in Himself over that War which is most necessary for His Kingly Office to do For your Lordships Expression when there shall be a Lieutenant of Ireland we presume your Lordships cannot but be informed that His Majesty hath made and we doubt not but you acknowledge he hath power to make the Lord Marquess of Ormond His Lieutenant of that Kingdom and who is very well able to manage and carry on that War in such manner as shall be thought necessary for the good of that Kingdom and there is no question but that the naming the Earl of Leven to be General to receive Orders only from the joynt Committee of both Kingdoms doth more take away the Power of the two Houses here than if he were a Native of this Kingdom and to obey the Orders of the two Houses And we conceive it evident that the giving the absolute Command of all Forces both British and Scotish to the Earl of Leven General of the Scotish Forces who is to manage the War according to the Directions of the joynt Committee of both Kingdoms doth not amount to less than to deliver the whole Kingdom of Ireland over into the hands of His Majesties Subjects of the Kingdom of Scotland and therefore we must ask
be satisfied in those particulars which so highly reflect upon his Majesty we desire your Lordships to receive the Answers which we shall prepare to those Papers in the Evening to morrow dated as of this night and we doubt not to give your Lordships clear satisfaction therein This desire was not granted nor any Paper delivered in Answer to it but soon after the Treaty broke off During the Twenty days Treaty upon Religion Militia and Ireland the particular passages whereof are before expressed some other passages did occur concerning His Majesties Propositions and particularly for a Cessation and touching His Majesties return to Westminster after disbanding of Armies and further time for continuing or renewing the Treaty which do here follow And first touching His Majesties Propositions the King's Commissioners delivered in this Paper the second day of the Treaty 1. February WE desire to know whether your Lordships have any Instructions concerning His Majesties Propositions for settling a safe and well-grounded Peace and if you have any touching the same we desire to have a sight of them Their Answer 1. February WE have not yet received Instructions concerning His Majesties Propositions and shall therefore acquaint the Lords and Commons assembled in the Parliament of England with the desires expressed in that Paper who having taken those Instructions into their consideration before our coming from them will send them to us in time convenient After upon the third of February His Majesties Commissioners delivered this Paper concerning His Majesties sixth Proposition for a Cessation of Arms. 3. February WE desire to know whether your Lordships have received any Instructions concerning that Proposition of His Majesties for a Cessation and if your Lordships have not received any that you will endeavour to procure Authority to Treat thereupon which we have power to do and conceive it very necessary that during the time we are endeavouring to establish a blessed and happy Peace the issues of Blood may be stopped in this miserable Kingdom and His Majesties oppressed and languishing Subjects have some earnest and prospect of the Peace we are endeavouring by God's blessing to procure for them To this no particular Answer was given The King's Commissioners Paper 10. Febr. HAving now spent three days severally upon each of your Lordships three Propositions concerning Religion the Militia and Ireland we desire to know whether your Lordships have received any Instructions concerning His Majesties Propositions that we may prepare our selves to Treat upon them when your Lordships shall think fit Their Answer 11. Febr. WE have received Instructions concerning His Majesties Propositions and when the Houses of Parliament shall be satisfied in the good Progress of the Treaty upon their Propositions concerning Religion the Militia and Ireland they will give time for the Treaty upon those Propositions sent by His Majesty But there was not any time given to Treat upon His Majesties Propositions Touching further time for continuing or reviving the Treaty and His Majesties Return to Westminster after disbanding these Papers were delivered The King's Commissioners Paper 14. Feb. WE have this day received Directions from His Majesty to move your Lordships that you will endeavour to procure an addition of time for this Treaty after the expiration of the days limited for the same upon the Reasons mentioned in His Majesties Letter which Letter we herewith deliver to your Lordships The Letter mentioned in the last Paper from His Majesty to His Commissioners is this RIght Trusty c. Having received from you a particular accompt of your proceedings in the Treaty and observing thereby how impossible it is within the days limited to give such full Answers to the three Propositions you are now upon as you might if upon Consideration had of the rest of the Propositions you could clearly see what fruit such Answers will produce in order to a blessed Peace for the present and the future good and Happiness of this Kingdom We have thought it fit to advise you that you propose and desire of the Commissioners with whom you Treat that they will procure such farther time to be allowed after the expiration of the Twenty days as may be sufficient for you upon a full understanding one of another upon the whole to make such a Conclusion that all our Subjects may reap the Benefit good men pray for Deliverance from these bloody Distractions and be united in Peace and Charity And if you think fit you may communicate this our Letter to them And so we bid you heartily farewell Given at Our Court at Oxford 13. Feb. 1644. By His Majesties Command George Digby To Our Right Trusty c. the Lords and others Our Commissioners for the Treaty at Uxbridge Their Answer 14. Feb. COncerning the Paper delivered by your Lordships for addition of time for the Treaty we can give no other Answer than that we will send Copies of His Majesties Letter and of the Paper unto the Houses of Parliament and after signification of their pleasure we will give further Answer Afterwards on the 18. of Feb. they delivered this Paper 18. Febr. YOur Lordships may please to take notice that in the twenty days appointed to Treat upon the Propositions concerning Religion Militia and Ireland the first Thursday and three Sundays are not to be included The King's Commissioners Paper 20. Febr. BY our Paper delivered to your Lordships the 14. of this Month we moved your Lordships to endeavour an addition of time for this Treaty after the expiration of the days limited for the same upon the Reasons mentioned in His Majesties Letter which Letter we then delivered to your Lordships whereunto your Lordships then returned Answer that you would send Copies of His Majesties Letter and of our Paper to the Houses of Parliament and after signification of their pleasure you would give farther Answer We now desire to know whether there may be an addition of time for this Treaty after the expiration of the days limited for the same upon the Reasons mentioned in His Majesties said Letter and what time may be added Their Answer 20. Feb. YOur Lordships Paper of the 14. of this Month for an addition of time for this Treaty together with His Majesties Letter concerning the same were sent by us to the Houses of Parliament who as we have already acquainted your Lordships have declared That if they shall be satisfied in the good progress of the Treaty upon the Propositions concerning Religion the Militia and Ireland they will give time for the Treaty upon the Propositions by His Majesty but farther then this have not as yet signified their pleasures unto us The King's Commissioners Paper 20. February HAving now spent 18. days with your Lordships in the Treaty upon Religion the Militia and Ireland and besides the present satisfaction we have given your Lordships in those particulars we having offered that further consideration and order be taken therein by His Majesty and the Two Houses of Parliament and
at Our Court at Tavestock the 8 th of September 1644. The Bill for Abolishing Episcopacy VVHereas the Government of the Church of England by Arch-bishops Bishops their Chancellors and Commissaries Deans Deans and Chapters Arch-deacons and other Ecclesiastical Officers depending upon the Hierarchy hath by long experience been found to be a great impediment to the perfect Reformation and growth of Religion and very prejudicial to the Civil State and Government of the Kingdom Be it therefore Enacted by the King 's most Excellent Majesty and the Lords and Commons in this present Parliament assembled and by the Authority of the same That from and after the fifth day of November in the year of our Lord One Thousand Six Hundred Forty and Three there shall be no Arch-bishop Bishop Chancellor or Commissary of any Arch-Bishop or Bishop nor any Dean Sub-dean Dean and Chapter or Arch deacon nor any Chancellor Chaunter Treasurer Sub-treasurer Succentor or Sacrist of any Cathedral or Collegiate Church nor any Prebendary Canon Canon-Residentiary Petty-Canon Vicar-Choral Choristers old Vicars or new Vicars of or within any Cathedral or Collegiate Church or any other their Officers within this Church of England or Dominion of Wales and that from and afrer the said fifth day of November the Name Title Dignity Jurisdiction Office and Function of Arch bishops Bishops their Chancellors and Commissaries Deans Sub-deans Deans and Chapters Arch-deacons Canons and Prebendaries and all Chaunters Chancellors Treasurers Sub-treasurers Succentors and Sacrists and all Vicars-Choral and Choristers old Vicars and new Vicars and every of them and likewise the having using or exercising of any Power Jurisdiction Office or Authority by reason or colour of any such Name Title Dignity Office or Function within this Realm of England or Dominion of Wales shall thenceforth cease determine and become absolutely void and shall be abolished out of this Realm and the Dominion of Wales any Usage Law or Statute to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding And that from and after the said fifth day of November no Person or Persons whatsoever by Virtue of any Letters-Patents Commission or other Authority derived from the King's Majesty His Heirs or Successors shall use or exercise any Jurisdiction Ecclesiastical within this Realm or Dominion of Wales but such and in such manner as shall be appointed and established by Act of Parliament And that all Counties Palatine Mannors Lordships Castles Granges Messuages Mills Lands Tenements Meadows Leasues Pastures Woods Rents Reversions Services Parks Annuities Franchises Liberties Priviledges Immunities Rights Rights of Action and of Entry Interests Titles of Entry Conditions Commons Courts-Leet and Courts-Baron and all other Possessions and Hereditaments whatsoever of what nature or quality soever they be or wheresoever they lie or be other than Impropriations Parsonages appropriate Tithes Oblations Obventions Pensions Portions of Tithes Parsonages Vicarages Churches Chappels Advowsons Nominations Collations Rights of Patronage and Presentation which now are or lately were of or belonging unto any Arch-bishop Bishop Arch-bishoprick or Bishoprick or any of them or which they or any of them held or injoyed in right of their said Arch-bishoprick or Bishoprick respectively shall by the Authority of Parliament be vested adjudged and deemed to be and shall be in the very real and actual possession and seisin of the King's Majesty His Heirs and Successors and He shall have hold possess and enjoy the same to Him His Heirs and Successors without any Entry or other Act whatsoever and that the King's Majesty His Heirs and Successors His and their Lessees Farmers and Tenants shall hold and enjoy the same discharged and acquitted of payment of Tithes as freely and in as large ample and beneficial means to all intents and purposes as any Arch-bishop or Bishop at any time or times within the space of two years last past held or enjoyed or of right ought to have held or enjoyed the same Provided nevertheless and be it enacted by the Authority aforesaid That all Leases Grants Gifts Letters-Patents Conveyances Assurances or Estates whatsoever hereafter to be made by the King's Majesty His Heirs or Successors of any the Mannors Lands Tenements Hereditaments which in or by this Act shall come or be limited or disposed of unto His Majesty His Heirs or Successors other than for the Term of One and Twenty years or Three Lives or some other Term of years determinable upon One Two or Three Lives and not above from the time as any such Lease or Grant shall be made or granted whereupon the accustomed yearly Rent or more shall be reserved and payable yearly during the said Term and whereof any former Lease is in being not to be expired surrendred or ended within three years after the making of any such new Lease shall be utterly void and of none effect to all intents constructions and purposes any clause or words of non obstante to be put in any such Patent Grant Conveyance or Assurance and any Law Usage Custom or any thing in this Act to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding And be it further Enacted and Ordained That all Impropriations Parsonages appropriate Tithes Oblations Obventions Portions of Tithes Parsonages Vicarages Churches Chappels Advowsons Nominations Collations Rights of Patronage and Presentation which now are or lately were belonging unto any Arch-bishop or Bishop Arch-bishoprick or Bishoprick and all Mannors Castles Lordships Granges Messuages Mills Lands Tenements Meadows Pastures Woods Rents Reversions Services Parsonages appropriate Tithes Oblations Obventions Pensions Portions of Tithes Parsonages Vicarages Churches Chappels Advowsons Nominations Rights of Patronage and Presentation Parks Annuities Franchises Liberties Priviledges Immunities Rights Rights of Action and of Entry Interests Titles of Entry Conditions Commons Courts-Leet and Courts-Baron and all other Possessions and Hereditaments whatsoever of what nature or quality soever they be or wheresoever they lie or be which now are or lately were of or belonging to any Sub-dean Dean Dean and Chapter Arch-deacon Chaunter Chancellor Treasurer Sub-treasurer Succentor Sacrist Prebendary Canon Canon-Residentiary Petty-Canon Vicars Choral Choristers old Vicars and new Vicars or any of them or any of the Officers of them or any of them which they held or enjoyed in right of their said Dignities Churches Corporations Offices or Places respectively shall by Authority of this present Parliament be vested adjudged and deemed to be and shall be in the very real and actual possession and seisin of Sir VVilliam Roberts Knight Thomas Atkins Sir John VVollaston John VVarner John Towes Aldermen of the City of London John Packer Esquire Peter Malbourne Esquire and they shall have hold possess and enjoy the same to them their Heirs and Assigns without any Entry or other Act whatsoever and that for themselves their Lessees Farmers and Tenants discharged and acquitted of payment of Tithes as freely and in as large ample and beneficial manner to all intents and purposes as any of the Persons or Corporations whose Offices or Places are taken away by this Act at
any time or times within the space of two years now last past held or enjoyed or of right ought to have held or enjoyed the same In trust and confidence nevertheless and to the intent and purpose that they the said Sir VVilliam Roberts Knight Thomas Atkins Sir John VVollaston John VVarner John Towes Aldermen of the City of London John Packer Esquire Peter Malbourne Esquire and the Survivors and Survivor of them his and their Heirs and Assigns shall satisfie and pay unto all and every Arch-bishop Bishop Dean Sub-dean Arch-deacon Chaunter Chancellor Treasurer Sub-treasurer Succentor Sacrist Prebendary Canon Canon-Residentiary Petty-Canon Vicars Choral Choristers old Vicars and new Vicars and other Officers and persons belonging unto or now imployed in or about the said Cathedral or Collegiate Churches such yearly Stipends and Pensions for so long time and in such manner as by the Lords and Commons in Parliament assembled shall be ordered directed and appointed and shall dispose of all and singular the aforesaid Mannors Lands Tithes Appropriations Advowsons Tenements Hereditaments and other the Premisses and of every part and parcel thereof and of the Revenues Rents Issues and Profits thereof to the uses intents and purposes above and hereafter expressed that is to say for a competent maintenance for the support of such a number of Preaching Ministers for the service of every Cathedral and Collegiate Church and His Majesties free Chappel of Windsor as by the Lords and Commons shall be ordered and appointed and likewise for the maintenance of Preaching Ministers throughout the Kingdom of England Dominion of VVales and Town of Barwick in such places where such maintenance is wanting and for a proportionable allowance for and towards the reparation of the said Cathedral and Collegiate Churches in such manner and form and to such persons and for such other good uses to the advancement of true Religion and the maintenance of Piety and Learning as by this or any other Act or Acts of Parliament now or hereafter to be made shall be set down or declared And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That all Leases Gifts Grants Conveyances Assurances and Estates whatsoever hereafter to be made by the said Sir VVilliam Roberts Knight Thomas Atkins Sir John VVollaston John VVarner John Towes Aldermen of the City of London John Packer Esquire Peter Mabourne Esquire the Survivors and Survivor of them or the greater part of them his and their Heirs and Assigns of any the Mannors Lands Tenements or Hereditaments which in or by this Act shall come or be limited or disposed of unto the said Sir VVilliam Roberts Knight Thomas Atkins Sir John VVollaston John VVarner John Towes Aldermen of the City of London John Packer Esquire Peter Malbourne Esquire other than for the Term of One and Twenty years or Three Lives or some other Term of years determinable upon One Two or Three Lives and not above from the time as any such Lease or Grant shall be made or granted whereupon the accustomed yearly Rent or more shall be reserved and payable yearly during the said Term whereof any former Lease is in being and not to be expired surrendred or ended within Three years after the making of such Lease shall be utterly void and of none effect to all intents constructions and purposes any thing in this Act to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding Provided nevertheless where no Lease hath been heretofore made nor any such Rent hath been reserved or payable of any the Lands Tenements or Hereditaments in this Act limited or disposed of unto the said Sir VVilliam Roberts Knight Thomas Atkins Sir John VVollaston John VVarner John Towes Aldermen of the City of London John Packer Esquire Peter Malbourne Esquire that in such case it shall be lawful for the said Sir William Roberts Knight Thomas Atkins Sir John Wollaston John Warner John Towes Aldermen of the City of London John Packer Esquire Peter Malbourne Esquire the Survivors and Survivor of them or the greater part of them his and their Heirs to make any Lease or Estate for the Term of One and Twenty years or Three Lives or some other Term of years determinable upon One Two or Three Lives and not above taking such Fine as they in their Judgments shall conceive indifferent and reserving a reasonable Rent not being under the Third part of the clear yearly value of the Lands Tenements or Hereditaments contained in such Lease And it is further Declared to be the true intent and meaning of this Act That all and every the Lessees Farmers and Tenants of all and every the said Persons and Corporations whose Offices or Places are taken away by this Statute now having holding or enjoying any Estate Term or Interest in possession by himself his under-Tenants or Assigns of or in any Mannors Lands Tenements Appropriations or other Hereditaments whatsoever shall and may be preferred in the taking and renewing of any Estates Leases or Grants of any such Mannors Lands Tenements or Hereditaments before any other Person the said Lessees Farmers or Tenants or other Parties interessed as aforesaid desiring the same and giving such Fines Rents and other considerations for the same as by the said Sir VVilliam Roberts Knight Thomas Atkins Sir John VVollaston John VVarner John Towes Aldermen of the City of London John Packer Peter Malbourne Esquires or the Survivors or Survivor of them or the major part of them his or their Heirs or Assigns shall be thought and held just and reasonable Provided also and be it enacted by the Authority aforesaid That all and singular Revenues Rents Issues Fees Profits Sums of Money and Allowances whatsoever as have heretofore been and now ought to be paid disposed or allowed unto or for the maintenance of any Grammar-School or Scholars or for or towards the Reparation of any Church Chappel High-way Causey Bridge School-house Alms-house or other charitable use payable by any the Corporations or Persons whose Offices or Places are taken away by this Act or which are chargeable upon or ought to issue out of or be paid for or in respect of the said Premisses or any of them shall be and continue to be paid disposed and allowed as they were and have been heretofore any thing in this present Act to the contrary thereof notwithstanding And to the intent and purpose the Parliament may be certainly and clearly informed of the Premisses to the end the same may be distributed applied and imployed to and for such pious and godly uses and purposes as is intended and herein declared Be it Ordained and Enacted That the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England for the time being shall by virtue of this Act have full Power and Authority and is hereby required to award and issue forth several Commissions under the Great Seal of England into all and every the Counties and Cities within the Kingdom of England and Dominion of VVales to be directed unto such and so many persons as by the
