the pleasure of the Houses are extorted by tumults And by the terrour of the like the Act for Knighthood is repealed and the imposition for ship-money condemned as an illegall Tax and abolished also The like Acts passed against the office of the Clerk of the Market the Court of Stanneries his propriety in the making of Gun-powder the authority of the Council-Table the Courts of Star-Chamber and High Commission the jurisdiction of the Ecclesiasticall Courts as also the Presidiall Courts held for a long time in York and the Marches of VVales And finally that he might lose both his strength in Parliament and his power with the People they extorted the passing of two Acts the one for taking away the Bishops Votes and place in the House of Peers the other for disclaiming of his power in pressing Souldiers enjoyed by all his Predecessors for defence of his Person and the Realm And that they might the better awe the King to their Concessions the Army of the Scots must be maintained with pay and plunder till there was almost nothing left for them to crave or the King to grant But being at the last sent home his Majesty followed not long after to settle his affairs in that broken kingdom where to oblige that Nation to him he confirmed not onely all his former concessions by Act of Parliament but all such things also as had been acted by them in their Assembly held at Glasco And more then so he parted with so much of his Eoyall Prerogative invaded usurped by them in the late Confusions that he had allmost nothing left remaining to him but the empty title the having of a Sword carried before him and some other outward pomps of Court which signifie just nothing when the power is gone This good successe of the Scots encouraged the Irish Papists to attempt the like and to attempt it in the same way as the Scots had gone that is to say by seizing his Towns Forts and Castles putting themselves into the body of an Army banishing or imprisoning all such as oppose their practises and then petitioning the King for a publick Exercise of their Religion The 23. of October Anno 1641. was the day designed for the seizing of the City and Castle of Dublin and many places of great importance in the Kingdom But failing in the main design which had been discovered the night before by one Ocanelle they break out into open arms dealing no better with the Protestants there then the Covenanters had done with the Royall party in Scotland Of this Rebellion for it must be called a Rebellion in the Irish though not in the Scots the King gives present notice to his Houses of Parliament requiring their counsel and assistance for the extinguishing of that flame before it had wasted and consumed that Kingdome But neither the necessity of the Protestants there nor the Kings importunity here could perswade them to levie one man towards the suppression of those Rebels till the King had disclaimed his power of pressing souldiers in an Act of Parliament and thereby laid himself open to such acts of violence as were then hammering against him Which having done they put an army of Scots their most assured Friends into the Northern parts of Ireland delivering up into their hands the strong Town and Port of Carickfergus one of the chief keys of that Kingdom and afterwards sent a small body of English to preserve the South which English forces having done notable service there against the Rebels were kept so short both in respect of pay and other necessaries by the Houses of Parliament who had made use of the mony raised for the relief of Ireland to maintain a War against their King that they were forced to come to a Cessation and cheerefully returned home again to assist the King in that just War which he had undertaken for his own defence The ground and occasion of which War we are next to shew At such time as he was in Scotland and expostulated with some of the chiefs among them touching their coming into England in an hostile manner he found that some who were now leading men in the Houses of Parliament had invited them to it And having furnished himself with some proofs for it he commanded his Attorney Generall to impeach some of them of high Treason that is to say the L. Kimbolton a Member of the House of Peers Mr. Hollis Sir Arthur Haslerig Mr. Hambden Mr. Pym and Mr. Strode of the House of Commons But sending his Serjeant at Arms to arrest their persons there came a countermand from the House of Commons by which the Serjeant was deterred from doing his office and the Members had the opportunity of putting themselves into the Sanctuary of the City The next day being the 4. of January his Majesty being no otherwise attended then with his ordinary Guard went to the House of Commons to demand the five Members of that House that he might proceed against them in a way of justice but his intention was discovered and the birds flown before his coming This was voted by the Commons for such an inexpiable breach of priviledge that neither the Kings qualifying of that Action