the Royal Line of the Plantagenets were left to be Competitors with him yet his Succession could not be Hereditary for his Grand-mother under whom his Father claim'd out-lived her Son and so Henry the Eighth could not claim from her Yet this is observable That as his Father Henry the Seventh entailed the Succession of the Crown of England upon the Heirs of his Body so by Act of Parliament 28 Hen. 8. Henry the Eighth might dispose of the Succession of the Crown by his Will for want of Issue of his Body so little was the inheritable Succession of the Crown of England regarded by these Kings of the British Race It seems the Council in Edward the Sixth's Reign had as little an Opinion of the Hereditary Succession of the Crown as the Parliament had in the Reign of Henry the Eighth for by the Advice of Edward's Council he by his Will disposed of the Succession to his Cousen the Lady Jane Gray Grand-daughter to Edward's Aunt Mary Queen of France contrary to the Will of his Father Henry the Eighth which ordained his Daughter Mary to succeed Edward in case he died without Issue I say that by the Law of Inheritance in England Queen Mary could not inherit the Crown from Edward she being but of half-Blood to him and by the same Reason Queen Elizabeth could not inherit to Queen Mary but Mary the Daughter of James the fifth of Scotland being of the whole Blood to Edward and descended from the elder Daughter of Henry the Seventh could For the Opinion of the Judges after King James came in that the Succession of the Crown of England differs from that of the Inheritance of Subjects in regard of an Alien born and those of half Blood may inherit the Crown it 's Gratis dictum and said to please the King for there never was any such usage in England nor any such Act of Parliament to warrant their Opinion But admit the Crown of England were inheritable from Henry the Seventh and Half-Blood no Bar to the Succession yet Mary and Elizabeth could not both succeed for one of them was Illegitimate Elizabeth being born in the Life of Katherine Queen Mary's Mother If the Parliament in the Reign of Henry the 8th had little or no Opinion of the Inheritable Succession of the Crown of England and therefore impowered the King to dispose of it by Will The Parliament in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth had less and therefore often petitioned her and that with Importunity to declare her Successor without Consent in Parliament and declared it 13 Eliz. Cap. 1. to be High Treason to affirm that the Crown of England might not be disposed of by Act of Parliament in her Life and a Premunire after her Death Here I make these Remarks upon the Race of the Plantagenets and the Succession of the British Line that as the Plantagenets inherited the Name from Jeffery Duke of Anjou who was never King of England so Henry the 7th if he had any Title derived it from John of Gaunt by an Illegitimate Succession who never was King of England From England we step into Scotland and see how the Hereditary Succession was observed there after the Reign of Alexander the 3d in whom the direct Line of the Race of their Kings failed which was so near as I can compute about the Year 1278 and leave the Succession of their 93 Kings before to the Scrutiny of the Scotish Antiquaries and Heraulds The Scots if they be not clearer in the Genealogy of their 93 Kings before Alexander the 3d than my Author is of retrieving it after the Death of Margaret Daughter of Alexander the 3d do make but a blind Genealogy of their 93 Kings before however we 'll take it as we find it David Brother of William King of Scotland but whether William was Father Brother or Uncle to Alexander the 2d my Author says not and Earl of Huntingdon had Issue by Maud Daughter to the Earl of Chester three Daughters Margaret married to Allen of Galloway the second not named was married to Robert Bruce the third to Henry Hastings Earl of Huntingdon Allen of Galloway had a Grand-daughter named Dornagil married to John Baliol. Bruce was Great Grand-child to the second Daughter of David Earl of Huntingdon but being a Male pretended he was to be King before Dornagil a Female though a Degree nearer and descended from the elder Sister Henry Earl of Huntingdon made no claim So the Right between Baliol and Bruce was referred to the Determination of Edward the first King of England who adjudged the Right to be in Baliol and soon after Baliol by Dornagil had a Son named Edward so that Bruce's Pretension of Title as being Son vanished by the Birth of Edward Baliol being descended from the eldest Sister But The Scots or a prevailing Party not liking Baliol's Reign in the Year 1306 crowned Robert Bruce King In the Year 1310 Bruce by Acts of Parliament had the Crown of Scotland entailed upon him and his Heir-male and for want of Issue to his Brother Edward This Robert had Issue a Son named David and a Daughter married to Robert Stuart and by Act of Parliament settled the Crown upon his Son David and for want of Issue by him to Robert Stuart his Grand-child by his Daughter So here is the Succession of the Crown of Scotland twice differently settled by Parliament to the disinheriting of Edward Baliol. But in the Year 1332 Edward Baliol the right Heir was received and crowned King of Scotland After that David Bruce recovered the Kingdom of Scotland and afterwards was taken Prisoner by the Queen of England in the Absence of her Husband Edward the 3d in France and being released he died Ann. 1370. Robert Stuart Grand-son of Robert Bruce by his Daughter succeeded David who married Euphemia Daughter of the Earl of Ross but before he was King had Issue by Elizabeth Moor his Concubine two Sons John and Robert and by the Queen he had Issue Walter Earl of Athol and David Earl of Strathern yet by Act of Parliament the King disinherited his Legitimate Issue and settled the Crown upon his Issue by Elizabeth Moor from which Issue all the Kings of Scotland have since descended This was the most unaccountable Accident if we consider the Cause and Consequence I think that is recorded in any History That a King and Parliament by the Importunity of a Slut should disinherit his Legitimate Offspring from the Succession to the Crown of Scotland to advance her spurious Issue It 's true for some Reasons of State the right Heir is set aside as Edward Son of Ethelred after the Confessor being young and not a fit Match to oppose the Danes Edmund Ironside tho Illegitimate for his Strength and Courage was said to be chosen King as most likely to withstand the Danish Invasions so Edward the Confessor observing the heavy and slow Nature of Edgar the Grandson of Edmund Ironside not to be a fit
A DETECTION OF THE Court and State OF ENGLAND DURING The Four Last REIGNS And the INTER-REGNUM Consisting of Private Memoirs c. With Observations and Reflections AND AN APPENDIX discovering the present State of the Nation Wherein are many SECRETS never before made publick As also a more impartial Account of the CIVIL WARS in England than has yet been given In Two Volumes By ROGER COKE Esquire The Third Edition very much corrected With an Alphabetical Table London Printed for Andr. Bell at the Cross-keys and Bible in Cornhill MDCXCVII AN APOLOGY TO THE READER THAT Man has lived long enough who has out-lived the Love and Piety he owes to his Native Country by my Native Country I do not mean the fertile and pleasant Soil of Britain nor the sweet and temperate Climate of it nor the manifold Varieties which it naturally abounds with for the use and conveniencies of humane Life nor yet the pleasant and excelling Rivers which water it nor the noble Havens and abundance of most open Ports from which it supplies other Parts of this our habitable Globe with the super-abundance of those Commodities wherein it excels and whereof the Inhabitants of those Parts stand in need and where the Waters flow as well as ebb as if they invited the World to trade with us as well as we with them But by my Native Country I mean the Constitutions and Laws of the English Monarchy which have continued for near Nine hundred Years viz. since King Egbert made a Decree that laying aside the Names of Britains and Saxons the whole Nation of that part of Britain under his Dominion should be called England Vnder these Constitutions and Laws have all English Men ever since without any Act of their own Will been born in Subjection and by them have been protected in their Lives Liberties and Estates and to govern by these Constitutions and Laws have been the Claims of our Hereditary Monarchs who have ever since governed England and though the Succession of the Kings of England have been often changed in the Saxon Danish and Norman Race of Kings yet these Laws and Constitutions have been ever since preserved notwithstanding the Attempts of many of the Kings of the Norman and I may say of the Scotish Race too to have subverted them which I believe is more than can be said of any other Monarchy in the World out of Britain So that in our English Government the Constitution and Laws of it are as well the Rules of the King's Dominion as of the Subject's Allegiance to the King and when the Majesty of the King is arrayed in Judgment Justice and Mercy then for his Subjects to resist him is High Treason in this World and Damnation in that to come and I think I may truly say no People in the World are more Honourers of their Kings yet more jealous of preserving their Constitutions and Laws than the English whereby they have preserved their Government now France and Spain whose Government was like ours have lost theirs But when the Kings of England will not make the Laws and Constitutions of England to be their Will but their Will differing from these to be the Laws and Constitutions of it then a divided Dominion will necessarily follow and it will be impossible for the Subject to obey both The King hereby puts himself out of God's Protection whose Vice-Gerent he is in governing by the Laws and misplaces his Majesty which is founded in the Honour Love and Obedience of his Subjects upon Minions and Favorites whose Servant he makes himself and these shall be the first who shall forsake him when any Adversity shall come upon him Our Chronicles give Instances hereof in the Reigns of King John Hen. 3. Edw. 2. and Rich. 2. And the design of this Treatise is to shew the Consequences that have been produced hereby in the Reigns of the Kings of the Scotish Race In this regular Monarchy the Kings of England do not abrogate old Laws or impose new or raise Monies from the Subject above the Revenues of the Crown without Consent in Parliament and hereby the Kings of England reign in the Love and Obedience of their Subjects and are freed from the Imputation of Tyranny in Sanguinary Laws and from Oppression in the Taxes granted in Parliament which no absolute Monarch is and are more absolutely obeyed in both than any absolute Monarch who makes his Will the Law of his Subjects The Division of the Will of a King of England does not only distract the Allegiance of his Subjects so that the divided Will of the King must necessarily prevail over the Laws and Constitutions of it or these prevail against the divided Will for both are incompatible and cannot subsist together But this Distraction gives Life and Motion to the ambitious Humour of Male-contents who are impatient as well of Regal Government as of submitting to the