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A37464 The works of the Right Honourable Henry, late L. Delamer and Earl of Warrington containing His Lordships advice to his children, several speeches in Parliament, &c. : with many other occasional discourses on the affairs of the two last reigns / being original manuscripts written with His Lordships own hand.; Works. 1694 Warrington, Henry Booth, Earl of, 1652-1694. 1694 (1694) Wing D873; ESTC R12531 239,091 488

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dangerous time to put the Laws in Execution against the Papists because there are Examples where Magistrates some have been murdered others attempted to be assassinated for putting the Laws in Execution against the Papists and because we appear'd to be zealous in it therefore this care is taken off us I suppose that might be the chief reason why I was put out because I have help't to convict above Five Thousand Papists in Lancashire And furthermore it was necessary to know how we stand in the thoughts of our Country-men whether they have a good opinion of us now we are turn'd out of Office because it look't like a design'd disgrace For my part it has gain'd me ground and I believe every Gentleman else finds his Countreymen not to esteem the worse of him I rather think better therefore seeing our Countreys believe us to be honest Men there 's no great question but we shall be in great esteem at Whitehall now they have had this Tryal of us For White-hall is very apt to incline to the opinion of the Country And that Cart is not well upon the Wheels when it is otherwise Therefore for my part I am very thankful that I am put out I 'le assure you I find my Purse the fuller for it and I find my Countrey to pay me altogether as much respect if not more than formerly There is but one thing that I grudged to part with and that was the Office of Custos Rotulorum which had been in my Family for several Generations and for that I hop'd a particular reason might have been assign'd why they took it from me but from that day to this I cannot learn what was the cause It 's gone and farewel it And that 's all the loss I had by being put out of the Commission of the Peace I have done with our selves and now give me leave to speak a little concerning other Gentlemen who are put out and no reason given for it When any Gentleman is made a Justice of Peace it is out of respect to him and for the good of the Country because he is supposed to be honest and able and without dispute no Man ought to be put out but either that he is unfaithful unwilling to do his part or else he does not understand it And it 's a great injustice to any Gentleman to put him out without hearing him for to judge a Man unheard is not allowed by the Law And what is it but to judge a Mans Reputation a thing most dear to every honest Man For in any Age but this it would be a great reflection upon a Gentleman to be turn'd out of the Commission of the Peace But God be thank't the Nation sees very plainly who and what sort of Persons rule the Rost By all the inquiry I can make I do not find that any Man is put out but such as were very active against the Papists such as are against Arbitrary Power and such as approved of the Bill against the Duke I wish they would give the reason why one Gentleman was put out in my County for besides my self there are but two put out the one was newly put in and had not acted the other is an Ancient Justice of Peace and a Man that cannot be reprehended in relation to the discharge of his trust without reflection or diminution to any Man I think he knows the work of a Justice of Peace as well as any Man in England I except no Man And for his Integrity he may set all Men at defiance to accuse him of the least partiality in the discharge of his trust And I do know that no Man made it more his business than he did that he might ease and serve the Country For as his Ability was not Inferiour to that of any other Man so did he most duly put the Laws in execution especially those against the Papists And therefore Sir on the behalf of my Country I must complain and demand to know the reason why he was put out we are greatly hurt we are deprived of a great assistance and relief and we cannot be quiet till we are satisfied in that particular And my Lord Chancellor or the Privy Council whichsoever of them it is that put him out will they not tell us why Are they asham'd to own the cause What will it not bear water I hate this as I do Arbitrary Power and Popery Brave World that we must be debarr●d of the benefit of our Laws for if they are not executed they signifie nothing It is that which gives Life to our Laws And they that do execute them are put out of Office this is a fair step to Arbitrary Power to deprive us of the benefit of the Law It is the same thing not to have Laws as to have Laws and not executed I say no more least I may seem to speak in my own case for I do not desire to have any thing done as to my own particular but as to the Gentleman