unto the Kingdom of England by the Kingdom of Scotland upon the first Monthly allowance which shall grow due to the Scotish Army from the time they shall make their first entrance into the Kingdom of England 7. That the Kingdom of Scotland to manifest their willingness to their utmost ability to be helpful to their Brethren of England in this common Cause will give the Publick Faith of the Kingdom of Scotland to be joyntly made use of with the Publick Faith of the Kingdom of England for the present taking up of Two hundred thousand Pounds sterling in the Kingdom of England or elsewhere for the speedy procuring of the said Hundred thousand Pounds sterling as aforesaid as also a considerable sum for the satisfying in good proportion the Arrears of the Scotish Army in Ireland 8. That no Cessation nor any Pacification or Agreement for Peace whatsoever shall be made by either Kingdom or the Armies of either Kingdom without the mutual Advice and Consent of both Kingdoms or their Committees in that behalf appointed who are to have full Power for the same in case the Houses of the Parliament of England or the Parliament or Convention of Estates of Scotland shall not sit 9. That the Publick Faith of the Kingdom of Scotland shall be given to their Brethren of England that neither their entrance into nor their continuance in the Kingdom of England shall be made use of to any other ends then are expressed in the Covenant and in the Articles of this Treaty and that all matters of difference that shall happen to arise between the Subjects of the two Nations shall be resolved and determined by the mutual Advice and Consent of both Kingdoms or by such Committees as for this purpose shall be by them appointed with the same Power as in the precedent Article 10. That in the same manner and upon the same conditions as the Kingdom of Scotland is now willing to aid and assist their Brethren of England the Kingdom of England doth oblige themselves to aid and assist the Kingdom of Scotland in the same or like cases of streights and extremities 11. Lastly it is agreed and concluded that during the time that the Scotish Army shall be imployed as aforesaid for the defence of the Kingdom of England there shall be fitted out as Men of War eight Ships whereof six shall be of Burthen betwixt One hundred and Twenty and two hundred Tun the other between three and four hundred Tun whereof two shall be in lieu of the two Ships appointed by the Irish Treaty all which shall be maintained at the charge of the Kingdom of England to be imployed for the defence of the Coast of Scotland under such Commanders as the Earl of Warwick for the time of his being Admiral shall nominate with the approbation of the Committees of both Kingdoms which Commanders shall receive from the said Earl general Instructions that they do from time to time observe the Directions of the Committees of both Kingdoms The Ordinance for calling the Assembly of Divines An Ordinance of the Lords and Commons in Parliament for the calling of an Assembly of Learned and Godly Divines and others to be consulted with by the Parliament for the settling of the Government and Liturgy of the Church of England and for vindicating and clearing of the Doctrine of the said Church from false Aspersions and Interpretations WHereas amongst the infinite Blessings of Almighty God upon this Nation none is or can be more dear unto us than the purity of our Religion and for that as yet many things remain in the Liturgy Discipline and Government of the Church which do necessarily require a further and more perfect Reformation than as yet hath been attained and whereas it hath been declared and resolved by the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament that the present Church-government by Arch-bishops Bishops their Chancellours Commissaries Deans Deans and Chapters Arch-deacons and other Ecclesiastical Officers depending upon the Hierarchy is evil and justly offensive and burthensom to the Kingdom a great impediment to Reformation and growth of Religion and very prejudicial to the State and Government of this Kingdom and that therefore they are resolved that the same shall be taken away and that such a Government shall be settled in the Church as may be most agreeable to Gods Holy Word and most apt to procure and preserve the Peace of the Church at home and nearer agreement with the Church of Scotland and other reformed Churches abroad and for the better effecting hereof and for the vindicating and clearing of the Doctrine of the Church of England from all false Calumnies and Aspersions it is thought fit and necessary to call an Assembly of Learned Godly and Judicious Divines who together with some Members of both the Houses of Parliament are to consult and advise of such matters and things touching the Premisses as shall be proposed unto them by both or either of the Houses of Parliament and to give their Advice and Counsel therein to both or either of the said Houses when and as often as they shall be thereunto required Be it therefore ordained by the Lords and Commons in this present Parliament assembled That all and every the Persons hereafter in this present Ordinance named that is to say Algernon Earl of Northumberland William Earl of Bedford Philip Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery William Earl of Salisbury Henry Earl of Holland Edward Earl of Manchester William Lord Viscount Say and Seal Edward Lord Viscount Conway Philip Lord VVharton Edward Lord Howard of Escr John Selden Esquire Francis Rous Esquire Edmund Prideaux Esquire Sir Henry Vane Knight senior John Glyn Esquire Recorder of London John VVhite Esquire Bulstrode VVhitelock Esquire Humphry Salway Esquire Mr. Serjeant VVild Oliver Saint-John Esquire His Majesties Sollicitor Sir Benjamin Rudyard Knight John Pym Esquire Sir John Clotworthy Knight John Maynard Esquire Sir Henry Vane Knight junior VVilliam Pierrepont Esquire William VVheeler Esquire Sir Thomas Barrington Knight VValter Young Esquire Sir John Evelin Knight Herbert Palmer of Ashwel Batchelor in Divinity Oliver Bowles of Sutton Batchelor in Divinity Henry VVilkinson of VVaddesdon Batchelor in Divinity Thomas Valentine of Chalfont-Giles Batchelor in Divinity Doctor VVilliam Twisse of Newbury VVilliam Raynor of Egham Master Hannibal Gammon of Maugan Mr. Jasper Hicks of Lawrick D. Joshua Hoyle late of Dublin in Ireland VVilliam Bridges of Yarmouth Thomas VVincop of Ellesworth Doctor in Divinity Thomas Goodwin of London Batchelor in Divinity John Ley of Budworth in Cheshire Thomas Case of London John Pyne of Bereferrers Master VVhidden of Mooreton D. Richard Love of Ekington D. VVilliam Gouge of Blackfriers London D. Ralph Brownrigge Bishop of Exceter D. Samuel Ward Master of Sidney Colledge John White of Dorchester Edward Peal of Compton Stephen Marshall of Finchingfield Batchelor in Divinity Obadiah Sedgewick of Cogshall Batchelor in Divinity M. Carter Peter Clark of Carnaby William Mew of Estington Batchelor in Divinity
agreed upon and every such Person or Persons so to be named shall have the like Power and Authority Freedom and acquital to all intents and purposes and also all such Wages and Allowances for the said service during the time of his or their Attendance as to any other of the said Persons in this Ordinance is by this Ordinance limited and appointed Provided always that this Ordinance or any thing therein contained shall not give unto the Persons aforesaid or any of them nor shall they in this Assembly assume to exercise any Jurisdiction Power or Authority Ecclesiastical whatsoever or any other Power than is herein particularly expressed The Votes or Orders delivered with it Die Mercurii 5. Julii 1643. ORdered by the Lords and Commons in Parliament assembled That it shall be propounded to the Assembly to morrow at their meeting to take into their Consideration the Ten first Articles of the 39. Articles of the Church of England to free and vindicate the Doctrine of them from all Aspersions and false Interpretations Jovis 6. Julii 1643. Some general Rules for the Assembly directed by the Lords and Commons in Parliament assembled 1. THat two Assessors be joyned to the Prolocutor to supply his place in case of Absence or Infirmity 2. Two Scribes to be appointed to set down all Proceedings and these to be Divines who are not Members of the Assembly viz. Mr. Henry Robrough and Mr. Adoniram Bifield 3. Every Member at his first entrance into the Assembly shall make a serious and solemn Protestation not to maintain any thing but what he believes to be Truth and to embrace Truth in sincerity when discovered to him 4. No Resolution to be given upon any Question on the same day wherein it is first Propounded 5. What any Man undertakes to prove as necessary he shall make good out of the Scriptures 6. No Man to proceed in any dispute after the Prolocutor hath enjoyned him silence unless the Assembly desire he may go on 7. No Man to be denied to enter his Dissent from the Assembly and his Reasons for it in any point after it hath first been debated in the Assembly and thence if the dissenting Party desire it to be sent to the Houses of Parliament by the Assembly not by any particular Man or Men in a private way when either House shall require it 8. All things agreed on and prepared for the Parliament to be openly read and allowed in the Assembly and then offered as the Judgement of the Assembly if the major part assent Provided that the Opinion of any Persons dissenting and the Reasons urged for it be annexed thereunto if the Dissenters require it together with the Solution if any were given in the Assembly to those Reasons Jovis 6. Julii 1643. I A. B. do seriously and solemnly in the presence of Almighty God that in this Assembly whereof I am a Member I will not maintain any thing in matters of Doctrine but what I think in my Conscience to be Truth or in point of Discipline but what I shall conceive to conduce most to the Glory of God and the good and Peace of his Church Veneris 15. Sept. 1643. ORdered by the Lords and Commons in Parliament assembled That it be referred to the Assembly of Divines to set forth a Declaration of the Reasons and Grounds that have induced the Assembly to give their Opinions that this Covenant may be taken in point of Conscience Eodem Die ORdered by the Lords and Commons in Parliament assembled That it be referred to the Committee formerly appointed to Treat with the Scotch Commissioners to Treat with them about the manner of taking the Covenant in both Kingdoms Mercurii 22. August 1643. ORdered by the Lords and Commons in Parliament assembled That it be propounded to the Assembly of Divines to consider of the Doctrine of the Nine next Articles of the 39 Articles of the Church of England to clear and vindicate the same from all Aspersions and false Interpretations The Articles of the sixth of August 1642. Articles of the Treaty concerning the Reducing of the Kingdom of Ireland to the Obedience of the Kings Majesty and Crown of England agreed upon between the Commissioners for Scotland authorized by his Majesty and the Parliament of that Kingdom and the Commissioners for England authorized by his Majesty and the Parliament of that Kingdom at Westminster the sixth day of August 1642. FIrst The Scotish Commissioners out of the sense of that Duty which the Kingdom of Scotland owes to His Majesty and the true Affection they bear towards the Kingdom of England being willing to contribute their best assistance for the speedy relief of those distressed parts in Ireland which lye nearest the Kingdom of Scotland have in the name of that Kingdom made offer of ten thousand Men to be imployed in that Service and for a further Testimony of their Zeal to His Majesties Service and Brotherly respect to the Kingdom of England have declared that the Kingdom of Scotland will upon their own Charge levy and transport these Men. Secondly Because the Kingdom of Scotland are to send over with their Army the number of Six thousand Muskets and Four thousand Pikes with such Cannon and Ammunition as shall be fitting for the service it is agreed that Four thousand Muskets and Two thousand Pikes shall be presently sent by the Kingdom of England into the Kingdom of Scotland and delivered at Leith as also that the residue of the said Ten thousand Arms and Ten thousand Swords and Belts shall be delivered there at the first of August next and that as many Cannon and Field-Pieces of the same Bore Weight and Metal shall be carried into Scotland upon their demand as they shall transport into Ireland for the service of that Kingdom and that the said whole Arms and Ammunition shall remain in Scotland until the return of the Scotish Army from Ireland at which time the same shall be restored to the Kingdom of England the Kingdom of Scotland receiving satisfaction for such of their Arms and Ammunition as shall be spent or lost in the service of Ireland As also that there shall be presently sent over from England and delivered to the Scotish Army in Ireland for the defence of the Province of Vlster six pieces of Demy-Cannon of the Ball of four and twenty pound weight with their Equipage Thirdly it is agreed That there shall be two Ships of War presently sent by the Kingdom of England to Lochryan Lamalach Port-Patrick or Air to guard and waft over the Scotish Soldiers and that the said Ships shall attend at the Ports in Ireland for serving the Scotish Army in going and returning betwixt the Coasts and keeping the Passages clear as they shall receive Orders from the chief Commanders of the Scotish Army for the time being according to Instructions received or to be received by the Master of these Ships from the Lord Admiral or Commissioners of the Admiralty for the time
being to that purpose Fourthly it is agreed That there shall be levied and furnished by the Kingdom of England Ten Troops of sufficient and well armed Horse-men consisting of sixty in a Troop besides the Officers and that there shall be a Commissary General a Serjeant-Major and a Quarter-master appointed over them which shall joyn and remain with the Body of the Scotish Foot and shall receive and obey the Orders and Instructions of the Commanders of the Scotish Army and that there shall be presently advanced the sum of Twelve hundred Pounds sterling for the levying of a Troop of one hundred Horsemen in Scotland besides the Officers to be a Guard to the General of the Scotish Army Fifthly it is agreed That the Commanders and Soldiers of the Scotish Army shall have such Pay respectively as the Commanders and Soldiers of the English Army have according to a List presently agreed upon by the Commissioners of both Kingdoms as also that the Officers of that Army shall have such allowance for their Wagons as is contained in the said List Sixthly it is agreed That the Towns and Castle of Carickfergus and Colrane shall be put into the hands of the Scotish Army to be places for their Magazines and Garrisons and to serve them for Retreat upon occasion and that the Magistrates and Inhabitants thereof shall be ordained to carry themselves to the Commanders of the said Army as is fitting and ordinary in such Cases and that the said Towns and Castle shall remain in the Scots hands until the War shall end or that they shall be discharged of that service Like as the Commissioners for the Kingdom of Scotland do promise in the Publick Faith of that Kingdom to re-deliver the said Towns and Castle to any having Commission from the King and Parliament of England as also the Commissioners for the Kingdom of England do promise in the name and on the Publick Faith of that Kingdom that Payment shall be made to the Kingdom of Scotland and their Army of all dues that shall arise upon this present Treaty and that when the Scotish Army imployed in the service of Ireland shall be discharged they shall be disbanded by Regiments and no lesser proportions and so many of them payed off as shall be disbanded and the residue kept in pay till they be disbanded Seventhly it is agreed That the Towns of Carick fergus and Colrane shall by the Kingdom of England be with all expedition provided with Victuals necessary for Soldiers either in Garrisons or Expeditions according to a List to be agreed on and subscribed by the Commissioners of both Kingdoms and that such quantities thereof as the Scotish Army shall have occasion to use shall be sold unto them and bought by them at the several Prices contained in the aforesaid List and also that the said Towns of Carickfergus and Colrane shall be provided by the Kingdom of England with Powder Ball Match and other Ammunition for the service of the said Army conform to the particular List to be condescended unto by both Commissioners and that Carts and Waggons shall be provided by the Kingdom of England for carrying of Ammunition for the use of the said Army in Marches as also that there shall be Gun-Smiths Carpenters and one or two Enginers appointed to attend the Army and that hand-Mills shall be provided to serve the Companies in Marches Eighthly it is agreed That the Kingdom of England shall deposite two thousand Pounds English Money in the hands of any to be appointed by the Scotish Commissioners to be disbursed upon accompt by warrant of the General of their Army upon Fortifications Intelligences and other Incidents so that there be not above the sum of two thousand Pounds in a year imprested upon these occasions without particular and special Warrant from the Parliament of England as also that there shall be deposited Two thousand and five hundred Pounds English to be disbursed upon Accompt for the providing of a thousand Horses for the Garriage of the Artillery the Baggage and Victual of their Army and for Dragooners upon occasion and likewise that the Scotish Army during the time of the War shall have power to take up such Horses in the Country as be necessary for the uses aforesaid Ninthly it is agreed That the Inhabitants of the Towns and Villages in the Province of Vlster and in any other Province of Ireland where the Scotish Army shall be by it self for the time shall receive Orders from the Scotish Commanders and shall bring in Victuals for Money in an orderly way as shall be directed by them with Provision of Oats Hay and Straw and such other Necessaries and that the Countrey People shall rise and concur with the Scotish Troops when the Commanders thereof shall find it for the good of the Service and shall receive Orders and Directions from the said Commanders of the Scotish Army Tenthly it is agreed That the said Ten thousand Men to be sent out of the Kingdom of Scotland shall go in the way and order of an Army under their own General and subaltern Officers and the Province of Vlster is appointed unto them wherein they shall first prosecute the War as in their Judgment they shall think most expedient for the Honour of the King and Crown of England and that the Commanders of the said Army shall have power to give Conditions to Towns Castles and Persons which shall render and submit themselves as shall be most expedient for the Service according to the course of War Provided no Toleration of the Popish Religion be granted nor any condition made touching or concerning any of the Rebels Lands and that the Commanders of the Scotish Army shall be answerable for their whole deportment and proceedings to His Majesty and the two Houses of the Parliament of England only but shall from time to time give an accompt thereof to His Majesty the two Houses of the Parliament of England and to the chief Governour or Governours of Ireland for the time being That such Towns and Places as shall be recovered from the Rebels by the Scotish Army shall be at the diposing of the Commanders thereof during their abode for that Service in those parts where such Towns and Places are And if it shall be found for the good of the Service that the Scotish Army shall joyn with the Kings Lieutenant of Ireland and his Army in that case the General of the Scotish Army shall only cede to the Kings Lieutenant of Ireland and receive in a free and honourable way Instructions from him or in his absence from the Lord Deputy or any other who shall have the chief Government of that Kingdom for the time by Authority derived from the Crown of England and shall precede all others and that he only shall give Orders to the Officers of his own Army and that the Armies shall have the right and left hand Van and Reare Charge and Retreat successively and shall not mix in