Laws and Constitutions of it And I submit my self to the Judgment of any Impartial Reader if this Divided Will in the Prince did not give that Life and Motion to the Ambition of the Factions in England Scotland and Ireland which not only raised Civil Wars in all of them but brought destruction upon K. Charles the First as well as the Laws and Constitutions of them However I will take Notice of the Loyalty of the English Nation both to K. James the first and K. Charles the first that tho these Kings were foreign born to our Laws and Constitutions yet it patiently submitted to their Vsurpations for above 35 Years whereas when King Charles the first thought he had wholly subdued this Kingdom to his Will and endeavoured to have done the same in Scotland his Native Country the Scots would not endure it so many Weeks as the English had done Years but rose against it first in Tumults after in open Arms and the discontented Parties in England joining with them however disjoined from one another brought on those Civil Wars in all the Kingdoms of England Scotland and Ireland which procur'd Destruction to the King as well as the Kingdoms In writing this History I cannot say with the noble Baptista Nani I have any Command from my Prince or any other to do it neither will I pretend to such great Advantages as he had gratis by a free access to the Records and most secret Counsels of my Country tho I must not say I have been wholly destitute of some for else such an Vndertaking would render me guilty of the highest Arrogance but what those have been I judg not pertinent here to relate they will best appear by the Work it self Yet I can say with Nani that I have not suffered my self to be defiled with Partiality which hath so prevailed in all the Writers of the late and present Times that I have seen but passing by the Privilege of venerable Antiquity which to a face of Truth hath another close adjoining that of Falshood I have chosen to expose my self
to Trial and perhaps to Reproof and that I might render a Testimony of Authority to Posterity to write the Story of the present Age to the Age it self And I am not only induced hereto by the Authority of so noble an Historian but by the Reason of History For many Accidents and Circumstances which are no part of the Records of Time and which soon die and are forgotten are so interwoven in History as to make it entire and of one piece and which not only enliven it and create pleasure in reading of it but without them History becomes disjointed and is made up of broken pieces And I can in part say with the noble Nani and in his own words That to compose Histories is sacred and not to be undertaken but with an upright Mind and undefiled Hands and for that Cause the Memory of them was consigned to the Temple under the faithful Custody of the Chief Priests as the Witness or Trust of those that went before and the Treasure of those that should come after not to be handled but as a Religious Thing and with great Caution In sum the Historian taking to himself an absolute Dictatorship nay an Authority more than Human over Times Persons and Actions governs Fame measures Deserts penetrates Intentions discloses Secrets is with an undistinguished Arbitriment over Kings and People the Judg of Ages past and Master of those to come Absolves or Punishes Deceives or Instructs Whence not without Reason the Pen of Writers may be compared to the Lightning which striking out but one Letter from the Name Caesar Augustus made him a God because Praise is a thing so tender that one Dash makes Illustrious and a little Blot Infamous and the Censure of the World thereupon is so severe that it either consecrates to Eternity or proscribes to Infamy For my self I know not what else to wish but that every one would take upon him to read this Work with the same disinterested and innocent Mind with which I have wrote it confining my Confidence in this one thing that the present Age will not be so unjust to me nor so ungrateful to Posterity as to deny me the Opinion of Sincerity It was Nani's Felicity to write the Stories of the Times when the Prudence of the Venetian Senate not only preserved their State from the Tumults of War wherein Christendom was engaged but in a great measure was Arbitrator of it So that the Wars which Nani writes of were like Thunder afar off yet herein Nani expatiates his Story in a short time scarce 30 Years into a large Volume whereas without looking after any thing abroad but what relates to my Story I am contracted to the unhappy Story of my Native Country to shew from what Causes such a Train of Consequences have followed that England which before was the Ballance which turned the Scale of the Affairs of Christendom to that side it inclined not only fell from this envied Height and became the most despisable of all other States but sunk into the most miserable State of Abject and Pity I am the rather induced to write the Story of these Times because the Hackney-Writers of them at least those I have seen have not only taken things in the midst without assigning the Causes but being interested Parties their Writings have been either fulsom Flatteries or Invectives against one another tending to the fixing of the Distempers of the Parties without regard to the Publick or assigning the Cause of the Distempers But herein I except the Collections of Mr. John Rushworth who tho interested in the Factions of the late Times hath so faithfully delivered them over to Posterity and I could have wished tho I know not from whence he had it that he had not mentioned in that part of King James his Speech to the Parliament 18 Jac. that the Parliament is made up of the three States the King the Lords and Commons and this is the main part of his Collections which Franklin and Nalson so carp at yet both these differ not only from one the other in reciting it but from the Record of Parliament for I have perused them with it according to the Copy which Mr. Petit has taken For my part I can truly say that as I never complied with any of the Factions in the late or present Times so my Ancestors stood firm to the Laws and Liberties of the Nation and were Sufferers both before and in the late Troubles and Civil Wars and in these Circumstances I am less disposed to favour or fâ—atter any Party than another who is interested in any one of them I expect it will be objected against me that in writing this History I have sometimes been transported into an Heat unbecoming an Historian I answer that it may happen a Man may be angry and not sin especially when the Offence relates to the Dishonour of God the King or the publick Destruction or Distraction of the Country where Men are protected in their Lives Liberties and Fortunes but if I have erred herein I shall but be in the number of Lactantius who wrote the Relation of the Death of the persecuting Emperors of the Christians and of Suetonius and Tacitus It was the unhappy Fate of Europe that the Miseries and Calamities which succeeded the Divided Will of the four Kings of the Scotish Race from the Laws and Constitutions of this Nation were not terminated within the Limits of the Kingdoms of England Scotland and Ireland but were the occasion of the first Rise and growing Grandure of France through the boundless Ambition of Cardinal Richlieu and the present French King both by Sea and Land as well to the Terror of Christendom as of these Nations and this Story will in some measure trace the Steps of them This Treatise I suppose will displease two sorts of Men whom I will never take care to please One who exalt the Divided Will of the Prince above his Royal Capacity in governing by the Constitutions and Laws of the Kingdom The other those which are impatient under Regal Government and the Constitutions of this Kingdom I have been more particular herein because notwithstanding the Calamities which this Divided Will of the King had brought upon the Nation in the late Civil Wars and after yet after the Restoration of King Charles the 2d the Nation was more fiercely rent into Divisions under the Names of Whig and Tory than it was before the Wars and these last having the Dominion of the Press and Favour of the Court made it their business to irritate and provoke all others not of their Faction and if any opposed them by Writing when they could not answer to persecute them for printing without a Licence tho not unlawful in it self yet unlawfully printed ADVERTISEMENTS THE General History of England as well Ecclesiastical as Civil from the earliest Accounts of Time to the Reign of his present Majesty King William Taken from the most Antient Records
and shaken that the Legions which governed Britain were recalled by Ecius the Roman General under Honorius and Valentinian the 3d to make Head against Attila the poor Britains disarmed and only made use of to serve their imperious Masters and so utterly destitute of Martial Discipline easily became a Prey to the Picts and Scots not subject to the Romans who treated them more intolerably and tyrannically than the Romans had done For Redress whereof the Britains sought Succours from the English Saxons who came to their Relief in the Year 409 as Bede says lib. 1. cap. 15. of the Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation but these Saxons used the poor Britains worst of all and expelled the whole Race of them out of that part of the Island now called England Tho the Saxons had their Wills of the Britains they were before the Heptarchy at continual Variance among themselves and so after that it is almost as unaccountable to give a History of the Succession of their Kings as it was of the Britains before Julius Caesar Egbert about the Year 800 viz. 391 Years after the Saxon Invasion was called the first of the Saxon Monarchs tho the Kingdom of the Mercians was not united to his Monarchy who by Merit as well as Birth obtained the Dignity and succeeded Brithric Ethelwolph succeeded Egbert in the Kingdom of Westsax but not to those of Kent Sussex and Eastsax or Essex these being given by Egbert to Egbert's younger Son Ethelwolph by his Will divided his Kingdoms between his two eldest Sons Ethelbald and Ethelbert to Ethelbald he gave the Kingdom of the West Saxons to Ethelbert the Kingdom of Kent and the Eastern Southern and middle Angles But there were two other Sons Ethelred and Alfred Ethelbert after the Death of Ethelbald succeeded him in the Kingdom of the West Saxons and after the Death of Ethelbert Ethelred succeeded in the whole viz. of the West Saxons and of the Kingdoms of Kent the Eastern Southern and Middle Angles Alfred after the Death of Ethelred by universal Applause the famous the youngest Son of Ethelwolph succeeded Edward Son of Alfred was chosen by the Nobles on Whit-sunday in 901. Athelstan after the Death of Alfred tho a Bastard was elected by the Nobles of whom 't was said there was nothing ignoble in him But Athelstan dying without Issue his younger Brother Edmund succeeded him without any Opposition and tho he left two Sons Edwy and Edgar yet Edmund's younger Brother succeeded him Edwy after Edred's Death Edred's elder Brother 's elder Son succeeded but being a vicious Prince the Mercians and Northumbrians chose Edgar his younger Brother King in the Life of Edwy and Edgar after the Death of Edwy became King of the whole Nation Edward Son of Edgar after his Death was chosen by the Bishops and