whose Character I have given you and his Name I will acquaint you with it is Sir Thomas Manwaring you must give me leave to be importunate and press it again and again that he may be again put into the Commission of the Peace A SPEECH For Banishing the PAPISTS I Would be as backward to commit oppression as I will be to do any thing that God has forbidden me For in all our Actions betwixt Man and Man both Publick and Private if we observe that Golden Rule to do as we would be done by we cannot err And if my Conscience should tell me that I transgress'd that Law when I give my Vote to banish the Papists I'll assure you I would not violate either that Rule or my Conscience I would now be silent and give my Vote the other way But that Rule does not so strictly tye us up as that we must forget our selves our Posterity our Laws or our Religion it does not oblige any Man to hurt himself to save another neither does it require that a whole Kingdom shall be lost to save particular Men For Charity begins at home but when the Papists are considered in their Principles and Practices then let any Man deny if he can that the Papists themselves are not the cause of whatever happens to them I will mention but one or two of their Principles because I doubt not but every Gentleman here is very well informed of them The first that I will speak to is this That Faith is not to be kept with Hereticks And this Liberty extends to every thing both as to Religion and Worldly Affairs It 's the same thing to them whether they speak Truth or no when they have to do with a Heretick as they esteem every Man that is not of their Faith so that you cannot tell when to believe them nay though they swear it for to Equivocate is a great part of their Religion The next is this That it is
dangerous and banished return again If any dangerous Rogue branded in the Shoulder return again to a roguish life Felonies against the Possession of another If any break a Dwelling house in the Night with intent to do any Felonious Act there If any rob another by the Highway or take any thing privately from his Person If any take the Goods of another in his absence with intent to steal them If any Servant go away with his Master's Goods delivered to him with intent to steal them being the value of 40 l. or upwards If any rob a Church If any maliciously burn the House or Stack of Corn or Barn of Corn of another If any do the second time forge any Deed Evidence or Writing and publish it to be a good Deed. If any acknowledge a Fine or Judgment or Deed to be enrolled in the Name of another and not being the true person If any Persons above twelve in number raise any Tumults or Vnlawful Assemblies If above forty Persons shall assemble together to do any unlawful act and shall continue together three hours after proclamation for their departure If any depart out of this Nation to serve a foreign Prince without Leave and before Bond entered and Oath taken according to the Statute If any perswade another to commit any Felony or receive and assist any Felon after the Felony committed these are Accessaries to the Felony If any rescue a Felon from Prison If any Felon break Prison and escape or be suffered to escape and be reseued In both sorts of Felonies some have the Benefit of Clergy others not and because it 's their Duty only to present them therefore I have not troubled you with their distinctions but have given you them in part Misprision of Felony If any one know another to have committed Felony and don 't reveal it The next thing I am to acquaint you with is Trespasses and Offences against the Peace which are Finable If any menace assault beat or wound another If any make unlawful entry upon another Man's Lands or unlawfully take away other Mens Goods If any make unlawful Assemblies Routs and Riots You are to present all Seditious Conventicles according to 16 Charles 2. where there shall be five persons over and above them of the Family who shall meet together under colour or pretence of any Exercise of Religion in any other manner than is allowed by the Liturgy of the Church of England Now Gentlemen although this Law does seem to comprehend all Dissenters yet certainly not all alike for it would be unreasonable that they who only differ in some things from the Church of England should be as rigorously intended by this Law as those whose Worship and Principles are quite contrary to it and I think the very Title of the Statute is an Argument for me which is thus Seditious Conventicles suppressed If it had been only Conventicles suppressed then I should have been of another opinion And therefore Gentlemen my opinion is that this Law is rather intended against the Papists Quakers and others of that sort than against them who come nearer in their manner of Worship to the Church of England And without question at this time it is not prudent to be very strict against them who differ from the Church of England only in some Ceremonies in regard the Common Enemy to our Religion and Liberty is now very active