Quarterings nor Marchings and when it shall be found fit to send Troops out of either Army that the Persons to be sent out of the Scotish Army shall be commanded out by their own General the Lieutenant of Ireland prescribing the number which shall not exceed the fourth part of the whole Foot of the Scotish Army nor of the Horse appointed to joyn therewith whereunto they shall return when the Service is done And that no Officer of the Scotish Army shall be commanded by one of his own Quality and if the Commanders of the Troops so sent out of either Army be one of Quality that they command the Party by turns And it is nevertheless provided that the whole Scotish Army may be called out of the Province of Vlster and the Horses appointed to joyn with them by His Majesties Lieutenant of Ireland or other chief Governour or Governours of that Kingdom for the time being if he or they shall think fit before the Rebellion be totally suppressed therein Eleventhly it is agreed That the Scotish Army shall be entertained by the English for three Months from the twentieth of June last and so along after until they be discharged and that they shall have a Months Pay advanced when they are first mustered in Ireland and thereafter shall be duely paid from Month to Month and that there shall be one Muster-master appointed by the English Muster-master General to make strict and frequent Musters of the Scotish Army and that what Companies of Men shall be sent out of Scotland within the compass of the Ten thousand Men shall be paid upon their Musters in Ireland although they make not up compleat Regiments Twelfthly it is agreed That the Scotish Army shall receive their discharge from the King and Parliament of England or from such Persons as shall be appointed and authorized by His Majesty and both Houses of Parliament for that purpose and that there shall be a Months warning before-hand of their disbanding which said discharge and Months warning shall be made known by His Majesty and them to the Council of Scotland or the Lord Chancellor a Month before the discharging thereof and that the Common Souldiers of the Scotish at their dismission shall be allowed fourteen days Pay for carrying of them home Thirteenthly it is provided and agreed That at any time after the Three Months now agreed upon for the entertainment of the Scotish Army shall be expired and that the Two Houses of Parliament or such persons as shall be authorized by them shall give notice to the Council of Scotland or to the Lord Chancellor there that after one Month from such notice given the said Two Houses of Parliament will not pay the said Scotish Army now in Ireland any longer then the said Two Houses of Parliament shall not be obliged to pay the said Army any longer then during the said Month any thing in this Treaty contained to the contrary notwithstanding The Ordinances of the 9. of March and 11. of April Die Sabbati 9. Martii 1643-44 Resolved upon the Question by the Lords and Commons in Parliament assembled THat he who doth or shall command in chief over the said Army by joynt Advice of both Kingdoms shall also command the rest of the British Forces in Ireland and for the further managing of that War and prosecuting the Ends expressed in the Covenant that the same be done by joynt Advice with the Committees of both Kingdoms Die Jovis 11. April 1644. Resolved upon the Question by the Lords and Commons in Parliament assembled THat the Earl of Leven Lord General of the Scots Forces in Ireland being now by the Votes of both Houses agreed to be Commander in chief over all the Forces as well British as Scots according to the Fourth Article of the result of the Committees of both Kingdoms passed both Houses be desired with all convenient speed by the Advice of the said Committees to appoint and nominate a Commander in chief under his Excellency over the said Forces to reside with them upon the place Resolved c. THat Committees be nominated and appointed by the joynt Advice of both Kingdoms of such Numbers and Qualities as shall be by them agreed on to be sent with all convenient speed to reside with the said Forces and enabled with all ample Instructions by the joynt Advice of both Kingdoms for the Regulating of the said Forces and the better carrying on of that War The Letter of the Lords Justices and Council of Ireland to the Speaker of the House of Commons in England 4. April 1643. a Duplicate whereof the Original being sent to VVestminster was by them sent to Master Secretary Nicholas for His Majesty SIR OUR very good Lord the Lord Marquess of Ormond having in his March in his last Expedition consulted several times with the Commanders and Officers of the Army in a Council of War and so finding that subsistence could not be had abroad for the Men and Horses he had with him or for any considerable part of them it was resolved by them that his Lordship with those Forces should return hither which he did on the six and twentieth of March. In his return from Rosse which in the case our Forces stand he found so difficult to be taken in as although our Ordinance made a breach in their Walls it was found necessary to desert the Siege he was encountred by an Army of the Rebels consisting of about six thousand Foot and six hundred and fifty Horse well armed and horsed yet it pleased God so to disappoint their counsels and strength as with those small Forces which the Lord Marquess had with him being of fighting men about two thousand five hundred Foot and five hundred Horse not well armed and for the most part weakly horsed and those as well Men as Horses much weakned by lying in the Fields several Nights in much Cold and Rain and by want of Mans-meat and Horse-meat the Lord Marquess obtained a happy and glorious deliverance and Victory against those Rebels wherein were slain about three hundred of them and many of their Commanders and others of Quality and divers taken Prisoners and amongst those Prisoners Colonel Cullen a Native of this City who being a Colonel in France departed from thence and came hither to assist the Rebels and was Lieutenant-General of their Army in the Province of Leimster and the Rebels Army were totally routed and defeated and their Baggage and Munition seized on by His Majesties Forces who lodged that Night where they had gained the Victory and on our side about twenty slain in the fight and divers wounded We have great cause to praise God for magnifying his Goodness and Mercy to His Majesty and this His Kingdom so manifestly and indeed wonderfully in that Victory However the Joy due from us upon so happy an occasion is we confess mingled with very great Distraction here in the apprehension of our Unhappiness to be such as although the
contrary to our expectations that instead of being rewarded we have been prejudiced instead of getting a Fortune we have spent part of one and though we behave our selves never so well abroad and perform the actions of honest men yet we have the reward of Rogues and Rebels which is Misery and Want when we come home Now my Lords although we be brought to so great an exigence that we are ready to rob and spoil one another yet to prevent such outrages we thought it better to try all honest means for our subsistence before we take such indirect courses Therefore if your Lordships will be pleased to take us timely into your considerations before our urgent Wants make us desperate we will as we have done hitherto serve your Lordships readily and saithfully But if your Lordships will not find a way for our Preservations here we humbly desire we may have leave to go where we may have a better Being and if your Lordships shall refuse to grant that we must then take leave to have our recourse to that first and primary Law which God hath endued all men with we mean the Law of Nature which teacheth all men to preserve themselves The Letter of the Lords Justices and Council of Ireland to His MAJESTY of the 11. of May 1643. May it please your most Excellent Majesty AS soon as we Your Majesties Justices entred into the charge of this Government we took into our consideration at this Board the state of Your Army here which we find suffering under unspeakable Extremities of Want of all things necessary to the support of their Persons or maintenance of the War here being no Victuals Cloaths or other Provisions requisite towards their sustenance no Money to provide them of any thing they want no Arms in Your Majesties Stores to supply their many defective Arms not above Forty Barrels of Powder in Your Stores no strength of serviceable Horses being now left here and those few that are their Arms for the most part lost or unserviceable no Ships arrived here to guard the Coasts and consequently no security rendred to any that might on their private Adventures bring in Provisions of Victuals or other necessaries towards our subsistence and finally no visible means by Sea or Land of being able to preserve for You this Your Kingdom and to render deliverance from utter Destruction to the remnant of Your good Subjects yet left here We find that Your Majesties late Justices and this Board have often and fully by very many Letters advertised the Parliament in England of the extremities of Affairs here and besought Relief with all possible importunity which also have been fully represented to Your Majesty and to the Lord Lieutenant and Mr. Secretary Nicholas to be made known to Your Majesty and although the Winds have of late for many days and often formerly stood very fair for Accessions of Supply forth of England hither and that we have still with longing expectations hoped to find Provisions arrive here in some degree answerable to the Necessities of Your Affairs yet now to our unexpressible grief after full six months waiting and much longer patience and long suffering we find all our great Expectations answered in a mean and inconsiderable quantity of Provisions viz. threescore and fifteen Barrels of Butter and fourteen Tun of Cheese being but the fourth part of a small Vessels loading which was sent from London and arrived here on the fifth day of this month which is not above seven or eight days Provision for that part of the Army which lies in Dublin and the out-Garrisons thereof no Money or Victuals other than that inconsiderable proportion of Victual having arrived in this place as sent from the Parliament of England or from any other forth of England for the use of the Army since the beginning of November last We have by the Blessing of God been hitherto prosperous and successful in Your Majesties Affairs here and should be still hopeful by the mercy of God under the Royal Directions of Your Sacred Majesty to vindicate Your Majesties Honour and recover Your Rights here and take due Vengeance on these Traitors for the innocent Blood they have spilt if we might be strengthened and supported therein by needful Supplies forth of England but these Supplies having hitherto been expected to come from the Parliament of England on which if Your Majesty had not relied we are assured You would in Your high Wisdom have found out some other means to preserve this Your Kingdom and so great and apparent a failer having hapned therein and all the former and late long continuing Easterly Winds bringing us no other Provisions than those few Cheeses and Butter and no Advertisements being brought us of any future Supply to be so much as in the way hither whereby there might be any likelihood that considerable means of support for Your Majesties Army might arrive here in any reasonable time before we be totally swallowed up by the Rebels and Your Kingdom by them wrested from you we find our selves so disappointed of our hopes from the Parliament as must needs trench to the utter loss of the Kingdom if Your Majesty in Your high Wisdom ordain not some present means of preservation for us And considering that if now by occasion of that unhappy and unexpected failing of support from thence we shall be less successful in Your Services here against the Rebels than hitherto whilst we were enabled with some means to serve You we have been the shame and dishonour may in common construction of those that know not the inwards of the cause be imputed to us and not to the failings that disabled Us and considering principally and above all things the high and eminent trust of your Affairs here deposited with us by Your Sacred Majesty we may not forbear in discharge of our Duty thus freely and plainly to declare our humble apprehensions to the end Your Majesty thus truly understanding the terribleness of our Condition may find out some such means of support to preserve to Your Majesty and Your Royal Posterity this Your Ancient and Rightful Crown and Kingdom and derive Deliverance and Safety to the Remnant of Your good Subjects yet left here as in Your Excellent Judgment You shall find to be most for Your Honour and Advantage And so praying to the King of Kings to guide and direct You for the best in this high and important Cause and in all other Your Counsels and Actions we humbly remain from Your Majesties Castle of Dublin the 11 th Day of May 1643. Your Majesties most Loyal and most Faithful Subjects and Servants His MAJESTIES Answers to certain Papers delivered in to His Commissioners at Uxbridge upon the Close of the Treaty one concerning the Militia and two concerning Ireland To which being long and coming in so near the breaking up of the Treaty no Answers could then be given HAving received an account of the Passages of the late
Forces raised for that Kingdom under the Command of the Lord Wharton against Us at Edge-hill which they deny not they fall to recriminate Us. They say They have mentioned particulars of Provisions for Ireland besides those few Cloaths taken near Coventry which being formerly answered by Our Commissioners they do not again urge asserted to be seised not without Our own knowledge and directions as they were informed This they had formerly alledged and Our Commissioners had answered as We do now that they have instanced no particulars at all of any such Provisions seised And whereas they say that Our forbearance to seise some Provisions which Our Commissioners alledged in Our greatest Wants We forbore to take though they lay in Magazines within Our own Quarters but took order to send away into Ireland was no excuse for seising others they misapply that to be an excuse which was alledged as an evidence that We seised none since We might in Our great Want have seised those if We had been minded to have seised any They say again the Service of that Kingdom was much prejudiced by denying the Lord Wharton ' s Commission of which they have not received satisfaction To this it hath been already answered that those Forces were raised for him before any Commission demanded from Us and that the Commission for him proposed to Us was to have been independent of the Lieutenant of that Kingdom Causes though not satisfactory to them yet sufficient in themselves to justifie Our refusal But besides these it is apparent the Army which was brought down against Us was then raising that the Lord Wharton was one of the most active in it and We had cause to be confident nor did he fail Us therein that what Forces he should raise for Ireland he would imploy against Us in England neither did that Service depend upon the Lord Wharton other able Officers were appointed over those Forces whom if they had as much affected that Service as the Person of the Lord Wharton they might have trusted with the Transport of them to Ireland where others of more Experience and fitter for Conduct than the Lord Wharton might have taken the charge of them They say further That it was one end for which the Cessatian was made that the Forces might be brought hither to Vs out of Ireland and imployed against the two Houses The bleeding Necessities of the poor English there which have been mentioned and whereof they cannot but be convinced will best speak the cause of that Cessation and the sight of those Soldiers half starved when they came over having neither Cloaths to their Backs nor so much as Shoes to their Feet nor any Pay to provide either will witness the Necessity of bringing them over when there was no subsistance for them in Ireland nor use for them there during the Cessation And for making use of them here how can they quarrel at Our imploying Our own English Soldiers who should otherwise have disbanded when they make use of an Army of Scots against Us They have been told that they brought over out of Ireland the Earl of Leven their General and divers Scotish Officers which they deny not and that before the English Forces brought over they attempted the bringing once the Scotish Forces in Ireland as likewise divers English Officers there into this Kingdom to which all the Answer given is that the Scotish Forces which came over were not sent for Which as it denies not what is objected so neither can it excuse their not sending them back to the Service of Ireland and imploying them here in an unnatural Rebellion against Us. But whatsoever their own acts or failings have been in this business of Ireland and though apparently the Necessities which caused the Cessation were occasioned by the two Houses yet rather than they shall be guilty of the blame and neglect therein Our People must be made to believe that either there were no such Necessities or when that is so apparent then that those Necessities were designed and contrived by a Popish and Prelatical Party prevalent with Us and the Supplies denied and stopped by Our self and so that it is reasonable for them to press and insist as they do with much fervour in their last Paper concerning Ireland upon their Demands for the settling of the prosecution of the War in themselves or the Scots excluding Us and that there shall be no further Cessation or Peace made there though the War should continue here to have the nomination of the Lieutenant and all the great Officers there and to have Us bound up to assent to whatsoever Acts they shall propose for Moneys or other necessaries for the prosecution of that War and if We agree not to these Propositions We are like to be charged with countenancing of that bloody Rebellion And therefore though the unreasonableness of those Propositions hath been fully lay'd open by Our Commissioners in their Paper yet because this of theirs is framed in Answer to those and the fervency and fluency of their expressions may make impressions on those who do not warily weigh the matter We shall examine what new inforcements they bring to make good those Demands The prosecution of the War there though it be demanded generally in the 13. Proposition to be settled in both the Houses of the Parliament of England to be managed by the joynt Advice of both Kingdoms yet according to their seventeenth Proposition it is to be ordered according to the Ordinance of the 11. of April 1644. which is also proposed to be enacted By that Ordinance the Scotish General Leven is to command all the Forces in Ireland both English and Scotish and that War is to be managed by a joynt Committee to be named by the two Houses of England and the Estates of the Parliament of Scotland and the Committees of each Kingdom is to have a Negative Voice They insisting to have the prosecution of the War thus settled Our Commissioners answered That this was in effect to deliver the Kingdom of Ireland into the hands of Our Subjects of Scotland and neither agreeable to the Rules of Honour or Prudence That it was unreasonable if the War continued here that We by Our consent to Act of Parliament for the managing of that War and raising Moneys for that purpose should put so great Power into their hands who during these Troubles may turn that Power against Us. And lastly that if the Distractions continued here the Forces and Wealth of this Kingdom would be so imployed at home that the prosecution of that War to the subduing of the Rebels was impossible but probably might be destruction of the remainder of Our good Subjects For the Power given to Our Scotish Subjects in that Kingdom Our Commissioners urged That General Leven being to Command all the Forces in Ireland and the Committee of Scotland having a Negative Voice upon difference of Opinion that War must either stand still to the Ruine
We should wholly give up that Kingdom to be managed solely by their Counsels secluding Our selves from all Interest therein especially when We consider that which Experience hath taught Us if they have the sole Power of that War by which all the Soldiers and Commanders being to be nominated and pay'd removed and advanced by them the necessary application passing by Us must be made to such as are powerful with them how easie a matter it will be for a prevalent Faction if they shall have a mind to demand other things hereafter not fit to be granted again to bring over an Army raised and payed by them into this Kingdom especially so much composed of Our Scotish Subjects And whereas they desire further the nomination of the Lord Lieutenant and other great Officers and Judges in that Kingdom which they also desire in this of England they cannot but know that it must of necessity take away all dependency upon Us and application to Us when the power to reward those who are worthy of publick Trust shall be transferred to others and having neither force left Us to punish nor power to reward We shall be in effect a titular contemptible Prince We shall leave all Our Ministers to the known Laws of the Land to be tried and punished according to those Laws if they shall offend but We cannot consent to put so great a Trust and Power out of Us and VVe have just cause to conceive that notwithstanding all their specious pretences this desire of nomination of those great Officers is but a cloak to cover the Ambition of those who having been the Boutefeus of this Rebellion desire to advance themselves and their own Faction And to that which is said that Our bad choice of Our Lieutenants of Ireland was the loss of many thousand Lives 〈◊〉 and almost of the whole Kingdom from Our Obedience they cannot but witness who know that Kingdom that during the Government there by Lieutenants of Our Choice that Kingdom enjoyed more Plenty and Peace than it ever had since it was under subjection to the Crown of England Traffick by Sea and Trade by Land encreased values of Land improved Shipping multipâ—ied beyond belief never was the Protestant Religion more advanced nor the Protestant protected in greater security against the Papists And VVe must remember them that that Rebellion was begun when there was no Lieutenant there and when the Power and Government which had been formerly used in that Kingdom was questioned and disgraced when those in the Parliament there by whom that Rebellion was hatched were countenanced in their complaints and prosecution But they are not content to demand all the Power over Ireland and the nomination of all Officers but We must also engage Our self to pass such Acts as shall be presented to Vs for raising of Moneys and other necessaries for that War Our former readiness to pass Acts for Ireland because they were advised by the two Houses when they were apparently prejudicial to Our self and contrary to Our own Judgment might sufficiently satisfie them We would make no difficulty to consent to such Acts as should be for the good of that Kingdom but they have been already told it was unreasonable to make a general engagement before We saw the Acts whether reasonable or no and whether those other necessaries may not in truth comprehend what is not only unnecessary but very inconvenient But the People they say who have trusted them with their Purse will never begrudg what they make them lay out upon that occasion The two Houses indeed were entrusted that Our Subjects should not be charged without them but they never were solely trusted by Our Subjects with a Power to charge them the care that no pressure in that or any other kind should be upon Our Subjects is principally in Us without whose Consent notwithstanding the late contrary and unexampled practice no such Charge can or ought to be levied and We ought not to give that Consent but where it is visibly for the good of Our Kingdoms which upon such an unbounded power of raising Moneys may fall out otherwise especially in so unusual a case as this where those who must have the sole manage of the VVar shall have the sole command of the Purse without any check or controll upon them But they say again VVe have heretofore been possessed against the Parliament for not giving away the Money of the Subject when VVe had desired it but never yet did VVe restrain them from it It is true We had no great cause heretofore to restrain the two Houses from giving the Subjects Money to Us having found more difficulty to obtain from them three or four Subsidies than they have met with in raising so many Millions But Our People cannot think themselves well dealt with by Us if We shall consent to put an unlimited power of raising what Moneys they please in those Persons who have drained more wealth from them in four years than We believe all the Supplies given to the Crown in 400. years before have amounted unto In the last place We wish every man to consider how the Rebels in Ireland can be reduced by War whilst these unhappy Distractions continue here whilst contrary Forces and Armies are raised in most parts of this Kingdom and the blood of Our People is spilt like water upon the ground whilst the Kingdom is wasted by Soldiers and the People exhausted by maintaining them and as if this Kingdom were not sufficient to destroy it self whilst an Army of Scots is brought into the bowels of this Kingdom and maintained at the charge of it whilst this Kingdom labours under such a War how is it possible that a considerable supply of men or money can be sent into Ireland To this with much fervour of expression they say It must not depend upon the condition of Our other Kingdoms to revenge God's Quarrel upon such perfidious Enemies to the Gospel of Christ who have embrewed their hands in so much Protestant Blood that the Cessation is for their Advantage Arms and Ammunition and all manner of Commodities may be brought to them that it is not fit there be any Agreement of Peace or respite from Hostility with such creatures as are not fit to live more than with VVolves or Tigers or any ravenous Beasts destroyers of mankind VVe are most sensible of the blood and horror of that Rebellion and would be glad that either a Peace in this Kingdom or any other Expedient might furnish Us with means and power to do Justice upon it If this cannot be We must not desperately expose Our good Subjects to their Butchery without means or possibility of protection God will in His due time revenge His Own Quarrel in the mean time His Gospel gives Us leave in case of War to sit down and cast up the cost and estimate Our Power to go through with it and in such case where Prudence adviseth it is lawful to