Nobles by the Command of his Father Edgar but he being murdered by his Step-mother Edward's younger Brother Ethelred succeeded And after his Death the Saxon Monarchy being rent in pieces by the Danes and Saxons Edmund Ironside Son of Etheldred by an obscure mean Woman tho he had two half-legitimate younger Brothers Edward and Alfred born of Etheldred's Wife was chosen King by one part of the Nobility and Canutus the Dane by another Thus the whole legitimate Race of the Saxon Kings were excluded one part chusing Ironside a Bastard the other Canutus a Stranger to the Saxon Royal Race Edmund Ironside being treacherously murdered by his Brother-in-law Edric Edmund leaving two Sons Edwy and Edward Canutus the Dane became sole Monarch of the Saxon Monarchy So that this was the beginning of the Danish Dynasty which lasted not long Harold Son of Canutus succeeded him and Hardicanute his Brother succeeded Harold neither the Issue of Etheldred Edward or Alfred nor Edwy or Edward the Sons of Edmund Ironside so much as taken notice of with this Hardicanute ended the Danish Rule with the Slaughter and Expulsion of the Danes Edward Son of Etheldred called the Confessor Uncle to Edwy and Edward Sons of Edmund Ironside after Hardicanute was advanced to the Royal Dignity principally by means of Earl Goodwin a powerful and imperious Lord upon the account of Edward's marrying the Earl's Daughter so little was the Hereditary Succession of the Saxon Kings regarded And that Edward's Reign might be more secure this Earl Goodwin caused the Eyes of Alfred the King's Brother to be put out and some say took away his Life Edward the Confessor growing old having no Issue and the Family of the wicked Earl Goodwin growing not only insolent but intolerable to him declared Edward the Son of Edmund Ironside his Cousin his Heir And to the end he might better succeed the King sent to the King of Hungary to return his Nephew Edward whom the King of Hungary had married to his Niece Agatha Daughter to Henry Emperor of Germany which the King of Hungary did and upon Edward's return the Confessor declared that he or his Sons should succeed in his Hereditary Kingdom of England But the Confessor did not long hold in this Mind for his Nephew Edward soon after dying and leaving a Son Edgar unfit for Government either as to his Body or Courage he decreed that his Kinsman William Duke of Normandy tho a Bastard should succeed him in the Kingdom of England which came to pass and so a new Race of Kings have succeeded in England of the Norman Race whose original Title was from a Grant of a King of the Saxon Race and so the beginning creates little Title to an Hereditary Succession in the Norman Race And now we 'll see how an Hereditary Succession was observed in it yet as in the Saxon so in the Norman Kings none succeeded who was not of the Royal Blood as all the Kings of Judah were of the Family or Tribe of Judah William Rufus the second Son of the Conqueror succeeded his elder Brother Robert then alive So did Henry the First his elder Brother Robert living Stephen the Son of the Conqueror's Sister succeeded Henry tho Henry left a Daughter Maud or Matilda Henry the Second succeeded Henry's Mother yet living so his Succession was not Hereditary for Haeres non est viventis Richard the First succeeded Henry the Second John succeeded Richard Arthur the Son of John's elder Brother then alive Henry the Third succeeded Arthur's Sister then alive who was Heir before him So that of seven Successions after the Conqueror but one Richard the First succeeded as Heir to his Father or the Conqueror Admit Edward the First succeeded as Heir to Henry the 3d and Edward the 2d as Heir to Edward the First yet Edward the 3d did not succeed as Heir to Edward the 2d he being then alive Admit Richard the 2d was Heir to Edward the Black Prince eldest Son to Edward the 3d yet neither Henry the 4th 5th or 6th were Heirs from Edward the 3d but the Descendants of Phillippa the Daughter of Lionel Duke of Clarence John of
unanswerable Reasons of a National Interest and the manifold Inconveniences the incorporating those Trades in a Company brought to the Navigation of the Nation both in the Foreign Vent of our Manufactures and in their Returns to the Ruin of infinite Artificers Sea-men and Shipwrights and to the Diminution of the King's Revenue Whereupon these Trades were declared free and have ever since continued so to the inestimable Benefit of this Nation But tho the Reasons in this Act extend to all other Beneficial Trades as to Turkey the East-Country and Hamburgh Trades and to Africa and the East-Indies yet all these Trades are monopolized into Companies exclusive to other Men as much to the Prejudice of the Nation as the making the Spanish Trade free was beneficial to it About this time the Clergy at least a Faction which stiled themselves the Clergy made an Attempt to try how far their Doctrine of Absolute Power in the King had taken root in him they had gained their Point so far as the King had declared his Command to the Commons as Absolute King and now they 'll see whether the King would assert it and the Case was this Arch-bishop Whitgift a Prelate of singular Piety and Humility died the last day of February in the first Year of the King and Doctor Richard Bancroft a Man of a rough Temper a stout Foot-ball-player as zealous an Assertor of the Rights of the Church of England or rather a Faction of Church-men who arrogated to themselves the Title as Julius the 2d was of the Papacy exhibited to the King and Council 25 Articles in the Name of all the Clergy of England called Articuli Cleri which were desired to be reformed in granting Prohibitions tho there were a Parliament and Convocation then sitting which I do not find had any hand in it This Exhibition as it ascribed an Absolute Power to the King so it struck directly at the Constitution of Parliaments the principal End of which is to redress Grievances and Abuses in the Nation and if the King's Council during the sitting of a Parliament shall ascribe to themselves this Power then the great End of Parliaments redressing Grievances and Abuses is in vain However Bancroft herein not only makes the King's Council to have a concurring Power with the Parliament but paramount to it by exhibiting these Articles in the sitting of a Parliament and Convocation but the Judges gave so clear and distinct an Answer to them all that the King did not think fit to meddle in them yet did not Bancroft rest here as you will hear hereafter The Articles and the Judges Answer to them you may read at large in Sir Coke's second Institute tit Articuli Cleri Whilst Bancroft was thus ascribing to the King this Absolute Power and exalting a Faction of Church-men above the true State of the Clergy which is one of the three States of the Nation and above the Nobility and Commonalty which are the other two The Popish Faction were plotting a Design not only to destroy the Church of England but the very Person of the King with the Nobility and Commons convened in Parliament which was to have been executed upon the fifth of November following the day on which the Parliament were to meet The Popish Party hoped and it may be not unreasonably that the King in regard of his Mother's Religion was not averse to theirs so that if he became not of their Church which in his Speech at the opening the Parliament he owns our Mother-Church at least hoped to have their Religion tolerated whereas finding the King in his Speech after he had declaimed against the Heresies and Abuses crept into their Church and the Pope's having arrogated an Imperial Civil Power over Kings and Emperors by dethroning and decrowning them with his Foot and disposing of their Kingdoms and the Jesuits Practice of assassinating and murdering Kings if they be cursed by the Pope That so long as they maintained these they were not sufferable in the Kingdom From this time forward and it may be before a Popish Crew contrived how to bring in their Catholick Religion they cared not which way so it might be done At last it was agreed upon the opening of the Session of Parliament upon the 5th of November one part of the Conspirators should blow up the Lords House while the King Prince with the Nobility and Commons were in it having prepared all things in a readiness whilst another part should seize upon the Lady Elizabeth after Queen of Bohemia and proclaim her Queen But the Plot being discovered the Conspirators were defeated of both their Designs The Horror and Terror of this Conspiracy the Discovery whereof was industriously divulged and believed to be by the King 's great Wisdom and Care reconciled for a time all Differences between him and his Parliament and the Parliament to gratify the King the Clergy gave him four Subsidies at four Shillings in the Pound and the Temporality three Subsidies and â—ix Fifteenths which was threefold more than any Parliament in one Session gave Queen Elizabeth before that of the 35 Eliz. notwithstanding the Payment of her Father's Brother's and Sister's Debts her expelling the French out of Scotland the building and repairing the Navy Royal the Support of the Reformed in France the subduing the Rebellion in the North the Support of the Dutch in the Netherlands the Irish War and the Overthrow of the Spanish Armada in 88. The Parliament enacted the Oath of Allegiance which Bellarmine under the Name of Tortus wrote against and Andrews Bishop of Winton under the Name of Tortura Torti defended it The Parliament too ordained the Anniversary of the Fifth of November to be celebrated for a perpetual Thanksgiving-Day for the King and Kingdom 's Delivery from this Conspiracy All Heats about Prerogative and Privilege were now laid aside the Pulpits and our Universities rang with Declamations against the Heresies and Usurpations of the Church of Rome and now the King gave himself wholly to Hunting Plays Masques Balls and writing against Bellarmine and the Pope's Supremacy in arrogating a Power over Kings and disposing of their Kingdoms and thus the Case stood for four Years after wherein I scarce find any thing worth mentioning This and the next Year was almost wholly spent in Debates concerning the Uniting of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland which the King eanestly solicited and which ended only in Contests and Arguments for the House of Parliament refused to join with the King in it however the King obtained a Judgment in Westminster-Hall in a Case called Calvin's Case that the Post Nati in Scotland after the King's Assumption to the Crown of England were free to purchase and inherit in England But whilst the King was thus wallowing in Pleasure he wholly gave himself up to be governed by Favourites to whom he was above any other King of England except Henry the 8th excessively prodigal not only in Honours and Offices but of