I mean Popery and therefore it is very great Policy to unite our selves that we may be the more able to resist Popery I am sure that this is not a time to harase or pull one-another in pieces for some small Points in Religion I am sure it is that which the Pope and Church of Rome will esteem as a very great and meritorious piece of Service He that shall say or sing Mass forfeits 200 Marks and Imprisonment a year and after that till the Money be paid To hear Mass forfeits 100 Marks and Imprisonment a year He forfeits 20 l. per month who does not come to Church and if he forbear a year to be bound in 200 l. to the good a bearing till he conform 23 Eliz. 1. A Conformed Recusant not taking the Sacrament the first year forfeits 20 l. the second 40 l. and for every year after 60 l. Every Recusant that shall not come to Church forfeits 20 l. for every month Who shall be absent from Church for every Sunday forfeits 1 l. and for want of Distress to be committed to Prison To relieve or maintain a Recusant not going to Church forfeits for every month 10 l. To retain in ones Service a Recusant who shall not repair to some Church forfeits 10 l. per month 3 Jac. 4. Now Gentlemen you must understand that by by the word Recusant is meant Popish Recusant and no other whatsoever They who shall send their Children beyond Seas without License according to Law forfeits 100 l. 3 Jac. 5. If any chide brawl or draw a Weapon to strike or do strike in Church or Church-yard If any keep a Fair or Market in a Church or Church-yard If any voluntarily disturb the Preacher in his Sermon The next Matters that I am to acquaint you with are Offences against Justice in general If any be a common Stirrer and Procurer of Law-suits or a common Brabler or Quarreller among his Neighbours this is Barratry If any maintain the Law-suit of another to have part of the thing in demand this is Maintenance or Champerty If any get Goods of another into his Hands by false Tokens and Messages this Deceit is punishable If any counterfeit a Deed or Writing and publish it as true this is Forgery If any corrupt a Jury-man by Bribery or Menace to divert him from giving a just Verdict this is Imbracery If any wilfully and corruptly swear falsely in Evidence to a Jury it is Perjury and to procure another so to do is Subordination of Perjury And here I think I may mention Bailiffs and other Officers taking or demanding unlawful and unreasonable Fees None ought to practise as an Attorney but such only as have been bred up Attorneys at Law and not every little Catchpole that has read over a Book or two for these are they that do all the Mischief because Ignorance and Knavery for the most part go together and I doubt there are some who practise in this Court who are not duly qualified for it The next things you are to enquire into are The Neglects of Constables If he do not hastily pursue Hue-and Cry after Murtherers and Robbers If he do not truly execute and return all Warrants sent to him from Justices of the Peace If he do not apprehend Beggars Rogues and Vagabonds that are wandring or begging within his Office If he do not punish by Stocking such as refuse to labour in Hay and Harvest time If he do not present at the Sessions or to the next Justices the Disorders in Alehouses Defects in High-ways Recusants absence from Church
consideration and prepared a Bill for taking away the Dispensing-power which by the help of some other things that were in the same Bill obtained the Royal Assent and so it passed into a Law The Declaration then takes notice that for the better introducing of the Dispensing-power That the Judges were prevailed with to declare that such a power is a right belonging to the Crown and in order to it the Judges opinions were discovered before-hand and such as would not comply were turned out thereby to intimate to the rest that they might act at all times as they should be directed This indeed was a very high aggravation of it this was not to use the Law lawfully but to establish Oppression Violence and all manner of Iniquity by a Law For whoever shall endeavour to influence the Judges in their opinions by what means soever he seeks to intimidate them whether it be by turning them out of their places withholding their Sallaries or putting others over their Heads does plainly discover that he aims at nothing less than to Govern by his Will For the apprehension of losing a good imploy is not above the ordinary rate of men and the stopping of a Judges Sallary must have the same effect because it 's all one whether a man is turned out of his place or the profits of it are withholden from him and that Judge is exposed to a powerful temptation who sees he cannot rise in course unless he will comply The Parliament being sensible how much the Justice of the Nation lay exposed so long as the Judges held their Places or Sallaries at Pleasure had the last Sessions but one prepared a Bill to remedy this inconvenience which was offered to the Royal Assent but was refused for what reasons is