propose conditions of Peace though the VVar otherwise might justly be pursued And surely as a Cessation in Ireland may be some advantage to the Rebels as all Cessations in their nature are to both parts they having thereby time and liberty to procure Arms and Ammunition to be brought to them so it is not only for the advantage but necessary preservation of Our good Subjects there whose bleeding Dangers call for Our bowels of Charity and Compassion by suspending the rage of the Adversary by this Cessation till means may be found to turn their hearts or to disable their Malice from pursuing their Cruelty to the utter Ruin of that Remainder of Our good Subjects there it being more acceptable to God and Man to preserve a few good men from destruction than to destroy a multitude though in the way of Justice and perhaps a Cessation may bring some of those Rebels to reflect upon their Offences and to return to their Duty all are not in the same degree of guilt all were not Authors of nor consenting to the Cruelties committed some were inforced to comply with or not resist their proceedings some were seduced upon a belief the Nation was designed to be eradicated and the VVar not against the Rebellion only but their Religion The VVar destroys all alike without distinction even innocent Children have suffered not by the Rebels only and all are not Tigers or Wolves there may be grounds of Mercy to some though no severity be excessive towards others However We cannot desire the destruction even of the worst of those Irish Rebels so much as We do the preservation of the poor English remaining there but should make choice rather to save the Rebels for preserving the lives of those poor Protestants than destroy them to ruine the Rebels And therefore exceeding strange it is to Us and We are sorry to find that any English men who have seen this their Native Country heretofore even in Our time flourishing beyond most of the Kingdoms and Churches in the world and now most hideous and deformed weltring in the blood of her own Children and if this VVar continue like to be a perpetual spectacle of Desolation should express that they desire War in Ireland as much as they do Peace here no more valuing the sparing of English blood here than they do the effusion of the blood of the Rebels in Ireland They say indeed they are willing to lay out their Estates and Lives both for the War in Ireland and Peace in this Kingdom but withal they say they have made Propositions for both if Our Commissioners would agree to them These are the Conditions they offer neither Peace is to be had here without agreeing to their Propositions nor that VVar in Ireland to be managed but according to those Propositions such Propositions as apparently tend to the ruine of the Church to the subversion of all Our Power to the setting up a new frame of popular Government to the destructioo of Our Loyal and true-hearted Subjects Propositions which associate Our Subjects of Scotland in their Counsels and Power and invest them in a great share of the Government and VVealth of this Kingdom and render both the VVealth and Power of Ireland to be at their command These Propositions they insist upon and for the obtaining these they are resolved to engage the Lives and Estates of Our poor People in this unnatural Rebellion But VVe trust God Almighty will open the Eyes and the Hearts of Our People not to assist them any longer against Us in the shedding innocent blood in this VVar. And VVe cast Our selves on Him waiting His good time for the restoring the Peace of Our Kingdoms and Our deliverance from these Troubles which at length VVe are assured He will give unto Us. MESSAGES PROPOSITIONS AND TREATIES FOR PEACE WITH DIVERS RESOLUTIONS AND DECLARATIONS THEREUPON MDCXLV VI. VII VIII His MAJESTIES Message to both Houses from Oxford December 5. 1645. For the Speaker of the House of Peers pro tempore CHARLES R. HIS Majesty being deeply sensible of the continuation of this bloody and unnatural War cannot think himself discharged of the Duty He owes to God or the Affection and regard He hath to the preservation of His People without the constant application of His earnest Endeavours to find some Expedient for the speedy ending of these unhappy Distractions if that may be doth therefore desire That a Safe-Conduct may be forthwith sent for the Duke of Richmond the Earl of Southampton John Ashburnham and Jeffrey Palmer Esquires and their Attendants with Coaches Horses and other Accommodations for their Journey to Westminster during their stay there and return when they shall think fit whom His Majesty intends to send to the Lords and Commons assembled in the Parliament of England at Westminster and the Commissioners of the Parliament of Scotland furnished with such Propositions as His Majesty is confident will be the foundation of a happy and well-grounded Peace Given at the Court at Oxford the fifth of December 1645. The Letter of the two Speakers For Sir Thomas Glemham Governour of Oxford SIR VVE have received your Letter of the 5 th of this instant December with His Majesties inclosed and have sent back your Trumpet by command of both Houses who will with all convenient speed return an Answer to His Majesty and rest Your Loving Friends Grey of VVark Speaker of the House of Peers pro tempore VVilliam Lenthal Speaker of the House of Commons His MAJESTIES Message to both Houses in pursuance of the former From Oxford Dec. 15. 1645. For the Speaker of the House of Peers pro tempore CHARLES R. HIS Majesty cannot but extreamly wonder that after so many expressions on your part of a deep and seeming sense of the Miseries of this afflicted Kingdom and of the Dangers incident to His Person during the continuance of this unnatural War your many great and so often repeated Protestations that the raising these Arms hath been only for the necessary defence of God's true Religion His Majesties Honour Safety and Prosperity the Peace Comfort and Security of His People you should delay a safe Conduct to the Persons mentioned in His Majesties Message of the fifth of this instant December which are to be sent unto you with Propositions for a well-grounded Peace a thing so far from having been at any time denied by His Majesty whensoever you have desired the same that He believes it hath been seldom if ever practised among the most avowed and professed Enemies much less from Subjects to their King But His Majesty is resolved that no Discouragements whatsoever shall make Him fail of His part in doing his uttermost endeavours to put an end to these Calamities which if not in time prevented must prove the ruin of this unhappy Nation and therefore doth once again desire that a safe Conduct may be forthwith sent for those Persons expressed in His former Message and doth therefore conjure you as you
two Kingdoms will be careful to maintain him in his Honour and in his just and lawful Rights which is the only way to make a happy Composure of these unnatural Divisions and likewise will think upon a solid way of conserving the Peace between the two Kingdoms for time to come and will take a speedy course for easing and quieting his afflicted People by satisfying the Publick Debts by disbanding of all Armies and whatsoever shall be judged conducible to that end that so all hinderances being removed he may return to his Parliament with mutual Comfort Southwell May 18. 1646. POST-SCIPT His Majesty being desirous to shun the further effusion of Blood and to evidence his real Intentions to Peace is willing that his Forces in and about Oxford be disbanded and the Fortifications of the City dismantled they receiving honourable Conditions VVhich being granted to the Town and Forces there his Majesty will give the like order to the rest of the Garrisons His MAJESTIES Letter to the City of London from Newcastle May 19. 1646. For Our right Trusty and well-beloved the Lord Maior Aldermen and Common-Council of Our City of London CHARLES R. RIght Trusty and VVell-beloved VVe greet you well Having expressed Our Resolution to the two Houses of Our Parliament of England and the Committee of Estates of Our Parliament of Scotland to give all just satisfaction to the joynt desires of both Kingdoms VVe have now likewise thought fit to assure the two chief Cities of both Our Kingdoms That nothing is more grievous to Us than the Trouble and Distractions of Our People and that nothing on Earth is more desired by Us than that in Religion and Peace with all the comfortable Fruits of both they may henceforth live under Us in all Godliness and Honesty And this Profession VVe make for no other end but that you may know immediately from Our Selves Our Integrity and full resolution to comply with Our Parliaments in every thing for settling Truth and Peace and Our desire to have all things speedily concluded which shall be found requisite for that end that Our Return to that Our Ancient City may be to the Satisfaction of Our Parliament the good liking of you and all Our good People and to Our own greater joy and comfort VVe bid you heartily farewell From Newcastle the 19 th of May 1646. His MAJESTIES Message to both Houses from Newcastle June 10. 1646. For the Speaker of the House of Peers pro tempore to be communicated to the two Houses of Parliament at Westminster and the Commissioners of the Parliament of Scotland CHARLES R. HIS Majesty looking with grief of heart upon the sad sufferings of his People in his three Kingdoms for some years past and being afflicted with their Distresses and unquiet condition through the Distractions about Religion the keeping of Forces on Foot in the Field and Garrisons the not satisfying of Publick Debts and the fears of the further effusion of Blood by the continuance of an unnatural VVar in any of these Kingdoms or by rending and dividing these Kingdoms so happily united and having sent a gracious Message unto both Houses of Parliament and the Commissioners of the Parliament of Scotland expressing the necessary Causes of his coming from Oxford unto the Scotish Army without any intention to make a division where he is in Freedom and right capacity to settle a true Peace and containing such Offers as he conceived would have been accepted with a general Clause of complying with their desires and being impatient of Delays and not acquainted with the particulars which may give contentment to them his Majesty doth earnestly desire That the Propositions of Peace so often promised and so much expected may be speedily sent unto him That upon consideration of them he may apply himself to give such satisfaction as may be the foundation of a firm Peace And for the better and more speedy attaining thereunto his Majesty doth further propound That he may come to London with Safety Freedom and Honour where he resolves to comply with his Houses of Parliament in every thing which may be most for the good of his Subjects and perfect what remains for settling both Kingdoms and People in a happy Condition being likewise most confident that they according to their re-iterated Declarations and solemn Protestations will be zealous in the maintenance of his Honour and just and lawful Rights And his Majesty desires the Houses of Parliament to disburthen the Kingdom of all Forces and Garrisons in their power except such as before these unhappy times have been maintained for the necessary defence and safety of this Kingdom So he is willing forthwith to disband all his Forces and Garrisons within the same as the inclosed Order herewith sent will evidence And if upon these Offers his Majesty shall have such satisfaction as he may be confident a firm Peace shall ensue thereon his Majesty will then give Order for his Son the Prince his present return Newcastle the 10th of June 1646. His MAJESTIES Letter to the Governours of His Garrisons from Newcastle June 10. 1646. To Our Trusty and VVell-beloved Sir Thomas Glenham Sir Thomas Tildesley Colonel H. Washington Col. Thomas Blagge Governours of Our Cities and Towns of Oxford Litchfield Worcester and Wallingford and all other Commanders of any Towns Castles and Forts in Our Kingdom of England CHARLES R. HAving resolved to comply with the desires of Our Parliament in every thing which may be for the good of Our Subjects and leave no means unassayed for removing all Differences amongst us therefore We have thought fit the more to evidence the reality of Our Intentions of settling a happy and firm Peace to require you upon honourable Terms to quit those Towns Castles and Forts intrusted to you by Us and to disband all the Forces under your several Commands Newcastle the tenth of June 1646. His MAJESTIES Letter to the Marquess of Ormond Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from Newcastle June 11. 1646. CHARLES R. RIght Trusty and entirely Beloved Cousin and Counsellor We greet you well Having long with much grief looked upon the sad Condition Our Kingdom of Ireland hath been in these divers years through the wicked and desperate Rebellion there and the bloody effects have ensued thereupon for the setling whereof We would have wholly applied Our selves if the Difference between Us and Our Subjects here had not diverted and withdrawn Us and not having been able by Force for that respect to reduce them We were necessitated for the present safety of Our Protestant Subjects there to give you Power and Authority to Treat with them upon such pious honourable and safe grounds as the good of that Our Kingdom did then require But for many Reasons too long for a Letter We think fit to require you to proceed no further in Treaty with the Rebels nor to engage Us upon any Conditions with them after sight hereof And having formerly found such real proofs of your ready
Obedience to Our Commands We doubt not of your care in this wherein Our Service and the good of Our Protestant Subjects in Ireland is so much concerned From Newcastle June 11. 1646. The Propositions of the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament for a safe and well-grounded Peace Sent to His Majesty at Newcastle by the Right Honourable the Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery the Earl of Suffolk Members of the House of Peers and Sir VValter Earle Sir John Hippesly Knights Robert Goodwyn Luke Robinson Esquires Members of the House of Commons Die Sabbathi 11. Julii 1646. The Propositions of the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament for a safe and well-grounded Peace May it please your Majesty WE the Lords and Commons assembled in the Parliament of England in the name and on the behalf of the Kingdoms of England and Ireland and the Commissioners of the Parliament of Scotland in the name and on the behalf of the Kingdom of Scotland do humbly present unto Your Majesty the humble Desires and Propositions for a safe and well-grounded Peace agreed upon by the Parliaments of both Kingdoms respectively unto which we do pray Your Majesties Assent and that they and all such Bills as shall be tendred to Your Majesty in pursuance of them or any of them may be Established and Enacted for Statutes and Acts of Parliament by Your Majesties Royal Assent in the Parliaments of both Kingdoms respectively I. WHereas both Houses of the Parliament of England have been necessitated to undertake a War in their just and lawful defence and afterwards both Kingdoms of England and Scotland joyned in solemn League and Covenant were engaged to prosecute the same That by Act of Parliament in each Kingdom respectively all Oaths Declarations and Proclamations heretofore had or hereafter to be had against both or either of the Houses of the Parliament of England the Parliament of the Kingdom of Scotland and the late Convention of Estates in Scotland or Committees flowing from the Parliament or Convention in Scotland or their Ordinances and Proceedings or against any for adhering unto them or for doing or executing any Office Place or Charge by any Authority derived from them and all Judgments Indictments Outlawries Attainders and Inquisitions in any the said Causes and all Grants thereupon made or had or to be made or had be declared null suppressed and forbidden And that this be publickly intimated in all Parish-Churches within His Majesties Dominions and all other places needful II. That His Majesty according to the laudable Example of His Royal Father of happy memory may be pleased to swear and sign the late solemn League and Covenant and that an Act of Parliament be passed in both Kingdoms respectively for enjoyning the taking thereof by all the Subjects of the Three Kingdoms and the Ordinances concerning the manner of taking the same in both Kingdoms be confirmed by Acts of Parliament respectively with such Penalties as by mutual advice of both Kingdoms shall be agreed upon III. That a Bill be passed for the utter abolishing and taking away of all Archbishops Bishops their Chancellors and Commissaries Deans and Sub-deans Deans and Chapters Archdeacons Canons and Prebendaries and all Chaunters Chancellors Treasurers Subtreasurers Succentors and Sacrists and all Vicars Choral and Choristers old Vicars and new Vicars of any Cathedral or Collegiate Church and all other their under Officers out of the Church of England and Dominion of Wales and out of the Church of Ireland with such Alterations concerning the Estates of Prelates as shall agree with the Articles of the late Treaty of the Date at Edenburg 29. November 1643. and joynt Declaration of both Kingdoms IV. That the Ordinances concerning the Calling and sitting of the Assembly of Divines be confirmed by Act of Parliament V. That Reformation of Religion according to the Covenant be settled by Act of Parliament in such manner as both Houses have agreed or shall agree upon after Consultation had with the Assembly of Divines VI. Forasmuch as both Kingdoms are mutually obliged by the same Covenant to endeavour the nearest Conjunction and Uniformity in matters of Religion that such Unity and Uniformity in Religion according to the Covenant as after Consultation had with the Divines of both Kingdoms now assembled is or shall be joyntly agreed upon by both Houses of Parliament of England and by the Church and Kingdom of Scotland be confirmed by Acts of Parliament of both Kingdoms respectively VII That for the more effectual disabling Jesuits Priests Papists and Popish Recusants from disturbing the State and deluding the Laws and for the better discovering and speedy conviction of Recusants an Oath be established by Act of Parliament to be administred to them wherein they shall abjure and renounce the Popes Supremacy the Doctrine of Transubstantiation Purgatory Worshipping of the Consecrated Host Crucifixes and Images and all other Popish Superstitions and Errors and refusing the said Oath being tendred in such manner as shall be appointed by the said Act to be a sufficient Conviction of Recusancy VIII An Act of Parliament for Education of the Children of Papists by Protestants in the Protestant Religion IX An Act for the true levy of the Penalties against them which Penalties to be levied and disposed in such manner as both Houses shall agree on wherein to be provided that His Majesty shall have no loss X. That an Act be passed in Parliament whereby the practices of Papists against the State may be prevented and the Laws against them duely executed and a stricter course taken to prevent the saying or hearing of Mass in the Court or any other part of this Kingdom XI The like for the Kingdom of Scotland concerning the four last preceding Propositions in such manner as the Estates of the Parliament there shall think fit XII That the King do give His Royal Assent to an Act for the due Observation of the Lords Day And to the Bill for the suppression of Innovations in Churches and Chappels in and about the Worship of God c. And for the better advancement of the Preaching of God's holy Word in all parts of this Kingdom And to the Bill against the enjoying of Pluralities of Benefices by Spiritual Persons and Non-Residency And to an Act to be framed and agreed upon by both Houses of Parliament for the reforming and regulating of both Universities of the Colledges of Westminster Winchester and Eaton And to such Act or Acts for raising of Moneys for the payment and satisfying of the Publick Debts and Damages of the Kingdom and other Publick uses as shall hereafter be agreed on by both Houses of Parliament and that if the King do not give His Assent thereunto then it being done by both Houses of Parliament the same shall be as valid to all Intents and Purposes as if the Royal Assent had been given thereunto The like for the Kingdom of Scotland And that His Majesty give assurance of His consenting in the