affected have done before them And to make choice of meet Collectors of the Monies and to return a Schedule of the Names of such as shall contribute and the Sums that are offered by them that his Majesty may take notice of the good Inclinations of the Subjects to a Cause of such Importance as likewise of such others if any such be as out of Obstinacy or Disaffection shall refuse to contribute These were the Ways which this pacifick King took in and out of Parliament which I believe except in the Reign of Edward the 4th were never practised by any of our English Kings and all this under the specious Pretence of recovering his Son-in-law's Patrimony prodigally to squander it among his Favourites especially Buckingham whose Avarice could not be supported otherwise by the Revenues of the Crown and Venality of all Places Sacred and Civil These were the Noble Atchievements which this pacifick King obtained over his Parliament which presumed to advise him for his own Honour and the Nation 's Safety this was the Return he made for inverting the Methods of Proceedings in Parliament to pleasure him by granting Subsidies before Grievances were redrest A Prince foreign born to our English Laws and Constitutions A Prince as the noble Nani Anno 1619. fol. 137 138. observes in whom Decorum and want of Power were commonly Opposites he being Scotish by Birth and come to the Crown by Inheritance was the first that governed the two Nations by Natural Antipathy and antient Emulation of Enemies and designing to reclaim the Fierceness of those People with Ease and Idleness had set up his Rest in Peace and avoiding as much as possible the calling of Parliaments without which not having the Power to impose Contributions nor levy Money he contented himself rather to struggle with many Straits and Difficulties than to see them meet with a Jealousy of them or being met be obliged to separate them with the disgust of the People or with the satisfaction of Prejudice to the Superior in Power A Prince so poor before he came to the Crown of England that if he had not been supported by the Pension which Queen Elizabeth allowed him could not have maintained the Garb of many of our English Gentry and being come to the Crown of England not only the Sacred Patrimony of it was squandered and embarassed upon debauched and profane Favourites but the People otherwise oppressed with almost infinite Monopolies and Projects which the Nation never before heard of and as they were new so were they all illegal and all these to make his Favourites rich while he continued the poorest King that ever governed England Justled in his Throne by the Presbytery in Scotland yet nothing less than Sacred would down with him from the Clergy in England tho his dissolute Life and profane Conversation were diametrically contrary These by a twenty Years Habit were so fixed in the King a Prince of all others the most regardless of his Honour and Word that they became natural So that after the Parliament had given him two Subsidies and intended another for carrying on the War for the recovery of the Palatinate and after he had by such means as before said by such Terror raised Benevolences all England over upon pretence of it yet by the Advice of Buckingham and Gundamor he placed the Anchor of his Hope to do it by the Match of his Son with the Infanta of Spain when an unlooked-for Accident reported by Nani in his 5th Book fol. 186. had like to have spoiled all For the King of Bohemia weary of being amused and deluded with the Hopes of his Father-in-law's Treaties which he now saw were mocked by the Spaniards themselves in a Disguise with two Persons only from Holland passes into France by Sea and from thence through Lorrain and through the midst of his Enemies Troops arrives at Landau where Count Mansfield who then made War in the Palatinate in his Right had a Garison where he discovered himself and from thence went to Germersheim where he was received with the general Applause of the whole Army This Escape of the King's Son-in-law confounded all the King's Measures which he had taken for him by the Marriage of the Infanta with his Son so that he was more alarm'd at it than at the Commons Remonstrance and Protestation tho he bore the Affliction with a much better Temper So all Wits were set at work how to get the Elector out of the Hands of Mansfield back again into Holland for now the Proceedings at Brussels upon the Peace were put to a full stop the Spaniards alledging they could not proceed in the Treaty so long as the King's Son-in-law was in the Hands of Mansfield their most inveterate and bitter Enemy It fell out luckily for the King's Designs tho unluckily for his Son-in-law's that Mansfield being worsted by the Spanish Arms in the Palatinate and the Elector Palatine fearing that Mansfield in the Adversity of his Affairs would make him a Sacrifice in giving him up to the Spaniard to make his own Terms the better was the more easily enveagled by the King's Agents to return again into Holland where the first News he heard was that Tilly had taken Heidelburg the Capital Seat of his Ancestors by Storm and Frankendal his next City reduced to Extremity by Cordua so that as Nani says fol. 188. King James who had published that his Son-in-law held that Country under his Protection was laugh'd at by all the World and forced to consent to a Truce for fifteen Months during which Frankendal and the rest of the lower Palatinate should be deposited into the Spaniards Hands to restore them to the King James if within that time there were not a Peace concluded King James having thus deposited his Son-in-law's Patrimony in the Hands of the Spaniards in the Low Countries now by the Direction of Buckingham not only the Dictator over the Kingdoms of England Scotland and Ireland but over the King himself and 't was feared more over the Prince upon pretence that the Earl of Bristol was too remiss in prosecuting the Prince's Suit at Madrid resolves to deposite the Prince in the Power of the Court of Spain there to remain as an Hostage till he can procure the Infanta to be his Spouse This was such an Adventure as Don Quixot never dream'd of in any of his that because the King the Prince his Father was poor at home and despised abroad therefore by making his only Son an Hostage in another King's Court where the Maxims both of Religion and State were directly contrary he should think to perswade the King of Spain to overturn all and also get such a Portion as was fourfold more than any Prince before had to enrich himself and to make War against the King of Spain or Emperor which the Spaniard esteemed all as one and also that the King of Spain should restore the Palatinate because the King knew not which way else
them with Men of War to guard their Fisheries and to do it whether he would or not A Prince that by his dissolute Life and prophane Conversation debauched and effeminated the Genius of the English Nation whereby it became more scandalized for Swearing and Drinking than in any Age before A Prince that broke all the Measures by which Hen. 8. and Queen Elizabeth were the Arbitrators of Christendom A Prince fearful of all his Enemies abroad while he was only great by exercising a Tyrannical Arbitrary Power over his Parliaments and Subjects who could only have made him great abroad and honoured at home whereby he became little beloved at home and suffered the Dutch to redeem their Cautionary Towns upon their own Terms and to dispossess the English at Amboyna and their other Factories in the East-Indies and Africa He only stood still looking on while the French upon the Matter supprest the Reformed in France and suffered Ferdinand the 2d to over-run and near subdue the Protestant Princes in Germany as well as his own Son-in-law And tho he were the 6th of that Name King of Scotland from John alias Robert Stuart the Son of Robert Stuart by his Paramour Elizabeth Moor yet if Sir James Melvil says true that Cardinal Bethoun poisoned James the 5th he was the first of that Name who died a natural Death if he did so for James the first was murdered by his Uncle the Earl of Athol his Grand-father's legitimate Son in his Queen's Arms with eight and twenty Wounds the Queen receiving two to defend him This was in the Year 1436. James the II. was killed by the breaking of a Piece of Cannon while he besieged the Castle of Roxburgh the 3d of Aug. 1460. James the III. having his Army routed by an Army headed by his Son James was killed at Bannoch-Burn by the Lord Gray and Robert Sterling of Ker after Sir Andrew Brothick a Priest had shriven him This was in 1488. James the IV. was killed the 9th of December 1514 at Flowdenfield by the English commanded by the Earl of Surrey and his Body never found and if James the 5th was poisoned then none of these Jameses died a natural Death neither did King James his Mother being put to death Ann. 1587 for conspiring the Death of Queen Elizabeth After the Dissolution of the Spanish Match the King as greedily prosecuted the French and tho he lived not to see it settled yet he saw the Army raised under Count Mansfield for the Recovery of the Palatinate ruined by trusting to the French Faith in this very Treaty When he died he not only left an empty Exchequer but a vast Debt upon the Crown yet was engaged in a foreingn War and the Monies given by the Parliament for carrying it on were squandred away in carrying on the French Treaty and the Nation imbroiled in intestine Feuds and Disorders At his Death he left a Son and Heir and one Daughter Before he died he saw his Son over-ruled by his Favourite against his determinate Will and Pleasure and the Prince's own Honour and Interest which was a great Mortification to him and which he often complained of but had not Courage to redress and so strongly was 〈◊〉 Favourite possessed of his Power over his Son in the King's Life that the Prince little regarded his Father's Precepts or the Counsels of any else after his Death whereby he encreased the Internal Feuds Jealousies and Discords of the Nation which ended in a sad Catastrophe both of the Favourite and the King At the King's Death his Daughter with her Husband and her many Children were driven into Exile and Poverty in the Dominion of the Dutch States where they were more relieved by the States the Prince of Orange and some Bishops and Noblemen of England than by either of the Kings Father or Son A DETECTION OF THE Court and State of England During the Reign of King CHARLES I. c. BOOK II. CHAP. I. This Reign detected to the Dissolution of the Parliament Tertio Car. 'T WAS a strange Reign this As this King's Father's Reign was introduced with a horrible Plague so was this King's with a greater and such as no Records of any Times before mention the like The first 15 Years of his Reign were perfectly French and such as never before were seen or heard of in the English Nation this brought on a miserable War in all the three Kingdoms of England Scotland and Ireland and Destruction upon the King whenas it was not in the Power of those which first raised the War against him to save his Life which they would have done Baptista Nani in the sixth Book of the History of Venice An. 1625 f. 221 observes That after the Marriage of King Charles with the Daughter of France the Interest of State or rather the Passion of Favourites converted the Bonds of Affection into Causes of Hatred Europe in those times reckoned it amidst its unhappy Destiny that the Government of it fell upon three young Kings yet in the Flower of their Age Princes of great Power desirous of Glory and in Interest contrary but in this alone by Genius agreeing that they committed the Burden of Affairs to the Will of their Ministers for with equal Independency France was governed by Richlieu Spain by Olivares and Great-Britain by Buckingham confounding Affections with Interest as well publick as private Betwixt the Cardinal and Buckingham open Animosities discovered themselves for Causes so much more unadvised as they were more hard to be known When King James died the Nation was rent into four Parties viz. The Prerogative which exalted the King's divided Will from the Laws and Constitutions above his Royal and Legal Will The Country or Legal Party which stood for the Legal Establishment of Church and State and the Puritan and Popish Parties After the Treaties of Marriage between the Prince and the Daughters of Spain and France the Popish and Prerogative Parties joined for carrying on the Court-Designs and were opposed by the Country and Puritan Parties and as the Prerogative and Popish Factions grew more insolent so the Puritan Party gathered Strength and Reputation among the Vulgar or ordinary People insomuch that in Number they became more than all the other three We shall take a better View of this Reign if we look a little back into the former After the Treaty of the Match with Spain was broken off King James was perplext what to do he had neither Money nor Courage to make War for the Recovery of the Palatinate and the Wounds which he had given the last Parliament by Imprisoning their Members for advising him to make War for the Recovery of the Palatinate were yet fresh and bleeding and yet Buckingham whom he durst not offend not content to satisfy his Spite against Olivares by breaking off the Match was notwithstanding all Difficulties nay Impossibility of Success still pushing on the King to declare War against the King of Spain The King