not proper for me to give because I shall always advise the contrary so that that part of King James's Male-administration remains as it was to be practised by any other King who shall be so wicked as to have it in his thoughts how he may inslave the Nation The Declaration observes that King James put men into imployment and continued them therein altho they had not qualified themselves according to Law This as it unhinged one of the great securities of the Government so it was a plain indication of King James's intentions to govern without Law for when men are put into imployment in spight of the Law it shews they were preferred not so much for their fitness to execute that Office as to serve some other purpose against Law and those that so complyed justly incurred the censure of every man that wisht well to his Country for they shewed that they were through-stich-men that would stick at nothing thereby rendering themselves so infamous as to make all mankind conclude that they would never be imployed in any other Reign by reason of the scandal as well as the danger that any Prince runs who shall take them into his Service The Declaration then takes notice of the Ecclesiastical Commission which indeed carried an ill design in the face of it it having been always found that such extraordinary methods are not so much to punish faults already committed as to wish there were such and to pretend men to be guilty who have not transgressed For if nothing more had been designed but to punish those who really were offenders what need was there of that High Commission seeing the Law had before sufficiently provided so that the parlous intention of setting up that Commission was very obvious and it was yet plainer because it was expresly against Law for 16 Car. c. 11. that took away the then High-Commission Court has provided and declared that any other such like Court is illegal and all proceedings thereupon to be void and of no force And here I cannot but observe to you how far they were the occasion of setting up this Court who were like to suffer most by it For it cannot be forgot what pains the Clergy took to magnifie Prerogative and to preach up the Doctrine of Passive-Obedience and Non-resistance upon which King James supposing them to be worthy of their Functions and consequently what they preacht in their Pulpits they would practice when they were out of them thought he might make the more bold with them But with what Christian patience they bore it I believe you remember for King James received more reproachful language and revilings from them than from all other people and therefore I hope they have learnt this lesson and will be careful for the future to instruct all others under their care not to extend Prerogative beyond the bounds which the Law has set it lest they are the first that feel the weight of an unlimited power For this Ecclesiastical-Commission was a monstrous thing and therefore it is to be hoped that all those who were of it and that now are in eminent stations under this Government have made it appear that they are become new men or otherwise if it was a fault in King James to set up that Commission it will be hard to find an excuse for their being of it The Declaration proceeds in taking notice that several Churches and Chapels were built for the exercise of the Romish Religion and that several Colleges of Jesuits were set up and that a Jesuit was made one of King James's Privy Council This had it stood singly of it self must appear dreadful to all true English-men and yet it was but a necessary consequence of what went before it and gave every man a clearer prospect of the precarious condition in which his Religion and Liberty stood The next thing that followed was to examine Lord Lieutenants and Deputy Lieutenants Justices of the Peace and all others in publick imployments in order to have the Penal-Laws and Test repealed and to turn out such as would not concur This was made use of as no doubt it would have been a very effectual means towards the packing of a Parliament it being a lesson which he had learnt from his Brother C. II. who used to take Parliament-men to task in private where he used such arguments as thereby he so often drew from the Parliament those unnecessary supplies This examination of the People in private was called Closetting at first lookt upon as a very inconsiderable thing yet we saw that the said Cloud tho at first no bigger than a mans hand quickly overspread the whole Heavens and gave our affairs a very gloomy Complexion and if we will learn has taught us this useful lesson That when men shall not be left to the freedom of their judgments in relation to the publick but indeavours are used to warp and bend them another way that there is some ill design in hatching especially when such applicaons are made to members of Parliament concerning such matters as are under their Consideration For this is to kill the Government at the Root and the design is equally apparent and mischievous by what means