nor his desisting from the prosecution of that impeachment nor any thing that he could either say or do would give satisfaction Nothing must satisfie their jealousies and secure their fears but the putting of the tower of London into their hands together with the command of the Royal Navie as also all the Forts Castles and the Train-bands of the Kingdome all comprehended under the name of the Militia which if his Majesty would fling after all the rest they would continue his most loyall subjects On this the King demurs a while but having shipt the Queen for Holland and got the Prince into his own power he becomes more resolute and stoutly holds on the denyal Finding the Members too strong for him and London by reason of the continuall Tumults to be a dangerous neighbour to him he withdraws to York that being in a place of safety he might the better find a way to compose those differences which now began to embroil the kingdome At Hull he had a Magazine of arms and ammunition provided for the late intended war against the Scots and laid up there when the occasion of that War was taken away Of this Town he intended to possesse himself and to make use of his own Arms and Ammunition for his own preservation but coming before the gates of the Towne he was denyed entrance by Sir John Hotham who by the appointment of the House of Commons had took charge of that place The Gentry of York-shire who had petitioned the King to secure that Magazin became hereby more firmly united to him The like had been done also by the Yeomandry and those of the inferiour sort if his proceedings had not been undermined by the Committee of four Gentlemen all Members of the House and all of them
himself was taken prisoner and with him all the Kings hopes lost of preserving Oxford till he could better his condition 1646. In this extremity he left that City in disguise on the 27 day of April Anno 1646. and on the fourth of May put himself into the hands of the Scots then lying at the siege of Newark After the taking of which Town they carried him to Newcastle and there kept him under a Restraint The news hereof being brought to Oxford and seconded by the coming of the whole Army of Sir Thomas Fairfax who laid siege unto it disposed the Lords of the Council and such of the principall Gentry who had the conduct of the Affair to come to a speedy Composition According whereunto that City was surrendered on Midsomer day James Duke of York the Kings second Son together with the Great Seal Privy Seal and Signet were delivered up into the hands of the enemy by whom the young Duke was sent to Westminster and kept in the House of S. James under a Gard with his Brother and Sisters the Seals being carried into the House of Peers and there broke in pieces But long these young Princes were not kept together under that restraint the Princess Henrietta being in a short time after conveyed into France by the Lady Dalkieth and the Duke of York attired in the habit of a young Lady transported into Holland by one Captain Bamfield The Scots in the meane time being desirous to make even with their Masters to receive the wages of their iniquity and to get home in safety with that spoil and plunder which they had gotten in their marching and remarching betwixt Tweed and Hereford had not the patience to attend the leisure of any more voluntary surrendries They therefore pressed the King to give order to the Marquesse of Ormond in Ireland and to all the Governours of his Garrisons in England to give up all the Towns and Castles which remained untaken to such as should be appointed to receive them for the Houses of Parliament assuring him that otherwise they neither could nor durst continue him in their protection To this necessity he submitted but found not such a generall obedience to his commands as the Scots expected For not the Marquesse of Ormand onely but many of the Governours of Towns and Castles in England considered him as being under a constraint and speaking rather the sense of others then his own upon which grounds they continued still upon their guard in hope of better times or of better conditions But nothing was more hotly pressed by the Scots then that the Marquesse of Montrosse should lay down his Commission who with small strength in the beginning and inconsiderable forces when they were at the best had acted things in Scotland even unto admiration For besides many victories of lesse consequence he had twice beaten the Marquesse of Argile out of the field followed him home and wasted his Countrey with Fire and Sword He vanquisht Baily one of the best Souldiers of the Faction commanding over a well-formed Army in a set battell fought between them followed his blow and made himself Master of the City and Castle of Edenburgh releasing divers of his Friends who had been seized and imprisoned there when he first took Arms Had the Lord Digby's Horse come to him he had not onely perfected but assured the conquest of that Kingdome But instead of those aids which