may be drawn into the Body of a Remonstrance and therein humbly exprest with a Prayer to his Majesty for the Safety of himself and for the Safety of the Kingdom and for the Safety of Religion that he would be pleased to give the House time to make perfect Inquisitions thereof or to take it into his own Wisdom and there give them such timely Reformation as the necessity of the Cause and his Justice does import Sir Edward Coke seconded Sir John Elliot 's Motion and propounded that a humble Remonstrance be presented to the King touching the Dangers and Means of the Safety of the King and Kingdom which was agreed to by the House and thereupon the House turned themselves into a grand Committee and the Committee for the Bill of Subsidies was ordered to expedite the said Remonstrance But this King rather than hear of what he had done did not care what he did and therefore the Speaker brought a Message from the King That his Majesty having upon the Petition exhibited by both Houses given an Answer so full of Justice and Grace for which we and our Posterity have just cause to bless his Majesty it is now time to draw to a Conclusion of the Session and therefore his Majesty thinks fit to let them know That he does resolve to abide by that Answer without further Change or Alteration and so he will Royally and Really perform unto them what he had thereby promised And further That he resolves to end this Session upon Wednesday the 11th of this Month and that this House should seriously attend those Businesses which may bring the Session to a happy Conclusion without entertaining new Matters and so to husband the time that his Majesty may with more Comfort bring them speedily together again at which time if there be any further Grievances not contained or expressed in the Petition they may be more maturely considered than the time will now permit But this did not disturb the Commons but they proceeded in their Declaration against Dr Manwaring and the same day presented it to the Lords at a Conference which was managed by Mr. Pym. The Commons impeached the Doctor upon these three Points in his Sermons of Allegiance and Religion 1. That he affirmed that the King is not bound to keep and observe the good Laws and Customs of this Realm concerning the Rights and Liberties of the Subjects and that his Royal Will and Command in imposing Loans Taxes and other Aids upon his People without common Consent in Parliament does so far bind the Consciences of the Subjects of this Kingdom that they cannot refuse the same without peril of Eternal Damnation 2. That those of his Majesty's Subjects that refused the Loan did therein offend against the Law of God and against his Majesty's Supream Authority and by so doing became guilty of Impiety Disloyalty Rebellion and Disobedience and liable to many other Taxes and Censures which he in the several Parts of his Book does most falsly and maliciously lay upon them 3. That the Authority of Parliament is not necessary for the raising of Aids and Subsidies that the slow Proceedings of such Assemblies are not fit to supply the urgent Necessities of State but rather apt to produce sundry Impediments to the just Design of Princes and to give them occasion of Displeasure and Discontent Whereupon the Commons demanded Judgment against the Doctor not accounting his Submission with Tears and Grief a Satisfaction for the Offence charged upon him and the Lords gave this Sentence 1. That he should be imprisoned during the Pleasure of the House 2. That he should be fined 1000 l. to the King 3. That he should make such Submission and Acknowledgment of his Offences as shall be set down by a Committee in Writing both at this Bar and the House of Commons 4. That he shall be suspended for the Term of three Years from the Exercise of the Ministry and in the mean time a sufficient preaching Minister shall be provided to serve the Cure out of his Livings this Suspension and Provision to be done by the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction 5. That he shall be disabled hereafter to have any Ecclesiastical Dignity or Secular Office 6. That he shall be disabled hereafter ever to preach at Court 7. That his Book is worthy to be burnt and that for the better effecting of this his Majesty may be moved to grant a Proclamation to call in the said Books that they may be burnt accordingly in London both the Vniversities and for the inhibiting the printing thereof upon a great Penalty This Censure immediately succeeding Sir Elliot's Representation of Grievances startled Laud as much as Sir John's Representation did the Duke of Buckingham and the King that he might not hear of any more Business of this kind upon the 5th of June commanded the Speaker to let the House know that he will certainly hold to the day fixed for ending the Session viz. the 11th and therefore requires them that they enter not into nor proceed in any new Business which may spend greater time or which may lay any Scandal or Aspersion upon the State-Government or the Ministers thereof This put the House into a fearful Consternation whereupon the House declared That every Member of the House is free from any undutiful Speech from the beginning of the Parliament to that day and ordered the House to be turned into a Committee to consider what was to be done for the Safety of the Kingdom and that no Man go out of the House upon pain of being committed to the Tower But before the Speaker left the Chair he desired leave to go forth which the House granted Then Sir Edward Coke spake freely We have dealt with that Duty and Moderation that never was the like Rebus sic stantibus after such a Violation upon the Liberties of the Subjects let us take this to Heart In 30 Edw. 3. were they then in any doubt to name Men that mislead the King They accused John of Gaunt the King's Son the Lords Latimer and Nevilâ—or â—or misadvising the King and they went to the Tower for it now when there is such a downfal of the State shall we hold our Tongues How shall we answer our Duty to God and Men 7 Hen. 4. Parl. Rot. 31 32. 11 Hen. 4. Numb 13. there the Council are complained of and removed from the King they mewed up the King and disswaded him from the common Good and why are we turned from that way we were in Why may not we name those that are the Cause of all our Evils In the 4 H. 3. 21 E. 3. 13 R. 2. the Parliament moderated the King's Prerogative and nothing grows to Abuse but this House hath Power to treat thereof What shall we do Let us palliate no longer if we do God will not prosper us I think the Duke of Bucks is the Cause of all our Miseries and till the King be informed thereof we shall neither go out with
Never was Nation shuffled into such unhappy Circumstances for to join the King was to return to his Prerogative Royal and Absolute Will and Pleasure and I have oft heard several of those who followed the King in the War say They as much dreaded the King's overcoming the Parliament-Party as they feared to be overcome by them And the Houses had broken the Fundamental Constitution of the Nation so as no Man could tell where they would stay Now are things brought to that pass Richlieu design'd them viz. England and Ireland in Civil Wars and Scotland Pensioners to France so as he might now securely carry on his Designs of advancing the Grandeur of France without any Fear of Disturbance from hence And now you may see the miserable Condition the King's Minions and Favourites had brought upon the King and all his Kingdoms Yet it is observable how great the Loyalty of the Nobility and Gentry was to the King that from so low Beginnings in all Appearance they would have subdued the Parliament-party if the Scots next Year had not come to their Assistance whereas in the Reigns of Edward the 2d and Richard the 2d though the Grievances of the Nation were more in one Year of this King's Reign than in both their Reigns yet both were expelled and lost their Lives their Subjects not drawing a Sword in their Defence An Apology BEfore we enter upon the War between the King and Parliament it will not be amiss to enquire into the Causes of it and who first began it and whether the King or Parliament or both designed it And I am the rather induced hereto because I am told that I have unjustly charged the Parliament with beginning the War and that the contrary appears by a Treatise written by Tho. May Esq of the Causes and Beginning of the Civil Wars in England So that the Question between us is not who first designed the War but who began it But because Designations and Intentions precede Action I will begin so far as appears to me Whether the King or Parliament first designed this War or whether it were not intended by both And give me leave to shew a little of Mr. May's Partiality in the Business I say Mr. May is partial where page 13 he says after the Pacification made with the Scots 1639 that when the King came to London his Heart was again estranged from the Scots and Thoughts of Peace he commanded by Proclamation that Paper which the Scots avowed to contain the true Conditions of the Pacification to be disavowed and burnt by the Hands of the common Hangman So that he makes the Scots Parties and Judges in their own Case without mentioning the Articles of the Pacification or what the Scots avowed to contain the true Conditions of it We will therefore set forth the Articles of the Pacification and let another Judg whether the Scots observed them or had any Thoughts of Peace The Articles were 1. The Forces of Scotland to be disbanded within 24 Hours after the Agreement 2. The King's Castles Ammunition c. to be delivered up 3. His Ships to depart after the Delivery of the Castles 4. All Persons Ships and Goods detained by the King to be restored 5. No Meetings Treaties or Consultations to be by the Scots but such as shall be warranted by Act of Parliament 6. All Fortifications to