Parliament of Scotland to an Act acknowledging and ratifying the Acts of the Convention of Estates of Scotland called by the Council and Conservers of the Peace and the Commissioners of the Common Burthens and assembled the Two and Twentieth day of June 1643. and several times continued since and of the Parliament of the Kingdom since convened XIII That the Lords and Commons in the Parliament of England assembled shall during the space of twenty years from the first of July 1646. Arm Train and Discipline or cause to be Armed Trained and Disciplined all the Forces of the Kingdoms of England and Ireland and Dominion of Wales the Isles of Gernsey and Jersey and the Town of Barwick upon Tweed already raised both for Sea and Land-service and shall from time to time during the said space of twenty years raise levy arm train and discipline or cause to be raised levied armed trained and disciplined any other Forces for Land and Sea-service in the Kingdoms Dominions and Places aforesaid as in their judgments they shall from time to time during the said space of twenty years think fit and appoint and that neither the King His Heirs or Successors nor any other but such as shall Act by the Authority or Approbation of the said Lords and Commons shall during the said space of twenty years exercise any of the Powers aforesaid And the like for the Kingdom of Scotland if the Estates of the Parliament there shall think fit That Moneys be raised and levied for the maintenance and use of the said Forces for Land-service and of the Navy and Forces for Sea-service in such sort and by such ways and means as the said Lords and Commons shall from time to time during the said space of twenty years think fit and appoint and not otherwise That all the said Forces both for Land and Sea-service so raised or levied or to be raised or levied and also the Admiralty and Navy shall from time to time during the said space of twenty years be imployed managed ordered and disposed by the said Lords and Commons in such sort and by such ways and means as they shall think fit and appoint and not otherwise And the said Lords and Commons during the said space of twenty years shall have power 1. To suppress all Forces raised or to be raised without Authority and Consent of the said Lords and Commons to the disturbance of the publick Peace of the Kingdoms of England and Ireland and Dominion of Wales the Isles of Gernsey and Jersey and the Town of Barwick upon Tweed or any of them 2. To suppress any Foreign Forces who shall invade or endeavour to invade the Kingdoms of England and Ireland Dominion of Wales the Isles of Gernsey and Jersey and the Town of Barwick upon Tweed or any of them 3. To conjoyn such Forces of the Kingdom of England with the Forces of the Kingdom of Scotland as the said Lords and Commons shall from time to time during the said space of Twenty years judge fit and necessary to resist all Forreign Invasions and to suppress any Forces raised or to be raised against or within either of the said Kingdoms to the disturbance of the Publick Peace of the said Kingdoms or any of them by any Authority under the Great Seal or other Warrant whatsoever without Consent of the said Lords and Commons of the Parliament of England and the Parliament or the Estates of the Parliament of Scotland respectively and that no Forces of either Kingdom shall go into or continue in the other Kingdom without the Advice and Desire of the said Lords and Commons of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of the Kingdom of Scotland or such as shall be by them appointed for that purpose And that after the expiration of the said Twenty years neither the King His Heirs or Successors or any person or persons by colour or pretence of any Commission Power Deputation or Authority to be derived from the King His Heirs or Successors or any of them shall raise arm train discipline imploy order manage disband or dispose any of the Forces by Sea or Land of the Kingdoms of England and Ireland the Dominion of VVales Isles of Gernsey and Jersey and the Town of Barwick upon Tweed nor exercise any of the said Powers or Authorities in the precedent Articles mentioned and expressed to be during the said space of Twenty years in the said Lords and Commons nor do any Act or thing concerning the execution of the said Powers or Authorities or any of them without the Consent of the said Lords and Commons first had and obtained That after the expiration of the said Twenty years in all Cases wherein the Lords and Commons shall declare the Safety of the Kingdom to be concerned and shall thereupon pass any Bill or Bills for the raising arming training disciplining imploying managing ordering or disposing of the Forces by Sea or Land of the Kingdoms of England and Ireland the Dominion of Wales Isles of Gernsey and Jersey and the Town of Barwick upon Tweed or any part of the said Forces or concerning the Admiralty and Navy or concerning the levying of Moneys for the raising maintenance or use of the said Forces for Land-service or of the Navy and Forces for Sea-service or of any part of them and if that the Royal Assent to such Bill or Bills shall not be given in the House of Peers within such time after the passing thereof by both Houses of Parliament as the said Houses shall judge fit and convenient that then such Bill or Bills so passed by the said Lords and Commons as aforesaid and to which the Royal Assent shall not be given as is herein before expressed shall nevertheless after declaration of the said Lords and Commons made in that behalf have the force and strength of an Act or Acts of Parliament and shall be as valid to all intents and purposes as if the Royal Assent had been given thereunto Provided that nothing herein before contained shall extend to the taking away of the ordinary Legal power of Sheriffs Justices of Peace Maiors Bailifs Coroners Constables Headboroughs or other Officers of Justice not being military Officers concerning the Administration of Justice so as neither the said Sheriffs Justices of the Peace Maiors Bailiffs Coroners Constables Headboroughs and other Officers nor any of them do levy conduct imploy or command any Forces whatsoever by colour or pretence of any Commission of Array or extraordinary command from His Majesty His Heirs or Successors without the Consent of the said Lords and Commons And if any persons shall be gathered and assembled together in warlike manner or otherwise to the Number of Thirty persons and shall not forthwith disband themselves being required thereto by the said Lords and Commons or command from them or any by them especially authorized for that purpose then such person and persons not so disbanding themselves shall be guilty and incur the pains of High
other things under any Great Seal of England in any time heretofore were or have been and that for time to come the said Great Seal now remaining in custody of the said Commissioners continue and be used for the Great Seal of England and that all Grants Commissions Presentations Writs Process Proceedings and other things whatsoever passed under or by authority of any other Great Seal since the two and twentieth day of May Anno Dom. 1642. or hereafter to be passed be invalid and of no effect to all intents and purposes except such Writs Process and Commissions as being passed under any other Great Seal than the said Great Seal in the Custody of the Commissioners aforesaid on or after the said two and twentieth day of May and before the 28. day of November Anno Dom. 1643. were afterward proceeded upon returned into or put in ure in any the Kings Courts at VVestminster and except the Grant to Master Justice Bacon to be one of the Justices of the Kings Bench and except all Acts and Proceedings by virtue of any such Commissions of Gaol-delivery Assize and Nisi prius or Oyer and Terminer passed under any other Great Seal than the Seal aforesaid in custody of the said Commissioners before the first of October 1642. And that all Grants of Offices Lands Tenements or Hereditaments made or passed under the Great Seal of Ireland unto any Person or Persons Bodies Politick or Corporate since the Cessation made in Ireland the fifteenth day of September 1643. shall be null and void and that all Honours and Titles conferred upon any Person or Persons in the said Kingdom of Ireland since the said Cessation shall be null and void His MAJESTIES Answer to the Propositions of both Houses Newcastle Aug. 1. 1646. To the Speaker of the House of Peers pro tempore to be communicated to the two Houses of Parliament at Westminster CHARLES R. THE Propositions tendered to his Majesty by the Commissioners from the Lords and Commons assembled in the Parliament of England at VVestminster and the Commissioners of the Parliament of Scotland to which the Houses of Parliament have taken twice so many Months for deliberation as they have assigned Days for his Majesties Answer do import so great Alterations in Government both in the Church and Kingdom as it is very difficult to return a particular and positive Answer before a full Debate wherein these Propositions and the necessary Explanations true sense and Reasons thereof be rightly weighed and understood and that his Majesty upon a full view of the whole Propositions may know what is left as well as what is taken away and changed In all which he finds upon discourse with the said Commissioners that they are so bound up from any capacity either to give Reasons for the Demands they bring or to give ear to such Desires as his Majesty is to propound as it is impossible for him to give such a present judgment of and Answer to these Propositions whereby he can answer to God that a safe and well-grounded Peace will ensue which is evident to all the World can never be unless the just Power of the Crown as well as the Freedom and Propriety of the Subject with the just Liberty and Priviledges of the Parliament be likewise setled To which end his Majesty desires and proposeth to come to London or any of his Houses thereabouts upon the Publick Faith and security of the two Houses of Parliament and the Scotch Commissioners That he shall be there with Freedom Honour and Safety where by his Personal Presence he may not only raise a mutual Confidence betwixt him and his People but also have these Doubts cleared and these Difficulties explained unto him which he now conceives to be destructive to his just Regal Power if he shall give a full Consent to these Propositions as they now stand As likewise that he may make known to them such his reasonable Demands as he is most assured will be very much conducible to that Peace which all good men desire and pray for by the settling of Religion the just Priviledges of Parliament with the Freedom and Propriety of the Subject and his Majesty assures them that as he can never condescend unto what is absolutely destructive to that just Power which by the Laws of God and the Land he is born unto so he will chearfully grant and give his Assent unto all such Bills at the desire of his two Houses or reasonable Demands for Scotland which shall be really for the good and peace of his People not having regard to his own particular much less of any body 's else in respect of the Happiness of these Kingdoms Wherefore his Majesty conjures them as Christians as Subjects and as men who desire to leave a good name behind them that they will so receive and make use of this Answer that all issues of Blood may be stopped and these unhappy Distractions peaceably setled Newcastle August 1. 1646. POST-SCRIPT Upon assurance of a happy Agreement his Majesty will immediately send for the Prince his Son absolutely expecting his perfect Obedience to return into this Kingdom His MAJESTIES Message to both Houses from Newcastle Dec. 20. 1646. To the Speaker of the House of Peers pro tempore to be communicated to the Lords and Commons of the Parliament of England assembled at Westminster and to the Commissioners of the Parliament of Scotland at London CHALLES R. HIS Majesties thoughts being always sincerely bent to the Peace of his Kingdoms was and will be ever desirous to take all ways which might the most clearly make appear the Candor of his Intentions to his People and to this end could find no better way than to propose a Personal free Debate with his two Houses of Parliament upon all the present Differences yet finding very much against his expectations that this Offer was lay'd aside his Majesty bent all his thoughts to make his Intentions fully known by a particular Answer to the Propositions delivered to him in the name of both Kingdoms 24. July last But the more he endeavoured it he more plainly saw that any Answer he could make would be subject to misinformations and mis-constructions which upon his own Paraphrases and Explanations he is most confident will give so good satisfaction as would doubtless cause a happy and lasting Peace Lest therefore that good Intentions may produce ill Effects His Majesty again proposeth and desires again to come to London or any of his Houses thereabouts upon the Publick Faith and Security of his two Houses of Parliament and the Scotch Commissioners that he shall be there with Honour Freedom and Safety where by his Personal Presence he may not only raise a mutual Confidence betwixt him and his People but also have those Doubts cleared and those Difficulties explained to him without which he cannot but with the aforesaid mischievous Inconveniencies give a particular Answer to the Propositions and with which he doubts not but so
to manifest his real Intentions for the setling of Religion the just Priviledges of Parliament with the Freedom and Propriety of the Subject that it shall not be in the power of wicked and malicious men to hinder the establishing of that firm Peace which all honest men desire assuring them that as he will make no other Demands but such as he believes confidently to be just and much conducing to the Tranquility of his People so he will be most willing to condescend to them in whatsoever shall be really for their good and Happiness Not doubting likewise but you will also have a due regard to maintain the just Power of the Crown according to your many Protestations and Professions For certainly except King and People have reciprocal care each of other neither can be happy To conclude 'T is your KING Who desires to be heard the which if refused to a Subject by a King he would be thought a Tyrant for it and for that end which all men profess to desire Wherefore his Majesty conjures you as you desire to shew your selves really what you profess even as you are good Christians and Subjects that you will accept this his Offer which he is confident God will so bless that it will be the readiest means by which these Kingdoms may again become a comfort to their Friends and a terror to their Enemies Newcastle 20. Decemb. 1646. His MAJESTIES Quaeres to the Scots Commissioners upon Thursday the 14. of January 1646-7 IT is a received Opinion by many That Ingagements Acts or Promises of a restrained Person are neither valid nor obligatory How true or false this is I will not now dispute But I am sure if I be not free I am not fit to answer your or any Propositions Wherefore you should first resolve Me in what state I stand as in relation to Freedom before I can give you any other Answer The Reason of this My Question the Governour can best resolve you But if you object the loss of time and urgency of it certainly in one respect it presses none so much as My self which makes Me also think it necessary that I be not to seek what to do when this Garrison shall be surrendred up to demand of you in case I go into Scotland if I shall be there with Honour Freedom and Safety or how Being ready to give you a farther and more particular Answer how soon you shall have resolved these two Quaeres The Scots Commissioners Answer to His MAJESTIES Quaeres Thursday the 14. of Jan. 1646-47 I. TO the First In what state You stand as in relation to Freedom The Parliaments of both Your Kingdoms have given such Orders and Directions as they have thought fittest for the good and safety of Your Majesty and the Kingdoms to the General and Governour II. To Your Majesties Second Quaere of Your going into Scotland we shall humbly desire That we may not now be put to give any Answer But if Your Majesty shall either deny or delay Your Assent to the Propositions we are in that case to represent to Your Majesty the Resolutions of the Parliament of England His MAJESTIES Reply to the Scots Commissioners I Know very well That the General and Governour have received Orders concerning Me but the question is Into what state those Orders put Me as relating to Freedom To which you have either Power to Answer or not If you have then Answer Me otherwise send to those who can And so for my Second Quaere His MAJESTIES Message to both Houses in farther Answer to their Propositions From Holdenby May 12. 1647. For the Speaker of the Lords House pro tempore to be communicated to the Lords and Commons in the Parliament of England at Westminster and the Commissioners of the Parliament of Scotland CHARLES R. AS the daily expectation of the coming of the Propositions hath made his Majesty this long time to forbear giving his Answer unto them so the appearance of their sending being no more for any thing he can hear than it was at his first coming hither notwithstanding that the Earl of Lauderdale hath been at London above these Ten days whose not coming was said to be the onely stop hath caused his Majesty thus to anticipate their coming to him And yet considering his Condition that his Servants are denied access to him all but very few and those by appointment not his own election and that it is declared a Crime for any but the Commissioners or such who are particularly permitted by them to converse with his Majesty or that any Letters should be given to or received from him may he not truly say That he is not in case fit to make Concessions or give Answers since he is not master of those ordinary Actions which are the undoubted Rights of any free-born man how mean soever his Birth be And certainly he would still be silent as to this Subject until his Condition were much mended did he not prefer such a right understanding betwixt him and his Parliaments of both Kingdoms which may make a firm and lasting Peace in all his Dominions before any particular of his own or any earthly Blessing and therefore his Majesty hath diligently employed his utmost Endeavours for divers months past so to inform his Understanding and to satisfie his Conscience that he might be able to give such Answers to the Propositions as would be most agreeable to his Parliaments but he ingenuously professes that not withstanding all the pains that he hath taken therein the nature of some of them appears such unto him that without disclaiming that Reason which God hath given him to judge by for the good of him and his People and without putting the greatest violence upon his own Conscience he cannot give his Consent to all of them Yet his Majesty that it may appear to all the World how desirous he is to give full satisfaction hath thought fit hereby to express his readiness to grant what he may and his willingness to receive from them and that Personally if his two Houses at VVestminster shall approve thereof such further information in the rest as may best convince his Judgment and satisfie those Doubts which are not yet clear unto him desiring them also to consider That if his Majesty intended to wind himself out of these Troubles by indirect means were it not easie for him now readily to consent to what hath or shall be proposed unto him and afterwards chuse his time to break all alledging That forc'd Concessions are not to be kept Surely he might and not incur a hard Censure from some indifferent men But Maximes in this kind are not the Guides of his Majesties Actions for he freely and clearly avows that he holds it unlawful for any man and most base in a King to recede from his Promises for having been obtained by force or under restraint Wherefore his Majesty not onely rejecting those Acts which he esteems unworthy of him