he expected he was unexpectedly set upon and his whole Army broken by David Lesley sent from the Scots Army in England with six thousand Horse to oppose the progresse of his fortune whose coming being known to the Earl of Roxborow and Traquair in whom the King continued still his wonted confidence was purposely concealed from him to the end that he being once suppressed and in him the Kings power destroyed in Scotland they might be sure from being called to an account of their former Treasons however he began to make head again and was in a way of well-doing when he received the Kings command to disband his Forces to which he readily conformed took ship and put himself into a voluntary exile These Obstacles removed his Majesty conceived some thoughts of finding Sanctuary in Scotland the Scots having first assured him as he signified by Letter to the Marquesse of Ormond before he put himself into their hands that they would not onely take his person but so many of his party also as repaired unto him into their protection and stand to him with their lives and fortune According to which hopes on his part and those assurances on theirs he had a great mind to return to his Native Countrey his Ancient and Native Kingdome as he used to call it there to expect the bettering of his condition in the changes of time But the Scots hearing of his purpose and having long ago cast off the yoke of Subjection voted against his coming to them in a full Assembly so that we may affirm of him as the Scripture doth of Christ our Saviour viz. He came unto his own and his own received him not The like resolution also was entertained by the Commissioners of that Nation and the chiefe Leaders of their Army who had contracted with the Houses of Parliament and for the summe of two hundred thousand pounds in ready money sold and betrayed him into the hands of his Enemies as certainly they would have done with the Lord Christ himself for halfe the money if he had bowed the Heavens and came down to visit them By the Commissioners sent from the Houses to receive him he was conducted to Holdenby a fair house of his own and one of the goodliest Piles in England scituate not far from Naseby to the intent that he might be continually grieved with the sight of the fatall place of his overthrow but kept so close that none of his Domestick servants no not so much as any of his own Chaplains were suffered to have Accesse unto him In the mean time a breach began betwixt the Presbyterian Party in both Houses and some chief Officers of the Army which growing every day wider and wider one Cornet Joice with a considerable party of Horse was sent to seize on his Majesties Person and bring him safe to their head Quarters There at the first he was received with all possible demonstrations of Love and Duty some of his Chaplains licensed to repair unto him and read the Book of Common-Prayer as in former times and the way open to all those of his party who desired to see him This made the Animosities between those of the two Houses and the Army to be far greater then before the City closing with that party of the Houses which desired the Kings coming to the Parliament and going down in a tumultuous manner required the present voting of a Personal Treaty This made the Speaker and such of both Houses as either held for the Army or had no mind to see the Kings Return
At first his Majesty conceived that the Bishop had made choice of that Chapter as being very agreeable to his present condition But when he understood that it was the Chapter which the Church had appointed for that day in her publick Kalendar he seemed to apprehend it with some signes of rejoycing No sooner had he done his Devotions but he is hurried to VVhite-Hall out of the Banqueting-house whereof a way was forced to a Seaffold on which he was to act the last part of his Tragedy in the sight of the people Having declared that he died a Martyr for the Lawes of this Kingdome and the Liberties of the Subjects he made a Confession of his Faith insinuating that he died a true Son of the Church of England he betook himself to his private Devotions and patiently submitted that Royal Head to an Executioner which had before been crowned with so much outward Pomp and Splendour The Members of both Houses had often promised him in their Petitions Messages and Declarations that they would make him a great and glorious King and now they were as good as their words changing his fading but painfull Crown of Thorns which they first platted for him to an immarcessible Crown of Glory At his first coming to the Crown one of his Chaplains in Ordinary and now a Bishop in this Church taking good heed unto the close contrivances of some and the seditious actings of others in his two first Parliaments thought fit to give him and his Council such an item of it as might awaken them to prevent those mischiefs which otherwise might ensue upon it And thereupon he preached before them on these words of S. Matthews Gospel viz But when the