desist and be remitted to the King's Pleasure 7. To restore to every Man their Liberties Lands Houses Goods and Means The Articles were signed by the Scots Commissioners and a present Performance of them on their Parts promised and expected The King justly performed the Articles on his part but the Scots kept part of their Forces in being and all their Officers in pay and the Covenanters kept up their Fortification at Leith and their Meetings and Councils and inforce Subscriptions to the late Assembly at Glasgow contrary to the King's Declaration they brand those who had taken Arms for the King as Incendiaries and Traitors and null all the Acts of the College of Justice as you may read in Mr. Whitlock's Memoirs f. 29. So that tho the King performed all the Articles of Pacification on his Part the Scots performed not one on their Part. Nor did the Scots stay here but published a Paper very seditious against the Treaty which is that which Mr. May speaks of I do not find the Copy of it but even Mr. Whitlock no great Friend to the King's Cause calls it so Nor did the Scots stay here but levied Taxes at ten Marks per Cent. and made Provision for Arms as you may read in Sir Baker's History f. 408. and more at large in the second part of Rushworth's Collections and all this before the King commanded the Scots Paper to be burnt by the Hand of the Common Hangman And therefore the King justly commanded the Scots Paper to be burnt by the Hand of the common Hangman And Mr. May says The honest People of both Nations began to fear another War But why does Mr. May say the honest People began to fear another War Was it honest in the Scots to break all the Articles of the Pacification to keep their Forces in a Body and their Officers in Pay contrary to the Pacification to raise Taxes and make Provision of Arms and after all these honest Men to begin to fear another War Mr. May goes on and says The King in December told the Council he intended to call a Parliament in England in April following But rational Men did not like it that it was deferred so long and that the Preparations for a War in Scotland went on in the mean time The last part is gratis dictum by Mr. May nor does he mention any Preparation for a War in any one particular nor do I find this said by any other But admit the King had made Preparation for a War with Scotland yet by all Laws of God and Man the King might justly have done it after the Scots had broken all the Articles of Pacification kept an Army on foot against it levied Taxes by their own Authority and made Provision of Arms without the King's Authority which besides the Perfidiousness of the Scots is Treason in the highest degree And I would be glad to be informed by what other means the King could vindicate his Honour or relieve his oppressed Subjects otherwise than by a War Mr. May goes on and says They these rational Men were likewise troubled that the Earl of Strafford Deputy of Ireland a Man of deep Policy but suspected Honesty one whom the King then used as a bosom Counsellor was first to go into Ireland and call a Parliament in that Kingdom And what then Why might not the King call a Parliament in Ireland as well as in England or Scotland And if these rational Men did not like it as he says that a Parliament should be deferred so long in England why should these rational Men be so troubled that the King
King was knowing of both one was to have delivered the Earl of Strafford out of the Tower but Sir William Balfour the Lieutenant would not consent to it Here note The King made Balfour a Scot Lieutenant of the Tower one of the greatest Places of Trust in England without any Complaint of the Parliament whenas the Parliament of Scotland in their second Demand made to the King would have no Stranger to command or inhabit in any Castles of the King 's without their Consent The other part of this Treason chief of all the rest But why all when but two Mr. May says was a Design to bring up the English Army which was in the North and not yet disbanded this Army they had dealt with to engage against the Parliament's sitting and as they alledg to maintain the King's Prerogative Episcopacy and other things against the Parliament it self This Charge is so false as well as partial as no Man who had any regard to Truth Honesty or Fairness would have so expos'd himself for if the King's Prerogative be not maintain'd he can neither govern his Subjects nor protect them from Foreign Enemies and Episcopacy is one of the Constitutions of the Nation and how the maintaining these can be against the Parliament had need of a wiser Head than Mr. May's to shew But these two are not all Mr. May says but there were other things against the Parliament if there had been other things I do not think Mr. May would in Modesty have conceal'd them but since Mr. May has not given the Causes of this chief Treason I will do it and not follow Sir Richard Baker nor Franklin lest they should be deemed to be partial to the King's Cause but Mr. Whitlock whom no Man believes to be so who fol. 44. b. says June 19th It was voted that the Scots should receive 100000 l. of the 300000 l. the Scots by a Paper pretended Necessity for 125000 l. in present the Parliament took off 10000 l. of 50000 l. which they had appointed for the English Army and order'd it for the Scots The Lord Piercy Commissary Wilmot and Ashburnham Members of Parliament sitting together and murmuring at it Wilmo◠stept up and said That if such Papers of the Scots could procure Monies he doubted not but the Officers of the English Army would soon do the like and this caused the English Army to say The Parliament had disobliged them The Officers put themselves into a Juncto of sworn Secrecy and drew up some Heads by way of Petition to the King and Parliament for Money for the Army and not to disband before the Scots to preserve the Bishops Votes and Functions and to settle the King's Revenue The Army tainted from hence met and drew up a Letter or Petition which was shewed to the King approv'd and signed by him with C. R. and a Direction to Captain Leg that none should see it but Sir Jacob Ashley it should have been Astly the main drift was That the Army might be call'd up to attend the Safety of the King's Person and Parliament's Security or that both Armies might be disbanded Where is this chief Treason lodg'd unless in Mr. May's Brain Or where is the King's Prerogative mention'd But as the Times then went Mr. May took liberty to say what he list to humour them the Scots must be obey'd in whatsoever they demand and it must be chief Treason in the English to petition Mr. May p. 32 33. will have the King 's going into Scotland to be a Design to raise War against the Parliament of England and to that end tells a Story of a Scots Writer that published that it was to engage the Scots against the Parliament of England with large Promises of Spoil and offering Jewels of great Value for Performance of it but he names not the Scot and leaves it uncertain for the Reader to judg by what fell out afterward But if he the King did it was a matter of great Falshood Mr. May says having as yet declar'd no Enmity against the English Parliament From the same Author he says it was to make sure of those Noblemen of that Kingdom he doubted of as not willing to serve his turn against England and true it is that about September Letters came to the standing Committee at Westminster that a Treasonable Plot was discovered there against the greatest Peers of the Kingdom but says not which Kingdom upon which the standing Committee fearing some Mischief from the same Spring placed strong Guards in divers Places of the City of London But in all this the Fox is the Finder and Mr. May as partial and false as in all he said before The truth was Jealousies and Fears were fomented by the Parliamentarians and even by the Members themselves against the King and Royalists But Mr. Whitlock tho of like Affection with Mr. May yet a much more impartial Representer of the Actions of those Times fol. 49. a. represents it thus The Marquesses of Hamilton and Argyle withdrew from the Parliament in Scotland upon Jealousy of some Design against their Persons but upon Examination of that matter by the Parliament there it was found to be a Misinformation yet the same took fire in our Parliament upon the Surmises of some whereupon the Parliament here appointed Guards for London and Westminster and some spake 〈◊〉 without Reflection upon the King The Royalists charge the Parliament at least the Commons with a Design to raise War against the King and to make him odious to the People after he had granted all the Parliament desired of him and given up those whom they call'd evil Counsellors to their Justice for their Remonstrance of the State of the Kingdom after the King's return out of Scotland which because of the Extraordinariness of it we will recite it verbatim as is said by Mr. Whitlock f. 49. b. The House of Commons prepared a Remonstrance of the State of the Kingdom wherein they mentioned All the Mistakes Misfortunes Illegalities and Defaults in Government since the King 's coming to the Crown the evil Counsels and Counsellors and a malignant Party that they have no hopes of settling the Distractions of this Kingdom for want of a Concurrence with the Lords This Remonstrance was somewhat roughly penn'd both for the Matter and Expressions in it and met with great Opposition in the House insomuch as the Debate of it lasted from three a Clock in the Afternoon till ten next Morning and the sitting up all Night caused many of the Members through Weakness or Weariness to leave the House and Sir B. R. I think he means Sir Benj. Rudyard to compare it to the Verdict of a starv'd Jury When the Vote was carried tho not by many to pass the Remonstrance Mr. Palmer and two or three more made their Protestation against this Remonstrance for which they were sent to the Tower This Remonstrance was presently printed and published by the Parliament contrary to the King's Desire