Rumors spread and Informations given which may have induced many to believe that We intend to make War against Our Parliament We Profess before God and Declare to all the World That We always have and do abhor all such Designs and desire all Our Nobility and Commoners who are here upon the place to declare Whether they have not been Witnesses of Our frequent and earnest Declarations and Professions to this purpose whether they see any colour of Preparations or Counsels that might reasonably beget a belief of any such Design and whether they be not fully perswaded that We have no such intention but that all Our Endeavours according to Our many Professions tend to the firm and constant settlement of the true Protestant Religion the just Priviledges of Parliaments the Liberty of the Subject the Law Peace and Prosperity of this Kingdom MDCXLVII Aug. 1. The Heads of the Proposals agreed upon by his Excellency Sir THOMAS FAIRFAX and the Council of the Army to be tendred to the Commissioners of Parliament residing with the Army and with them to be treated on by the Commissioners of the Army Containing the particulars of their Desires in pursuance of their former Declarations and Papers in order to the clearing and securing of the Rights and Liberties of the Kingdom and the settling a just and lasting Peace To which are added some further particular Desires for the removing and redressing of divers present pressing Grievances being also comprized in or in necessary pursuance of their Former Representations and Papers appointed to be Treated upon I. THat the things hereafter proposed being provided for by this Parliament a certain period may by Act of Parliament be set for the ending of this Parliament such period to be within a year at most and in the same Act provision to be made for the succession and constitution of Parliaments in future as followeth 1. That Parliaments may Biennially be called and meet at a certain day with such provision for the certainty thereof as in the late Act was made for Triennial Parliaments and what further other provision shall be found needful by the Parliament to reduce it to more certainty And upon the passing of this the said Act for Triennial Parliaments to be repealed 2. Each Biennial Parliament to sit 120. days certain unless adjourned or dissolved sooner by their own Consent afterwards to be adjournable or dissolvable by the King and no Parliament to sit past 240. days from their first meeting or some other limited number of days now to be agreed on upon the expiration whereof each Parliament to dissolve of course if not otherwise dissolved sooner 3. The King upon Advice of the Council of State in the Intervals betwixt Biennial Parliaments to call a Parliament extraordinary provided it meet above seventy days before the next Biennial day and be dissolved at least sixty days before the same so as the course of Biennial Elections may never be interrupted 4. That this Parliament and each succeeding Biennial Parliament at or before adjournment or dissolution thereof may appoint Committees to continue during the Interval for such purposes as are in any of these Proposals referr'd to such Committees 5. That the Elections of the Commons for succeeding Parliaments may be distributed to all Counties or other parts or divisions of the Kingdom according to some Rule of equality or proportion so as all Counties may have a number of Parliament-Members allowed to their choice proportionable to the respective Rates they bear in the common Charges and burthens of the Kingdom according to some other Rule of equality or proportion to render the House of Commons as near as may be an equal Representative of the whole and in order thereunto that a present consideration be had to take off the Elections of Burgesses for poor decayed or inconsiderable Towns and to give some present addition to the number of Parliament-Members for great Counties that have now less than their due proportion to bring all at present as near as may be to such a Rule of proportion as aforesaid 6. That effectual provision be made for future freedom of Elections and certainty of due Returns 7. That the House of Commons alone have the power from time to time to set down further Orders and Rules for the Ends expressed in the Two last preceding Articles so as to reduce the Elections of Members for that House to more and more perfection of Equality in the distribution Freedom in the Election Order in the proceeding thereto and Certainty in the Returns which Orders and Rules in that case to be as Laws 8. That there be a Liberty for entring Dissents in the House of Commons with provision that no Member be censurable for ought said or voted in the House further than to exclusion from that Trust and that onely by the judgment of the House it self 9. That the Judicial Power or power of final Judgment in the Lords and Commons and their power of Exposition and Application of Law without further Appeal may be cleared and that no Officer of Justice Minister of State or other person adjudged by them may be capable of Protection or Pardon from the King without their Advice and Consent 10. That the Right and Liberty of the Commons of England may be cleared and vindicated as to a due Exemption from any Judgment Trial or other Proceeding against them by the House of Peers without the concurring Judgment of the House of Commons as also from any other Judgment Sentence or Proceeding against them other than by their Equals or according to the Law of the Land 11. The same Act to provide that Grand-Jury-men may be chosen by and for several parts or divisions of each County respectively in some equal way and not remain as now at the discretion of an Under-Sheriff to be put on or off and that such Grand-Jury-men for their respective Counties may at each Assize present the Names of persons to be made Justices of Peace from time to time as the County hath need for any to be added to the Commission and at the Summer-Assize to present the Names of Three Persons out of whom the King may prick one to be Sheriff for the next year II. For the future security to Parliaments and the Militia in general in order thereunto that it be provided by Act of Parliament 1. That the power of the Militia by Sea and Land during the space of Ten years next ensuing shall be ordered and disposed by the Lords and Commons assembled and to be assembled in the Parliament or Parliaments of England or by such persons as they shall nominate and appoint for that purpose from time to time during the said space 2. That the said power shall not be ordered disposed or exercised by the King's Majesty that now is or by any person or persons by any Authority derived from Him during the said space or at any time hereafter by His said Majesty without the Advice
and Consent of the said Lords and Commons or of such Committees or Council in the Intervals of Parliament as they shall appoint 3. That during the same space of ten years the said Lords and Commons may by Bill or Ordinance raise and dispose of what Moneys and for what Forces they shall from time to time find necessary as also for payment of the Publick Debts and Damages and for all other the Publick uses of the Kingdom 4. And to the end the temporary Security intended by the three particulars last precedent may be the better assured it may therefore be provided That no Subjects that have been in Hostility against the Parliament in the late War shall be capable of bearing any Office of Power or publick Trust in the Commonwealth during the space of five years without Consent of Parliament or of the Council of State or to sit as Members or Assistants of either House of Parliament until the second Biennial Parliament be past III. For the present form of disposing the Militia in order to the Peace and Safety of this Kingdom and the Service of Ireland 1. That there be Commissioners for the Admiralty a Vice-Admiral and Rere-Admiral now to be agreed on with power for the forming regulating appointing of Officers and providing for the Navy and for ordering the same to and in the ordinary Service of the Kingdom and that there be a sufficient provision and establishment for Pay and maintenance thereof 2. That there be a General for Command of the Land-Forces that are to be in pay both in England Ireland and Wales both for Field and Garrison 3. That there be Commissioners in the several Counties for the standing Militia of the respective Counties consisting of Trained Bands and Auxiliaries not in pay with power for the proportioning forming regulating training and disciplining of them 4. That there be a Council of State with power to superintend and direct the several and particular powers of the Militia last mentioned for the Peace and Safety of this Kingdom and of Ireland 5. That the same Council may have power as the King 's Privy Council for and in all Forreign Negotiations provided That the making of War or Peace with any other Kingdom or State shall not be without the Advice and Consent of Parliament 6. That the said power of the Council of State be put into the hands of trusty and able persons now to be agreed on and the same persons to continue in that power si bene se gesserint for a certain Term not exceeding seven years 7. That there be a sufficient establishment now provided for the Salary Forces both in England and Ireland the establishment to continue until two Months after the meeting of the first Biennial Parliament IV. That an Act be passed for disposing the great Offices for ten years by the Lords and Commons in Parliament or by such Committees as they shall appoint for that purpose in the Intervals with submission to the Approbation of the next Parliament and after ten years they to nominate three and the King out of that number to appoint one for the succession upon any vacancy V. That an Act be passed for restraining of any Peers made since the 21. day of May 1642. or to be hereafter made from having any power to sit or vote in Parliament without Consent of both Houses VI. That an Act be passed for recalling and making void all Declarations and other Proceedings against the Parliament or against any that have acted by or under their Authority in the late War or in relation to it and that the Ordinances for Indemnity may be confirmed VII That an Act be passed for making void all Grants c. under the Great Seal that was conveyed away from the Parliament since the time that it was so conveyed away except as in the Parliaments Propositions and for making those valid that have been or shall be passed under the Great Seal made by the Authority of both Houses of Parliament VIII That an Act be passed for Confirmation of the Treaties between the two Kingdoms of England and Scotland and for appointing Conservators of the Peace betwixt them IX That the Ordinance for taking away the Court of Wards and Liveries be confirmed by Act of Parliament Provided His Majesties Revenue be not damnified therein nor those that last held Offices in the same left without reparation some other way X. An Act to declare void the Cessation of Ireland c. and to leave the prosecution of that War to the Lords and Commons in the Parliament of England XI An Act to be passed to take away all Coercive Power Authority and Jurisdiction of Bishops and all other Ecclesiastical Officers whatsoever extending to any Civil Penalties upon any and to repeal all Laws whereby the Civil Magistracy hath been or is bound upon any Ecclesiastical Censure to proceed ex officio unto any Civil Penalties against any persons so censured XII That there be a repeal of all Acts or Clauses in any Act enjoyning the use of the Book of Common Prayer and imposing any Penalties for neglect thereof as also of all Acts or Clauses in any Act imposing any penalty for not coming to Church or for Meetings elsewhere for Prayer or other Religious Duties Exercises or Ordinances and some other provision to be made for discovering of Papists and Popish Recusants and for disabling of them and of all Jusuites or Priests from disturbing the State XIII That the taking of the Covenant be not enforced upon any nor any penalties imposed upon the Refusors whereby men might be constrained to take it against their Judgments or Consciences but all Orders or Ordinances tending to that purpose to be repealed XIV That the things here before proposed being provided for settling and securing the Rights Liberties Peace and Safety of the Kingdom His Majesties Person His Queen and Royal Issue may be restored to a Condition of Safety Honour and Freedom in this Nation without diminution to their Personal Rights or further Limitation to the Exercise of the Regal Power than according to the particulars aforegoing XV. For the matter of Compositions 1. That a less number out of the Persons excepted in the two first Qualifications not exceeding five for the English being nominated particularly by the Parliament who together with the persons in the Irish Rebellion included in the third Qualification may be reserved to the future Judgment of the Parliament as they shall find cause all other excepted persons may be remitted from the Exception and admitted to Composition 2. That the Rates for all future Compositions may be lessened and limitted not to exceed the several proportions hereafter exprest respectively That is to say 1. For all persons formerly excepted not above a third part 2. For the late Members of Parliament under the first Branch of the fourth Qualification in the Propositions a fourth part 3. For other Members of Parliament in the second and third Branches of the
Table at Hampton-Court Nov. 11. 1647. CHALLES R. LIberty being that which in all Times hath been but especially now is the common Theme and Desire of all men common Reason shews That Kings less then any should endure Captivity And yet I call God and the World to Witness with what Patience I have endured a tedious Restraint which so long as I had any hopes that this sort of My Suffering might conduce to the Peace of My Kingdoms or the hindring of more effusion of Blood I did willingly undergoe But now finding by two certain proofs that this My continued Patience would not only turn to My Personal Ruine but likewise be of much more prejudice then furtherance to the Publick Good I thought I was bound as well by Natural as Political Obligations to seek my Safety by Retiring My self for some time from the publick View both of My Friends and Enemies And I appeal to all indifferent men to judge if I have not just cause to free My self from the hands of those who change their Principles with their Condition and who are not ashamed openly to intend the Destruction of the Nobility by taking away their Negative Voice and with whom the Levellers Doctrine is rather countenanced then punished and as for their intentions to My Person their changing and putting more strict Guards upon Me with the discharging most of all those Servants of Mine who formerly they willingly admitetd to wait upon Me does sufficiently declare Nor would I have this My Retirement misinterpreted for I shall earnestly and uncessantly endeavour the setling of a safe and well-grounded Peace where-ever I am or shall be and that as much as may be without the effusion of more Christian Blood for which how many times have I desired prest to be heard and yet no ear given to Me and can any Reasonable man think that according to the ordinary course of affairs there can be a setled Peace without it or that God will bless those who refuse to hear their own King Surely no. Nay I must further add that besides what concerns My self unless all other chief Interests have not only a hearing but likewise just satisfaction given unto them to wit the Presbyterians Independants Army those who have adhered to Me and even the Scots I say there cannot I speak not of Miracles it being in My Opinion a sinful presumption in such cases to expect or trust to them be a safe or lasting Peace Now as I cannot deny but My Personal Security is the urgent cause of this My Retirement so I take God to witness that the Publick Peace is no less before My Eyes and I can find no better way to express this My Profession I know not what a wiser man may do then by desiring and urging that all chief Interests may be heard to the end each may have just Satisfaction As for example the Army for the rest though necessary yet I suppose are not difficult to content ought in My Judgment to enjoy the Liberty of their Consciences have an Act of Oblivion or Indemnity which should extend to all the rest of My Subjects and that all their Arrears should be speedily and duly paid which I will undertake to do so I may be heard and that I be not hindred from using such Lawful and honest means as I shall chuse To conclude let Me be heard with Freedom Honour and Safety and I shall instantly break through this Cloud of Retirement and shew My self really to be Pater Patriae Hampton-Court 11. Novemb. 1647. His MAJESTIES Message to both Houses with Propositions Novemb. 17. 1647. For the Speaker of the Lords House pro tempore to be communicated to the Lords and Commons in the Parliament of England at Westminster and the Commissioners of the Parliament of Scotland CHARLES R. HIS Majesty is confident that before this time his two Houses of Parliament have received the Message which he left behind him at Hampton-Court the eleventh of this Month by which they will have understood the Reasons which enforced him to go from thence as likewise his constant endeavours for the setling of a safe and well-grounded Peace wheresoever he should be And being now in a place where he conceives himself to be at much more Freedom and Security then formerly he thinks it necessary not only for making good of his own Professions but also for the speedy procuring of a Peace in these languishing and distressed Kingdoms at this time to offer such grounds to his two Houses for that effect which upon due examination of all Interests may best conduce thereunto And because Religion is the best and chiefest foundation of Peace His Majesty will begin with that particular That for the abolishing Arch-bishops Bishops c. His Majesty cleary professeth that he cannot give his consent thereunto both in relation as he is a Christian and a King For the first he avows that he is satisfied in his Judgment that this Order was placed in the Church by the Apostles themselves and ever since their time hath continued in all Christian Churches throughout the World until this last Century of years and in this Church in all times of Change and Reformation it hath been upheld by the Wisdom of his Ancestors as the great preserver of Doctrine Discipline and Order in the Service of God As a King at his Coronation he hath not only taken a solemn Oath to maintain this Order but his Majesty and his Predecessors in their confirmations of the Great Charter have inseparably woven the Right of the Church into the Liberties of the rest of their Subjects And yet he is willing it be provided that the particular Bishops perform the several Duties of their Callings both by their personal Residence and frequent Preachings in their Dioceses as also that they exercise no Act of Jurisdiction or Ordination without the consent of their Presbyters and will consent that their Powers in all things be so limited that they be not grievous to tender Consciences Wherefore since his Majesty is willing to give ease to the Consciences of others he sees no reason why he alone and those of his Judgment should be pressed to a violation of theirs Nor can his Majesty consent to the Alienation of Church-Lands because it cannot be denied to be a sin of the highest Sacriledge as also that it subverts the intentions of so many pious Donors who have laid a heavy Curse upon all such profane violations which his Majesty is very unwilling to undergoe and besides the matter of Conscience His Majesty believes it to be a prejudice to the Publick good many of his Subjects having the benefit of renewing Leases at much easier Rates then if those Possessions were in the hands of private men not omitting the discouragement which it will be to all Learning and Industry when such eminent rewards shall be taken away which now lye open to the Children of meanest Persons Yet his Majesty considering the great present