husbandmen saw the Son they said among themselves This is the heir come let us kill him and let us seize on his inheritance Mat. 21.38 In the dissecting of which Text he made such an Anatomy of the Husbandmen whom he had in hand with reference to some Plots and Practises which were then on foot and his whole discourse upon the same that he gave the King and those about him such Remembrances as might make them have an eye unto themselves and the publick safety But then withall though he carried on the matter with great care and prudence he drew so much danger on himself from some leading Members in the second Parliament who thought themselves as much concerned in the Sermon as the chief Priest and Pharisees did in the Parable that he was upon the point of leaving the Kingdome when he had news that his Majesty had dissolved the second Parliament in no small displeasure What he then preached concerning the said Husbandmen was after practised and that he then fore-signified was accomplished now Which shewes him to have been both a Priest and a Prophet if at the least the name of a Prophet may be given unto any man who foretelleth not of things to come by Divine Revelation but out of a deep insight into businesse But we return unto the King whom if we looke on in his Children the most lively Images and Representations of deceased Parents we shall find him to have been the Father of four Sons and five Daughters 1. CHARLES-JAMES born at Greenwich on Wednesday the 13. of May 1629. but died almost as soon as born having been first christened by Dr. Web one of the Chaplains in Attendance and afterwards a Bishop in Ireland 2. CHARLES Duke of Cornwall by Birth Prince of Wales in Designation and Knight of the Garter born at his Majesties house of Saint James neer VVestminster May 29. 1630. solemnly crowned King of the Scots at Edenburgh on the first day of January Anno 1650. But being invaded by an Army from England under the command of Generall Cromwell he was forced to quit that Kingdome and try his fortunes in the other so closely followed by the Army which compelled him to that Expedition he was fought with neer VVorcester on the third of September 1651. before the Earl of Darby and some others of his party here could come to aid him with their Forces In which Battel though he acted beyond the expectation of his Friends and to the great applause of his very Enemies yet it so pleased the Divine Providence that he lost the day and being miraculously preserved notwithstanding the diligent search which was made after him he passed safely over into France to the Queen his Mother Finding that Court unsafe for him he passed into Flanders accompanied with his Brother the Duke of York Anno 1654. where they have continued ever since 3. JAMES born in the same place on the 13. day of October Anno 1633. entituled Duke of York by his Majesties command at the time of his birth created so by Letters Patents bearing date at Oxford January 27. Anno 1643. and not long after made Knight of the Garter Taken prisoner at the surrendry of Oxford June 24. 1646. he was carried to his Majesties house of Saint James and there kept under a Guard with his Brother and Sister but being attired in the habit of a young Lady he was conveyed thence about two years after by one Collonel Bamfield who brought him safely into Holland and presented him a most welcome guest to the Princesse of Orange from whence he past afterwards into France to his Mother and Brother 4 HENRY born on the eighth of July designed to the Dukedome of Glocester and so commanded to be called Left by his Majesty at the House of Saint James the place of his birth at such time as he withdrew towards the North Anno 1642 he remained there till the Death of his Father and some years after and then upon the promise of an Annual pension was permitted to go into France to his Mother and the rest of the Kings Children But in the year 1654. almost as soon as his two elder Brethren had removed themselves into Flanders he found a strong practise in some of the Queens Court to seduce him to the Church of Rome whose Temptations he resisted beyond his years and thereupon was sent for by them into Flanders 5. MARY born on the fourth of November 1631. and married to Count VVilliam of Nassau Eldest Son to HENRY Prince of Orange on Sunday the second of May Anno 1641. conveyed by the Queen her Mother into Holland in February following where she stil remains Her Husband having succeeded his Father in all his Titles and Estates died young and left her the hopefull Mother of a Son now Prince of Orange 6. ELIZABETH born the twenty eighth of January 1635. survived her Father but died with hearts grief not long after 7. ANNE born the seventeenth of March 1637. died before her Father 8. KATHARINE who died almost as soon as born 9. HENRIETTA born at Exceter June the sixteenth 1644. conveyed not long after into France by the Lady Dalkeith to the Queen her Mother where she still remains It is observed of the VVolf that as