Kingdoms of England Scotland and Ireland and Destruction upon the King when is was not in the Power of those which first raised the War against him to save his Life which they would have done I am told that the last Part of this Paragraph is an unjust Charge upon the Parliament in that they acted defensively in this War and that the King first raised Arms and this by the Authority of Mr. May. If I be mistaken I have the Authority of him who could best know I mean the King at his Death who declared That he never did begin the War with the two Houses of Parliament as all the World knows that they began with him it was the Militia they began upon they confest that to be his but they thought fit to have it from him and to be short if any body will look into the Dates of those Commissions theirs and his and likewise to the Declarations they will see clearly that they began these unhappy Troubles not he See Whit. Mem. f. 369. a. and all the Writers of those times If this be not Authority sufficient to shew the Parliament began the War the first Scuffle between the King and Parliament was about the Business of Hull where the Parliament had committed the Charge of the Town and Magazine to Sir John Hotham one of the Members of the Commons who was sent down thither to remove the Magazine to London but the Country of York petitioned it might still remain at Hull for securing the Northern Parts especially the King residing there Hereupon the King taking a Guard of his Servants and some Neighbouring Gentry upon the 23d of April went to Hull but contrary to Expectation found the Gates shut and the Bridges drawn up by Sir John and his Entrance denied though but with 20 Horse which so moved the King that he proclaimed Hotham a Traitor and sends to the Parliament for Justice against him To this the Parliament return no Answer but justify Sir John Hotham and order that the Sheriffs and Justices of the Peace do suppress all Forces which shall be raised or gathered together against Hull or to disturb the Peace nor did they stay here but put the Power of the Militia in Persons nominated by them excluding the King in ordering any thing together with them and authorized Hotham by his Warrants to raise the trained Bands in Yorkshire to march with their Arms into Hull where he disarmed them and turned them home again See Whit. Mem. f. 55 56. So I submit this to Judgment whether this was not raising Arms against the King being done by Subjects and contrary to the King's Command and if the King did encrease his Guards yet this was subsequent to the excluding the King from having Power in the Militia and Hotham's Raising Arms and Disarming the Trained Bands of Yorkshire Mr. May says p. 55. the Parliament being then intent upon settling the Militia by Land took care also to seize the Navy into their Hands and ordered the Earl of Warwick to be Admiral to put this in Execution but the King had chosen Sir John Pennington to that place instead of the Earl of Northumberland and sent a Command to the Earl of Warwick to resign the Place to him Pennington But the Earl chose rather to obey the Ordinance of Parliament and with great Courage and Policy got the Fleet into his Hands tho many of the Captains stood out against him but the Earl deprived them of their Commands and possest himself of the Ships taking shortly after another Ship called the Lyon of great Import coming out of Holland and laden with Gun-power which proved a great Addition to his Strength So here was a double Beginning of the War by the Parliament both in seizing the Fleet and taking the Lyon and this before the King committed any Act of Hostility And for the carrying on this War which Mr. May calls the Cause the Parliament upon the 10th of June made an Order for bringing in Money and Plate to raise Arms for the Cause and the Publick Faith for Repayment to them which brought it in So here the Parliament raised Money as well as Forces for carrying on the War before the King levied any And so I leave it to Judgment who first began the War Objection The Parliament raised Arms for their own Defence and Security of the Nation Answer This is said but of no kin to Truth or Reason for Men defend what they are possest of and the King was possest of the Militia and Fleet when the Parliament ravish'd both from him nor did the King use either against the Parliament when they invaded them Besides the King at least as he declared endeavoured to defend the established Religion and Laws of the Land whereas the Parliament contended to abolish the Established Religion and to exalt themselves above the Laws of the Land Objection 2. That the King had so often violated the Laws and Constitutions of the Nation and governed so Arbitrarily that the Parliament could have no Security for the future to prevent his so doing again so long as the King was possest of the Militia Answer The Case was not the same then when the King resolved to have no more Parliaments as now when the King had made this Parliament perpetual and had passed the Triennial Bill for Parliaments to meet whether he would or no And tho Favourites and Flatterers instill'd those things into the King when they were without any Fear or Apprehension of being questioned by a Parliament yet now the Parliament had so severely prosecuted and punished such Men and being perpetual or at least to meet Three Years after every Dissolution none would presume to advise the King in things derogatory to his Honour and the Interest of the Nation And now we proceed to the ensuing War The Parliament before the King set up his Standard at Nottingham Aug. 22 Voted That an Army should be raised for the Defence of the King and Parliament that the Earl of Essex should be Captain General of the Army and the Earl of Bedford General of the Horse The War began first between the Marquess of Hartford for the King in the West and the Earl of Bedford for the Parliament the Earl being worsted by the Marquess at Sherborn-Castle Goring got into Portsmouth and held it for the King but could not hold it long for the Country joining with Sir John Meyrick forced him to surrender who thereupon went into Holland and my Lord Say St. Johns and Weemen with Colonel Whitlock enter Oxford and keep it for the Parliament But the Face of Affairs soon changed for the King having made the Earl of Lindsey his General and the Parliament the Earl of Essex upon the 23d of October the Armies met and fought at Edghil with uncertain Victory which both sides claimed the Earl of Lindsey was mortally wounded and taken Prisoner the Right Wing of the King's Horse commanded by Prince Rupert brake the Left
had gained him before and he discovered all to Cromwel and that he had no Concern for them nor Obligation to them as you may see in Dr. Gumble's History of Monk ' s Life pag. 73. So that Monk was not now of the same Mind as he was afterward when Lambert turn'd the Rump out of doors All other Obstacles thus removed and Cromwel heightned in his frantick Resolutions by the Expectation of Mountains of Gold from the Dutch upon the 20th of April with a Party of Soldiers with him marched to the House and led a File of Musqueteers in with him and the rest he placed at the Door of the House in the Lobby and entring the House in furious manner bid the Speaker leave the Chair and told the House That they had sat long enough unless they had done more Good I could have told him they had done two good Deeds for him one in taking away the King's Life to let him into his Throne the other that they had made him General to enable him to turn them out of doors That some of them were Whore-masters looking towards Henry Martin and Sir Peter Wentworth That others of them were Drunkards and some corrupt and unjust Men and scandalous to the Profession of the Gospel and that it was not fit they should sit any longer as a Parliament and desired them to go away But the Speaker not stirring from his Seat Col. Harrison took him by the Arm to remove him from his Seat which when the Speaker saw he left the Chair Some of the Members rose up to answer Cromwel but he would suffer none to speak but himself He bid one of the Soldiers Take away that Fool 's Bawble the Mace and stay'd himself till all the Members were out and then caused the Doors to be shut up We will look upon this Act in a threefold Consideration viz. In the Doers to whom done and in the Manner of it 1. The Doers were the Rump ' s Servants raised by the Rump and no ways provoked by the Rump So little do Benefits received by ill Men create any Obligation of Gratitude in those who receive them 2. The Rump were a Parliament which were impowered to make War or Peace or were not if they were not then Cromwel and his Assistants Commission from the Rump to judg the King to Death and all the Acts of Hostility which they did during these Wars were Murder or Rapine but if they were a Parliament who might grant Commissions in War and make Laws then Cromwel and his Assistants were greater Rebels and Violators of the Liberties of the Nation than either the Irish or Scots were against the King or the Royalists against the Parliament for the Irish and Scots pretended Grievances and Oppressions against the present Powers whereas Cromwel and his Assistants pretended not one categorical Complaint against the Rump and the Royalists foâ—ght to preserve the Establish'd Laws and Constitutions of the Nation which Cromwel and his Assistants did not Besides herein Cromwel and his Assistants assumed a Power above Regal in deposing the Rump if it were a Rightful Parliament which the King could not do without their Consent 3. For the Manner of Cromwel's Deposing the Rump it was so barbarous and rude as I do not think you will find the like among the most Savage People unless it were when Cromwel and his Agents deposed the Secluded Members Yet sure there was a Divine Justice in both for as the Covenanting Members expelled the Royalists for not taking the Covenant or joining with them in the Innovations which the Covenanters brought into the Church and State so Cromwel and the Rump expelled them for their Covenanting and set up themselves instead of them and now Cromwel does the like by the Rump to exalt himself Thus by their own mercenary Servants and not a Sword drawn in their Defence fell the Haughty and Victorious Rump whose mighty Actions will scarcely find Belief in future Generations and to say the Truth they were a Race of Men most indefatigably industrious in Business always seeking for Men fit for it and never preferring any for Favour nor by Importunity You scarce ever heard of any revolting from them in England Scotland or Ireland during their time except by the Levellers 1649. See Whitlock's Memoirs fol. 385 386 387. No Murmur or Complaint of Sea-men or Soldiers employ'd by them either by Sea or Land for want of Pay In all the Ports of England during the Dutch War Money or Credit was found to pay off the Sea-men whenever their Ships were designed to be laid up Nor do I find they ever press'd either Soldiers or Seamen in all their Wars And as they excelled thus in their Management of Civil Affairs so it must be owned they exercised in Matters Ecclesiastick no such Severities as either the Covenanters or others before them did upon such as dissented from them And as the Rump were thus industrious and victorious in War so were they not negligent in reforming the Abuses in the Practice of the Common Laws and to that end in October 1650 order'd that all the Books of the Laws be put into English and that all Writs Process and Returns thereof and all Patents Commissions Indictments Judgments Records and all Proceedings in Courts of Justice shall be in the English Tongue and not in the Latin or French or any other Language See Whitlock's Memoirs fol. 459. a. The Rump further ordered a Committee for regulating the Law and the Committee reported the Draughts of several Laws viz. 1. The taking away Fines upon Bills Declarations and Original Writs 2. Against Customary Oaths of Fealty and Homage to the Lords of Mannors 3. For taking away common Recoveries and unnecessary Charge of Fines and to pass and charge Land intailed as Lands in Fee Simple 4. For more speedy Recovery of Rents 5. Touching Pleaders and their Fees 6. For more speedy regulating and easy Discovery of Debts and Damages not exceeding 4 l. and under See Whitlock ' s Mem. fol. 504. a. Whether the Rump passed these into Laws I do not find but if they did not they might have done if Cromwel had let them alone and they sat not four Years and three Months But how industrious and victorious soever the Rump was in War they were not so wise in Counsel by making the Act of Navigation and tho we have before demonstrated the manifold Mischiefs and Inconveniences which this Law has brought upon this Nation and shall more particularly hereafter if God pleases in Answer to those Reasons which Sir Josiah Child and Sir Francis Brewsier pretend in Defence of it yet it 's fit that we here shew how that the Rump was mistaken as well in the End as Causes of this Law If we look upon Britain it is an Island and divided into two Kingdoms England and Scotland and both these Kingdoms before they were united under one King viz. James I. by immâ—morial Prescriptions were possessed of