perfecting of these Concessions as also for such other things as may be proposed by the two Houses and for such just and reasonable demands as his Majesty shall find necessary to propose on his part he earnestly desires a Personal Treaty at London with his two Houses in Honour Freedom and Safety it being in his Judgment the most proper and indeed only means to a firm and settled Peace and impossible without it to reconcile former or to avoid future misunderstandings All these things being by Treaty perfected his Majesty believes his two Houses will think it reasonable that the Proposals of the Army concerning the Succession of Parliaments and their due Elections should be taken into consideration As for what concerns the Kingdom of Scotland his Majesty will very readily apply himself to give all reasonable satisfaction when the Desires of the two Houses of Parliament on their behalf or of the Commissioners of that Kingdom or of both joyned together shall be made known unto him From the Isle of Wight Novemb. 17. 1647. His MAJESTIES Declaration at the Isle of VVight Novemb. 19. 1647. CHARLES R. HIS Majesty doth declare That he came from Hampton-Court for no other cause but for the preservation of His Person which was as He apprehended in such danger that He could not with Safety continue longer there That if He could have been there with Safety He would not have departed thence nor from the Army And that He chose this place rather than any other when He was at liberty to have gone whither He pleased that He might still continue under the protection of the Army Colonel Hammond being a Member thereof and that He might have conveniency of free intercourse between Himself and the Parliament for the settlement of a general Peace to which He professes a very great inclination and desire and that there shall be nothing wanting on His part that may be reasonably expected from Him And His Majesty doth further Declare That in case these Gentlemen be taken from Him and punished as evil doers for counselling Him not to go out of the Kingdom but rather to come to the place where He now is for the ends aforesaid and for their endeavouring accordingly in attending Him hither He cannot but Himself expect to be dealt with accordingly His case being the same Carisbrooke Castle Novemb. 19. 1647. His MAJESTIES Letter to Sir THOMAS FAIRFAX from Carisbrooke Novemb. 26. 1647. For Sir Thomas Fairfax General CHARLES R. HAving left Order at Our remove from Hampton-Court that a Copy should be given you of what We had then written to both Houses of Parliament touching the causes of Our withdrawing and the continuance of Our Resolutions to improve every occasion of the satisfaction of all chief Interests that so a happy Peace may be settled in Our Dominions in pursuance whereof We have lately sent a Message to both Houses from this place and a Copy of it to you and being desirous in order to that blessed Work to give you Our present sense upon the condition of Affairs as they now stand We have thought fit to appoint Sir John Barkley to repair unto you and to communicate the same to you and We shall be glad by him to receive a mutual communication of your sense also upon this Subject not doubting but you easily perceive by the late Disorders into what a depth of Confusion the Army and the Nation will fall if timely and effectual preventions be not used And therefore We have now again proposed as the only Expedient a Personal Treaty for the composing of all differences and fulfilling the desires of all Interests to which if you will imploy your Credit as you cannot but expect the Blessings of God upon your endeavours therein so you may justly look for the best return that ever Our Condition shall be able to make you Given at Carisbrooke Castle the 26. day of Novemb. 1647. His MAJESTIES Message to both Houses from Carisbrook Castle Dec. 6. 1647. To the Speaker of the House of Peers pro tempore to be communicated to both Houses of Parliament at Westminster and the Commissioners of the Parliament of Scotland CHARLES R. HAD His Majesty thought it possible that His two Houses could be imployed in things of greater concernment than the Peace of this miserable distracted Kingdom He would have expected with more patience their leisure in acknowledging the receit of His Message of the 16. of November last But since there is not in nature any consideration preceding to that of Peace His Majesties constant tenderness of the welfare of His Subjects hath such a prevalence with Him that He cannot forbear the vehement prosecution of a Personal Treaty which is only so much the more desired by His Majesty as it is superior to all other means of Peace And truly when His Majesty considers the several complaints He daily hears from all parts of this Kingdom that Trade is so decayed all Commodities so dear and Taxes so insupportable that even natural subsistence will suddenly fail His Majesty to perform the Trust reposed in Him must use His uttermost endeavours for Peace though He were to have no share in the benefit of it And hath not His Majesty done His part for it by devesting Himself of so much Power and Authority as by His last Message He hath promised to do upon the concluding of the whole Peace And hath He met with that Acknowledgment from his two Houses which this great grace and favour justly deserves Surely the blame of this great retarding of Peace must fall somewhere else than on His Majesty To conclude If ye will but consider in how little time this necessary good Work will be done if you the two Houses will wait on His Majesty with the same Resolutions for Peace as He will meet you He no way doubts but that ye will willingly agree to this His Majesties earnest desire of a Personal Treaty and speedily desire His presence amongst you where all things agreed on being digested into Acts till when it is most unreasonable for His Majesty or His two Houses to desire each of other the least Concession this Kingdom may at last enjoy the blessing of a long-wisht-for Peace From Carisbrook Castle Decemb. 6. 1647. MDâ—XLVII Dec. 24. The Four Bills sent to the King to the Isle of VVight to be passed Together with the Propositions sent unto Him at the same time which upon the passing of those Bills were to be Treated upon THE Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament have commanded us to present to Your Majesty these Four Bills which have passed the two Houses of Parliament thus severally Entituled viz. An Act concerning the raising settling and maintaining Forces by Sea and Land within the Kingdoms of England and Ireland and Dominion of Wales the Isles of Gernsey and Jersey and the Town of Barwick upon Tweed An Act for justifying the Proceedings of Parliament in the late War and for declaring all Oaths Declarations
Proclamations and other Proceedings against it to be void An Act concerning Peers lately made and hereafter to be made An Act concerning the Adjournments of both Houses of Parliament Soit baillé aux Seigneurs A ceste Bille les Seigneurs sont assentuz An Act concerning the Raising settling and maintaining Forces by Sea and by Land within the Kingdoms of England and Ireland and Dominion of VVales the Isles of Gernsey and Jersey and the Town of Barwick upon Tweed BE it Enacted by the King's Majesty and by the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament and by Authority of the same That the Lords and Commons in the Parliament of England now assembled or hereafter to be assembled shall during the space of twenty years from the first of November 1647. Arm Train and Discipline or cause to be Armed Trained and Disciplined all the Forces of the Kingdoms of England and Ireland and Dominion of Wales the Isles of Gernsey and Jersey and the Town of Barwick upon Tweed already raised both for Sea and Land service and shall appoint all Commanders and Officers for the said Forces and shall from time to time during the said space of twenty years raise levy arm train and discipline or cause to be raised levied armed trained and disciplined any other Forces for Land and Sea-service in the Kingdoms Dominions and Places aforesaid as in their judgments they shall from time to time during the said space of twenty years think fit and appoint and shall from time to time appoint all Commanders and Officers for the said Forces or remove them as they shall see cause and shall likewise nominate appoint place or displace as they shall see cause all Commanders and Officers within the several Garrisons Forts and Places of strength as shall be within the Kingdoms of England Ireland and Dominion of Wales the Isles of Gernsey and Jersey and Town of Barwick upon Tweed and that neither the King His Heirs or Successors nor any other but such as shall act by the Authority or Approbation of the said Lords and Commons shall during the said space of twenty years exercise any of the powers aforesaid And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid That Moneys be raised and levied for the maintenance and use of the said Forces for Land-service and of the Navy and Forces for Sea-service in such sort and by such ways and means as the said Lords and Commons shall from time to time during the said space of twenty years think fit and appoint and not otherwise and that all the said Forces both for Land and Sea-service so raised or levied or to be raised or levied and also the Admiralty and Navy shall from time to time during the said space of twenty years be imployed managed ordered disposed or disbanded by the said Lords and Commons in such sort and by such ways and means as they shall think fit and appoint and not otherwise And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That the said Lords and Commons during the said space of twenty years shall have power in such sort and by such ways and means as they shall think fit and appoint to suppress all Forces raised or to be raised without Authority and Consent of the said Lords and Commons to the disturbance of the Publick Peace of the Kingdoms of England and Ireland and Dominion of Wales the Isles of Gernsey and Jersey and the Town of Barwick upon Tweed or any of them and also to suppress any Forreign Forces who shall invade or endeavour to invade the Kingdoms of England and Ireland Dominion of Wales the Isles of Gernsey and Jersey and the Town of Barwick upon Tweed or any of them and likewise to conjoyn such Forces of the Kingdom of England with the Forces of the Kingdom of Scotland as the said Lords and Commons shall from time to time during the said space of twenty years judg fit and necessary to resist all Forreign Invasions and to suppress any Forces raised or to be raised against or within either of the said Kingdoms to the disturbance of the Publick Peace of the said Kingdoms or any of them by any Authority under the Great Seal or other Warrant whatsoever without consent of the said Lords and Commons of the Parliament of England and the Parliament or the Estates of the Parliament of Scotland respectively and that no Forces of either Kingdoms shall go into or continue in the other Kingdom without the Advice and desire of the said Lords and Commons of the Parliament of England and the Parliament of the Kingdom of Scotland or such as shall be by them respectively appointed for that purpose And be it Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That after the expiration of the said twenty years neither the King His Heirs or Successors or any person or persons by colour or pretence of any Commission Power Deputation or Authority to be derived from the King His Heirs or Successors or any of them shall raise arm train discipline imploy order manage disband or dispose any of the Forces by Sea and Land of the Kingdoms of England and Ireland the Dominion of Wales Isles of Gernsey and Jersey and the Town of Barwick upon Tweed or of any of them nor exercise any of the said Powers or Authorities before-mentioned and expressed to be during the said space of twenty years in the said Lords and Commons nor do any act or thing concerning the Execution of the said Powers or Authorities or any of them without the Consent of the said Lords and Commons first had and obtained And be it further also Enacted That after the expiration of the said twenty years in all cases wherein the said Lords and Commons shall declare the Safety of the Kingdom to be concerned and shall thereupon pass any Bill or Bills for the raising arming training disciplining imploying managing ordering or disposing of the Forces by Sea or Land of the Kingdoms of England and Ireland the Dominion of Wales Isles of Gernsey and Jersey and the Town of Barwick upon Tweed or of any part of the said Forces or concerning the said Admiralty or Navy or concerning the levying of Moneys for the raising maintenance or use of the said Forces for Land service or of the Navy and Forces for Sea-service or of any part of them and if that the Royal Assent to such Bill or Bills shall not be given in the House of Peers within such time after the passing thereof by both Houses of Parliament as the said Houses shall judge fit and convenient that then such Bill or Bills so passed by the said Lords and Commons as aforesaid and to which the Royal Assent shall not be given as is herein before expressed shall nevertheless after Declaration of the said Lords and Commons made in that behalf have the force and strength of an Act or Acts of Parliament and shall be as valid to all intents and purposes as if the Royal Assent had been given
thereunto Provided always and be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That nothing herein before contained shall extend to the taking away of the ordinary Legal Power of Sheriffs Justices of Peace Maiors Bailiffs Coroners Constables Headboroughs or other Officers of Justice not being Military Officers concerning the Administration of Justice so as neither the said Sheriffs Justices of Peace Maiors Bailiffs Coroners Constables Headboroughs and other Officers or any of them do levy conduct imploy or command any Forces whatsoever by colour or pretence of any Commission of Array or extraordinary Command from His Majesty His Heirs or Successors without the Consent of the said Lords and Commons and that if any persons shall be gathered and assembled together in Warlike manner or otherwise to the number of Thirty persons and shall not forthwith separate and disperse themselves being required thereto by the said Lords and Commons or Command from them or any by them especially authorized for that purpose then such person and persons not so separating and dispersing themselves shall be guilty and incur the pains of High Treason being first Declared guilty of such Offence by the said Lords and Commons any Commission under the Great Seal or other Warrant to the contrary notwithstanding and he or they that shall offend herein shall be incapable of any Pardon from His Majesty His Heirs and Successors and their Estates shall be disposed as the said Lords and Commons shall think fit and not otherwise Provided also further That the City of London shall have and enjoy all their Rights Liberties and Franchises Customs and Usages in the raising and imploying the Forces of that City for the Defence thereof in as full and ample manner to all intents and purposes as they have or might have used or enjoyed the same at any time before the sitting of this present Parliament Soit baillé aux Seigneurs A ceste Bille les Seigneurs sont assentuz An Act for justifying the Proceedings of Parliament in the late War and for Declaring all Oaths Declarations Proclamations and other Proceedings against it to be void WHereas the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament have been necessitated to make and prosecute a War in their just and lawful Defence and thereupon Oaths Declarations and Proclamations have been made against them and their Ordinances and Proceedings and against others for adhering unto them and for executing Offices Places and Charges by Authority derived from them and Judgments Indictments Outlawries Attainders and Inquisitions for the causes aforesaid have been had and made against some of the Members of the Houses of Parliament and other his Majesties good Subjects and Grants have been made of their Lands and Goods Be it therefore Declared and hereby Enacted by the Kings Majesty and by the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament and by Authority of the same That all Oaths Declarations and Proclamations heretofore had or made against both or either of the Houses of Parliament or any the Members of either of them for the causes aforesaid or against their Ordinances or Proceedings or against any for adhering unto them or for doing or executing any Office Place or Charge by any Authority derived from the said Houses or either of them and all Judgments Indictments Outlawries Attainders Inquisitions and Grants thereupon made and all other Proceedings for any the causes aforesaid had made done or executed or to be had made done or executed whether the same be done by the King or any Judges Justices Sheriffs Ministers or any others are void and of no effect and are contrary to and against the Laws of the Realm And be it further Enacted and hereby Declared by the Authority aforesaid That all Judges Justices of the Peace Maior Sheriffs Constables and other Officers and Ministers shall take notice hereof and are hereby prohibited and discharged in all time to come from awarding any Writ Process or Summons and from pronouncing or executing any Judgment Sentence or Decree or any way proceeding against or molesting any of the said Members of the two Houses of Parliament or against any of the Subjects of this Kingdom for any the causes aforesaid Soit baillé aux Seigneurs A ceste Bille les Seigneurs sont assentuz An Act concerning Peers lately made and hereafter to be made BE it Enacted by the Kings Majesty and by the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament That all Honour and Title of Peerage conferred on any since the twentieth day of May 1642. being the day that Edward Lord Littleton then Lord Keeper of the Great Seal deserted the Parliament and that the said Great Seal was surreptitiously conveyed away from the Parliament be and is hereby made and declared Null and Void Be it further Enacted and it is hereby Enacted by the Authority aforesaid that no Person that shall hereafter be made a Peer or His Heirs shall sit or vote in the Parliament of England without consent of both Houses of Parliament Soit baillé aux Seigneurs A ceste Bille les Seigneurs sont assentuz An Act concerning the Adjournments of both Houses of Parliament BE it Declared and Enacted by the Kings Majesty and by the Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament and by the Authority of the same That when and as often as the Lords and Commons assembled in this present Parliament shall judge it necessary to adjourn both Houses of this present Parliament to any other place of the Kingdom of England than where they now sit or from any place adjourn the same again to the place where they now sit or to any other place within the Kingdom of England that then such their Adjournment and Adjournments to such places and for such time as they shall appoint shall at all times and from time to time be valid and good any Act Statute or Usage to the contrary notwithstanding Provided always and be it Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That no Adjournment or Adjournments to be had or made by reason or colour of this Act shall be deemed adjudged or taken to make end or determine any Session of this present Parliament And they also commanded us to present to Your Majesty these ensuing Propositions Heads of the Propositions 1. That the new Seal be confirmed and the old Great Seal and all things passed under it since May 1642. be made void 2. That Acts be passed for raising Moneys to satisfie Publick Debts 3. That Members of both Houses put from their places by the King be restored 4. That the Cessation in Ireland be made void and the War left to both Houses 5. That an Act of Indemnity be passed 6. That the Court of Wards be taken away and such Tenures turned into common Soccage 7. That the Treaties between the English and Scots be confirmed and Commissioners appointed for Conservation of the Peace between the Kingdoms 8. That the Arrears of the Army be paid out of the Bishops Lands forfeited Estates and Forests 9. That an Act be
passed for abolishing Bishops and all Appendants to them 10. That the Ordinances for disposing of Bishops Lands be confirmed by Act. 11. That an Act be passed for the sale of Church-Lands 12. That Delinquents be proceeded against and their Estates disposed of according to the several Qualifications 13. Than an Act be passed for discharge of Publick Debts 14. That Acts be passed for settling the Presbyterian Government and Directory Fourteen of the Thirty nine Articles revised by the Assembly of Divines Rules and Directions concerning Suspension from the Lords Supper 15. That the chief Governour and Officers in Ireland and the great Officers in England be nominated by both Houses 16. That an Act be passed for conviction of Popish Recusants 17. That an Act be passed for the Education of the Children of Papists by Protestants 18. That an Act be passed for levying the Penalties against Popish Recusants 19. That an Act be passed for preventing the Practices of Papists against the State and hearing Mass 20. That an Act be passed for Observation of the Lords day 21. And a Bill for suppressing Innovations 22. And for advancement of Preaching 23. And against Pluralities and Non-residency They have also commanded us to desire That Your Majesty give Your Royal Assent to these Bills by Your Letters-Patents under the Great Seal of England and signed by Your Hand and Declared and Notified to the Lords and Commons assembled together in the House of Peers according to the Law declared in that behalf it appearing unto them upon mature deliberation that it stands not with the Safety and Security of the Kingdom and Parliament to have Your Majesties Assent at this time given otherwise They desire therefore that Your Majesty be pleased to grant Your Warrant for the draught of a Bill for such Your Letters Patents to be presented to Your Majesty and then a Warrant to Edward Earl of Manchester and William Lenthal Esquire Speaker of the House of Commons who have now the Custody of the Great Seal of England to put the same of Your Majesties Letters-Patents signed as aforesaid thereby authorizing Algernon Earl of Northumberland Henry Earl of Kent John Earl of Rutland Philip Earl of Pembroke William Earl of Salisbury Robert Earl of Warwick and Edmond Earl of Moulgrave or any three of them to give Your Majesties Royal Assent unto the said Bills according to the Law in that behalf declared And for the other particulars contained in the aforementioned Propositions the two Houses of Parliament will after such Your Majesties Assent given to the said Bills send a Committee of both Houses to Treat with Your Majesty in the Isle of Wight thereupon The Paper of the Scots Commissioners delivered to His MAJESTY when the Four Bills and Propositions were presented THere is nothing which we have more constantly endeavoured and do more earnestly desire than a good Agreement and happy Peace between Your Majesty and Your Parliaments of both Kingdoms neither have we left any means unassayed that by united Counsels with the Houses of the Parliament of England and by making joynt Applications to Your Majesty there might be a composure of all Differences But the new Propositions communicated to us by the Houses and the Bills therewith presented to Your Majesty are so prejudicial to Religion the Crown and the Union and Interest of the Kingdoms and so far different from the former proceedings and engagements betwixt the Kingdoms as we cannot concur therein Therefore we do in the Name of the Kingdom of Scotland dissent from these Propositions and Bills now tendred to Your Majesty London Lauderdale Char. Erskin Hu. Kennedy Ro. Berclay His MAJESTIES Answer to the Four Bills and Propositions Dec. 28. 1647. For the Speaker of the Lords House pro tempore to be communicated to the Lords and Commons in the Parliament of England at Westminster and the Commissioners of the Parliament of Scotland CHARLES R. THE necessity of complying with all engaged Interests in these great Distempers for a perfect settlement of Peace His Majesty finds to be none of the least Difficulties He hath met with since the time of His Afflictions Which is too visible when at the same time that the two Houses of the English Parliament do present to his Majesty several Bills and Propositions for his Consent the Commissioners for Scotland do openly protest against them So that were there nothing in the case but the consideration of that difference his Majesty cannot imagine how to give such an Answer to what is now proposed as thereby to promise himself his great End A Perfect Peace And when his Majesty farther considers how impossible it is in the condition he now stands to fulfil the desires of his two Houses since the only ancient and known ways of passing Laws are either by his Majesties Personal Assent in the House of Peers or by Commission under his Great Seal of England he cannot but wonder at such failings in the manner of Address which is now made unto him unless his two Houses intend that his Majesty shall allow of a Great Seal made without his Authority before there be any consideration had thereupon in a Treaty which as it may hereafter hazard the Security it self so for the present it seems very unreasonable to his Majesty And though his Majesty is willing to believe that the intention of very many in both Houses in sending these Bills before a Treaty was only to obtain a Trust from him and not to take any advantage by passing them to force other things from him which are either against his Conscience or Honour yet his Majesty believes it clear to all understandings that these Bills contain as they are now penned not only the devesting himself of all Sovereignty and that without possibility of recovering it either to him or his Successors except by repeal of those Bills but also the making his Concessions guilty of the greatest pressures that can be made upon the Subject as in other particulars so by giving an Arbitrary and unlimited Power to the two Houses for ever to raise and levy Forces for Land or Sea-service of what persons without distinction or quality and to what numbers they please and likewise for the payment of them to levy what moneys in such sort and by such ways and means and consequently upon the Estates of whatsoever persons as they shall think fit and appoint which is utterly inconsistent with the Liberty and Property of the Subject and his Majesties Trust in protecting them So that if the major part of both Houses shall think it necessary to put the rest of the Propositions into Bills his Majesty leaves all the world to judge how unsafe it would be for him to consent thereunto and if not what a strange condition after the passing of these Four Bills his Majesty and all his Subjects would be cast into And here his Majesty thinks it not unfit to wish his two Houses to consider well the manner of their proceeding
to his Majesty in the Isle of Wight Die Jovis 3. Aug. 1648. Instruction from both Houses of the Parliament of England for James Earl of Middlesex Sir John Hippesley Knight and John Bulkeley Esquire Committees of Parliament I. YOu or any two of you whereof one to be a Lord shall with all speed repair unto his Majesty at the Castle of Carisbook in the Isle of Wight II. You or any two of you whereof one to be a Lord shall present unto his Majesty the Resolutions of both Houses of Parliament concerning a Personal Treaty to be had with his Majesty in the Isle of Wight III. You or any two of you whereof one to be a Lord shall desire his Majesties speedy Answer to the said Resolutions IV. You or any two of you whereof one to be a Lord are to acquaint his Majesty that you are only allotted ten days from Friday next for your Going Stay and Return V. You or any two of you whereof one to be a Lord shall have power in case his Majesty desires to see the Propositions which were presented to him at Hampton-Court to present him a Copy of them His MAJESTIES Message in Answer to the Votes Carisbrooke 10. Aug. 1648. For the Speaker of the Lords House pro tempore to be communicated to the Lords and Commons in the Parliament of England at Westminster CHARLES R. IF the Peace of my Dominions were not much dearer to me than any particular Interest whatsoever I had too much reason to take notice of the several Votes which passed against me and the sad Condition I have been in now above these seven Months But since you my two Houses of Parliament have opened as it seems to me a fair beginning to a happy Peace I shall heartily apply my self thereunto and to that end I will as clearly and shortly as I may set you down those things which I conceive necessary to this blessed Work so that we together may remove all impediments that may hinder a happy conclusion of this Treaty which with all chearfulness I do embrace And to this wished End your selves have laid most excellent grounds For what can I reasonably expect more then to Treat with Honour Freedom and Safety upon such Propositions as you have or shall present unto me and such as I shall make to you But withal remember that it is the definition not names of things which make them rightly known and that without means to perform no Propositions can take effect And truly my present Condition is such that I can no more Treat then a blind man judge of colours or one run a race who hath both his feet fast tied together Wherefore my first necessary Demand is That you will recal all such Votes and Orders by which people are frighted from coming writing or speaking freely to me Next that such men of all Professions whom I shall send for as of necessary use to me in this Treaty may be admitted to wait upon me In a word that I may be in the same state of Freedom I was in when I was last at Hampton-Court And indeed less cannot in any reasonable measure make good those Offers which you have made me by your Votes For how can I Treat with Honour so long as people are terrified with Votes and Orders against coming to speak or write to me and am I honourably treated so long as there is none about me except a Barber who came now with the Commissioners that ever I named to wait upon me or with Freedom until I may call such unto me of whose services I shall have use in so great and difficult a Work And for Safety I speak not of my Person having no apprehension that way how can I judge to make a safe and well grounded Peace until I may know without disguise the true present state of all my Dominions and particularly of all those whose Interests are necessarily concerned in the Peace of these Kingdoms Which leads me naturally to the last necessary Demand I shall make for the bringing this Treaty to an happy end which is That you alone or you and I joyntly do invite the Scots to send some persons authorized by them to Treat upon such Propositions as they shall make For certainly the publick and necessary Interests they have in this great Settlement is so clearly plain to all the World that I believe no body will deny the necessity of their concurrence in this Treaty in order to a durable Peace Wherefore I will only say that as I am King of both Nations so I will yield to none in either Kingdom for being truly and zealously affected for the good and honour of both my Resolution being never to be partial for either to the prejudice of the other Now as to the Place because I conceive it to be rather a circumstantial than real part of this Treaty I shall not much insist upon it I name Newport in this Isle yet the fervent zeal I have that a speedy end be put to these unhappy Distractions doth force me earnestly to desire you to consider what a great loss of time it will be to Treat so far from the body of my two Houses when every small debate of which doubtless there will be many must be transmitted to Westminster before it be concluded And really I think though to some it may seem a Paradox that peoples minds will be much more apt to settle seeing me Treat in or near London than in this Isle because so long as I am here it will never be believed by many that I am really so free as before this Treaty begin I expect to be And so I leave and recommend this point to your serious consideration And thus I have not only fully accepted of the Treaty which you have proposed to me by your Votes of the third of this Month but also given it all the furtherance that lies in me by demanding the necessary means for the effectual performance thereof All which are so necessarily implied by though not particularly mentioned in your Votes as I can no ways doubt of your ready compliance with me herein I have now no more to say but to conjure you by all that is dear to Christians honest men or good Patriots that ye will make all the Expedition possible to begin this happy Work by hastning down your Commissioners fully authorized and well instructed and by enabling me as I have shewed you to Treat praying the God of Peace so to bless our endeavours that all my Dominions may speedily enjoy a safe and well-grounded Peace CHARLES R. Carisbrook Aug. 10. 1648. A Letter from the Speaker of both Houses to His Majesty Aug. 25. 1648. With Votes in order to a Treaty May it please Your Majesty WE are commanded by Your Majesties loyal Subjects the Lords and Commons in Parliament assembled to present unto Your Majesty these Resolutions inclosed which are the results of the said Lords and Commons upon
reforming both Universities and the Colleges of Westminster Winchester and Eaton His Majesty will consent to an Act for the better discovery and speedy conviction of Popish Recusants as is desired in your Propositions and also to an Act for the Education of the Children of Papists by Protestants in the Protestant Religion As also to an Act for the rrue levying of the Penalties against Papists to be levied and disposed in such manner as both Houses shall agree on and as is proposed on His Majesties behalf And also to an Act to prevent the practises of Papists against the State and for putting the Laws in execution and for a stricter course to prevent hearing and saying of Mass But as to the Covenant His Majesty is not yet therein satisfied that He can either sign or swear it or consent to impose it on the Consciences of others nor doth conceive it proper or useful at this time to be insisted on Touching the Militia His Majesty conceives that your Proposition demands a far larger power over the Persons and Estates of His Subjects than hath ever hitherto been warranted by the Laws and Statutes of this Realm yet considering the present Distractions require more and trusting in His two Houses of Parliament that they will make no further use of the Power therein mentioned after the present Distempers setled than shall be agreeable to the Legal exercise thereof in times past or just necessity shall require His Majesty will consent to an Act of Parliament That the Lords and Commons in the Parliament of England now assembled or hereafter to be assembled or such as they shall appoint during the space of ten years shall Arm Train and Discipline or cause to be Armed Trained or Disciplined all the Forces of the Kingdoms of England and Ireland and Dominion of Wales the Isles of Gernesey and Jersy and the Town of Berwick upon Tweed already raised both for Sea and Land-service and shall from time to time during the space of ten years raise levy arm train and discipline or cause to de raised levied armed trained and disciplined any other Forces for Land and Sea-service in the Kingdoms Dominions and places aforesaid as in their judgments they shall from time to time during the said space of ten years think fit to appoint And that neither the King His Heirs or Successors or any other but such as shall act by the Authority or approbation of the said Lords and Commons shall during the said space of ten years exercise any of the Powers aforesaid That Moneys be raised and levied for the maintenance and use of the said Forces for Land-service and of the Navy and Forces for Sea-service in such sort and by such ways and means as the said Lords and Commons shall from time to time during the said space of ten years think fit and appoint and not otherwise That all the said Forces both for Land and Sea-service so raised or levied or to be raised or levied and also the Admiralty and Navy shall from time to time during the said space of ten years be imployed managed ordered and disposed by the Lords and Commons in such sort and by such ways and means as they shall think fit and appoint and not otherwise And the said Lords and Commons or such as they shall appoint during the said space of ten years shall have power 1. To suppress all Forces raised or to be raised without Authority and Consent of the said Lords and Commons to the disturbance of the Publick Peace of the Kingdoms of England and Ireland Dominion of Wales the Isles of Gernesey and Jersey and the Town of Berwick upon Tweed or any of them 2. To suppress any Foreign Forces who shall invade or endeavour to invade the Kingdoms of England and Ireland Dominion of Wales the Isles of Gernesey and Jersey and the Town of Berwick upon Tweed or any of them And after the expiration of the said ten years neither the King His Heirs or Successors or any person or persons by colour or pretence of any Commission Power Deputation or Authority to be derived from the King His Heirs or Successors or any of them shall without the Consent of the said Lords and Commons raise arm train discipline employ order manage disband or dispose any the Forces by Sea or Land of the Kingdoms of England and Ireland the Dominion of Wales Isles of Gernesey and Jersey and the Town of Berwick upon Tweed nor exercise any of the said Powers or Authorities herein before mentioned and expressed to be during the space of ten years in the said Lords and Commons nor do any act or any thing concerning the execution of the said Powers or Authorities or any of them without the Consent of the said Lords and Commons first had and obtained And with the same Provisoes for saving the ordinary Legal Power of Officers of Justice not being Military Officers as is set down in your Propositions And with a Declaration That if any persons shall be gathered and assembled together in a Warlike manner or otherwise to the number of thirty persons and shall not forthwith disperse themselves being require thereto by the said Lords and Commons or command from them or any by them especially authorized for that purpose then such person or persons not so dispersing themselves shall be guilty and incur the pains of High Treason being first declared guilty of such offence by the said Lords and Commons any Commission under the Great Seal or any other Warrant to the contrary notwithstanding And he or they that shall so offend herein to be uncapable of any Pardon from His Majesty His Heirs or Successors And likewise that it be provided that the City of London shall have and enjoy all their Rights Liberties c. in raising and imyloying the Forces of that City in such sort as is mentioned in the said Proposition With these Provisoes following to be inserted in the said Act. First That none be compelled to serve in the Wars against their wills but in case of coming in of strange Enemies into this Kingdom And that the Powers above mentioned as concerning the Land-Forces other than for keeping up and maintenance of Forts and Garisons and the keeping up mantaining and pay of this present Army so long as it shall be thought fit by both Houses of Parliament be exercised to no other purposes than for the suppressing of Forces raised or to be raised without Authority and Consent of the said Lords and Commons as aforesaid or for suppressing of any Foreign Forces which shall invade or endeavour to invade the Kingdoms Dominions or places aforesaid And that the Monies be raised by general and equal Taxations saving that Tonnage and Poundage and such Imposts as have been applyed to the Navy be raised as hath been usual And that all Patents Commissions and other Acts concerning the Premisses be made and acted in His Majesties Name by Warrant signified by the Lords and Commons or
such others as they shall authorise for that purpose If it shall be more satisfactory to His two Houses to have the Militia and Powers thereupon depending during the whole time of His Majesties Reign rather than for the space of ten years His Majesty gives them the Election Touching Ireland His Majesty having in the two preceding Propositions given His Consent concerning the Church and the Militia there in all things as in England as to all other matters relating to that Kingdom after advice with His two Houses He will leave it to their determination and give His Consent accordingly as is herein hereafter expressed Touching Publick Debts His Majesty will give His Consent to such an Act for raising of Monies by general and equal Taxations for the payment and satisfying the Arrears of the Army Publick Debts and Engagements of the Kingdom as shall be agreed on by both Houses of Parliament and shall be audited and ascertained by them or such persons as they shall appoint within the space of twelve Months after the passing of an Act for the same His Majesty will Consent to an Act that during the said space of ten years the Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper Commissioners of the Great Seal or Treasury Lord Warden of the Cinque-Ports Chancellor of Exchequer and Dutchy Secretaries of State Master of the Rolles and Judges of both Benches and Barons of the Exchequer of England be nominated by both Houses of the Parliament of England to continue quamdiu se bene gesserint and in the intervals of Parliament by such others as they shall authorise for that purpose His Majesty will Consent That the Militia of the City of London and Liberties thereof during the space of ten years may be in the Ordering and Government of the Lord Mayor Aldermen and Commons in the Common-Councel assembled or such as they shall from time to time appoint whereof the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs for the time being to be three to be imployed and directed from time to time during the said space of ten years in such manner as shall be agreed upon and appointed by both Houses of Parliament And that no Citizen of the City of London nor any of the Officers of the said City shall be drawn forth or compelled to go out of the said City or Liberties thereof for Military service without their own free consent That an Act be passed for granting and confirming the Charters Customes Liberties and Franchises of the City of London notwithstanding any Nonuser Misuser or Abuser And that during the said ten years the Tower of London may be in the Government of the City of London and the Chief Officer and Governor from time to time during the said space to be nominated and removable by the Common-Council as are desired in your Propositions His Majesty having thus far expressed His Consent for the present satisfaction and security of His two Houses of Parliament and those that have adhered unto them touching your four first Propositions and other the particulars before specified as to all the rest of your Propositions delivered to Him at Hampton-Court not referring to those Heads and to that of the Court of Wards since delivered as also to the remaining Propositions concerning Ireland His Majesty desires only when He shall come to Westminster Personally to advise with His two Houses and to deliver His Opinion and the reasons of it which being done He will leave the whole matter of those remaining Propositions to the determination of His two Houses which shall prevail with Him for his Consent accordingly And His Majesty doth for His own particular only propose that He may have Liberty to repair forthwith to Westminster and be restored to a condition of absolute Freedom and Safety a thing which He shall never deny to any of His Subjects and to the possession of His Lands and Revenues and that an Act of Oblivion and Indemnity may pass to extend to all persons for all matters relating to the late unhappy Differences Which being agreed by His two Houses of Parliament His Majesty will be ready to make these His Concessions binding by giving them the force of Laws by His Royal Assent Votes concerning His MAJESTIES Propositions and Concessions Die Lunae Octobr. 2. 1648. Resolved by the Lords and Commons in Parliament assembled THat they are not satisfied in the Propositions made by His Majesty in His Letter And that a Letter be sent to the Commissioners in the Isle of Wight to acquaint them that the Houses do well approve of their proceedings and do give them thanks for their great care and pains in managing of this important and weighty business requiring them still to proceed and act punctually according to their Instructions But upon further Debate in the Treaty some things being yet further cleared and more fully granted by His Majesty out of His earnest desire of Peace they at last came so near to an Agreement that the Lower House after long consultation passed the following Vote Die Martis 5. Decembr 1648. Resolved upon the Question That the Answers of the King to the Propositions of both Houses are a Ground for the House to proceed upon for the Settlement of the Peace of the Kingdom The Chief Heads of the Remonstrance of the Army presented to the House of Commons Nov. 20. MDCXLVII To the Right Honourable the Commons of England Assembled in Parliament The humble Remonstrance of his Excellency the Lord General Fairfax and his General Council of Officers held at St. Albans Thursday the 16. of Novemb. 1648. The Remonstrance it self being very long and serving only to introduce their Propositions in the end we have thought fit to represent only the Propositions themselves as they are contracted in their own Abridgment FIrst That the Capital and grand Author of our Troubles the Person of the King by whose procurement and for whose Interest only of will and power all our Wars have been may be brought to Justice for the Treason Blood and Mischief he is therein guilty of Secondly That a timely day may be set for the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York to come in by which time if they do not that then they may be immediately declared incapable of any Government or Trust in this Kingdom or its Dominions and thence to stand exil'd for ever as Enemies and Traitors to dye without mercy if ever after found and taken therein Or if by the time limited they do render themselves that then the Prince be proceeded with as on his appearance he shall give satisfaction or not and the Duke as he shall give satisfaction may be considered as to future Trust or not But however that the Revenue of the Crown saving necessary allowances for the Children and for Servants and Creditors to the Crown be sequestred and the costly Pomp suspended for a good number of years and that this Revenue be for that time disposed toward publick Charges Debts and Damages for the easing of the