Male Sex who were a sort of Favourites his Father was not acquainted with nor do I find he ever regarded the Memory of his Father but that he industriously endeavour'd to have it believed the Portraiture of his Father's Sufferings a Book of late so much controverted was none of his However his Mother had a great Ascendant over him so that she being a Daughter of France inclin'd him to embrace the French Interest against his own And she living near ten Years after his Restoration so fixed this into a Habit in him that in all his Life after he could never get rid of it notwithstanding all the Provocations of the French King to the contrary But it 's time now to take a View of this King's Actions The Desires of the King to be restor'd were no less than those of the Nation that he should tho upon any Terms for upon the Dissolution of the secluded Members the King left Brussels as you 'll soon see he left Spain who had harboured and relieved him in the time of his Exile to join with France who had expell'd him to join with Oliver and by its Ambassador Bourdeaux at this time was using all its Endeavours to keep him out and came to Breda from whence he sent Letters by Sir John Greenvile after Earl of Bath to Monk Mountague after Earl of Sandwich and the Mayor of London The Presbyterians who thought to have had the same Power they had when the secluded Members dissolved themselves were shrewdly mistaken for the Body of the Commons were Royalists who chose Sir Harbottle Grimston their Speaker and upon the opening of the Convention the Royalist Lords double more than the Presbyterians entred into the Lords House which the Presbyterians complained of to Monk who answer'd Now they were in he had no Power to turn them out so the Royalists were double to the Factions in both Houses of this Convention so as the King need not fear his Restoration Now half England of all sorts except the Rumpers cross the Seas to Breda to make their Bargains with the King before he should come into England the King promises fair to all which it may be was impossible to perform which caused Murmur afterward And the Convention after they had proclaimed him King by inherent Birth-right sent him 50000 l. 10000 l. to the Duke of York and 5000 l. to the Duke of Glocester and the City of London sent the King and his Brothers 12000 l. Upon the 11th of May both Houses sent Commissioners to Breda to invite the King to return and Admiral Mountague with a Royal Fleet to convoy him over who upon the 25th landed him at Dover where Monk met him upon his Knees the King embracing him and kissing him and next day at Canterbury created him Knight of the Garter the Dukes of York and Glocester putting the George about his Neck 'T was rather a Madness than Jollity all sorts of People expressed in the King's Passage from Dover to White-hall The Nation was never so fine in Cloths even the poor Cavaliers will be as fine as the best tho they never live to pay their Tailors nor shall the King take any care of them his Favourites being of another Stamp than those who served his Father Never were such Pageants Triumphal Arches and sumptuous Feasts seen in the City before for which the poor Orphans Money in the Chamber of London must pay the greatest part When the King was restor'd the Nation was in a Martial Posture and the Manners of the People generally more severe and sober than in his Father's and Grand-father's Reigns The first that made Court to the King were the Dutch when he was at Breda to enter into a League with them but the King by the Advice of Sir Edward Hide it 's said wisely answered That this would look as if 't were done by Restraint the King being in their Power besides he was not yet possest of his Kingdoms nor had established his Privy-Council Yet the Dutch were the first who caress'd him with a most rich and splendid Gilded Yatch to prepare him for a Treaty after his Accession to his Crowns Nor were the rest of the Princes of Europe long after the Dutch in congratulating the King's Restoration the French King being one of the first The Spaniard made not so much haste yet hoped for a better Reception than the French and that the King of Spain might have a better Reception he sent the Prince de Ligny his Ambassador who in the Splendor of his Train much outvied the French It 's true the Prince got a Peace with the King for his Master the King of Spain but he got as little good by it as the King of Spain did by that he made with the King's Grand-father King James the First With better Success came the French Ambassador tho I do not find he made any League with the French against the Spaniard as Oliver did nor was there any need of it the French having made a deceitful Peace with the Spaniard at the Pyrenaean Treaty yet you shall soon see both Kings dealt as ill with the King of Spain as if he had been an open Enemy And the more to endear himself with his Brother of France the King rejected the advantagious Treaty of Commerce which Oliver made with France as done by an Usurper and never after at least that I ever heard of made any other instead of it but left his Subjects to be used even as the French King pleased in their Trades to France Henry the Seventh was the first of our English Kings who used Guards and he set up the Yeomen of the Guard which was followed by all the Kings of England since but tho the Convention had paid off and disbanded the English Armies yet the King besides his Band of Pensioners in imitation of the French must have Guards of Horse and Foot and the Parliament gave him Revenue enough to encrease these to what Number he pleased But it had been better for him if he had imitated the French too in preferring Men who were qualified but few of these were to be found there And tho he gave near double the Pay to these yet was he much worse served than if Men of Merit had been there for half the Pay for scarce one of the Officers but bought their Places and this was so common that the Prices were certain so not he who deserved but he which gave most was preferred and when he was in he owed the King no Service having paid for what he had and so his Business was how to improve his Bargain not serve the King And herein too the poor Cavaliers had the worst they not having so much Money to buy as others had I take it for granted that the first League which the now French King made after he came to Majority I mean after twenty one Years of Age was that of the Pyrenaean Treaty the Breach of all the rest
sent a Squadron under Sir John Lawson to that end And the Dutch sent another commanded by De Ruiter seemingly but not designedly for to join Sir John against the Algerines For De Ruiter after he had entred the Straits abandoned Sir John Lawson and sailed to Cape Verd and dispossessed the English of their Factories nor did he stay there but sailing thence he attempted Barbadoes but was beaten off with loss But with better Success he sailed to Long-Island where he made great Depradations This Double-dealing of the Dutch alarm'd the Parliament so as they petitioned the King to make War upon the Dutch and the King was well disposed to it having before designed it as many thought and so took this Occasion for it nor were the City of London less forward than the Parliament for promoting this War and upon that Account furnished the King with several Sums of Money for which both Houses gave the City Thanks upon the Twenty Fifth of November 1665. The King the Day before made this Speech to the Commons Mr. Speaker and you Gentlemen of the House of Commons I know not whether it be worth my Pains to endeavour to remove a vile Jealousy which some ill Men scatter abroad and which I am sure will never sink into the Breast of any Man who is worthy to sit upon your Benches that when you have given me a Noble and Proportionable Supply for the Support of a War I may be induced by some evil Counsellors for they will be thought to think very respectfully of my Person to make a sudden Peace and get all the Money for my own Private Occasions But let me tell you and you may be confident of it That when I am compelled to enter into a War for the Protection Honour and Benefit of my Subjects I will God willing not make a Peace but upon the obtaining and securing those Ends for which the War is entred into and when that can be done no good Man will be sorry for the Determination of it But the War was not declared till the 22d of February following But here I observe that neither my Lord Chancellor Hide nor my Lord Treasurer Southampton were present in Council at it It may seem strange to any Man conversant in our Government that the King in less than four Years and a half after his Restoration should be in such a Necessity of borrowing such Sums of Money of the City for the disbanding of the Army was paid by the Convention and Parliament and the Parliament had settled the Excise on him which was cessed at 500000 l. per Annum and the Customs at 600000 l. and Chimney-Money worth 150000 l. per Annum and 12 Car. 2. c. 26. granted the King the Arrears of twelve Months Assessment commencing the 25th of December 1659 and C. 29. gave the King 70000 l. and C. 34. also the Post-Office worth 50000 l. per Annum and in the 13 Car. 2. cap. 3. vested in the King the Arrears of the Excise and new Imposts and in the second Session Cap. 3. the Parliament gave the King 1270000 l. and Cap. 5. a voluntary Contribution and C. 8. gave the poor Cavaliers 60000 l. that the King might never hear more of them and C. 9. granted a further Relief for the poor and maimed Officers which had served the King's Father and also Cap. 15. four intire Subsidies by the Laity and four by the Clergy besides all the forfeited Estates both in England and Ireland So that the Excise Customs Chimney-Money Post-Office and forfeited Estates at a moderate Computation may be computed at 1600000 l. per Annum a new Addition to the Crown which Queen Elizabeth had not only the Court of Wards was exchanged for part of the Hereditary Excise And if you compute but six Months Arrear of the twelve Months Assessment at 70000 l. per Mensem beginning at Christmass 1659 this will amount to 420000 l. and the Arrears of the Excise and new Impost at 300000 l. and 70000 l. granted the King 12 Car. I. 29. and the 1270000 l. 13 Car. II. 3. and the voluntary Contribution at 300000 l. and the four Subsidies granted by the Clergy and Laity at 400000 l. besides the new added Revenue of 1600000 l. per Annum to the Crown the King in less than four Years and a half received 2860000 l. or two Millions eight hundred and sixty thousand Pounds Yet the King paid no Debts of his Father's nor do I find he built any new Men of War nor made any War except that last Year against the Algerines It 's true he married his Sister but had twice her Portion of the French King for the Sale of Dunkirk and also 400000 l. Portion with the Queen Now let 's see how things stood in Scotland During the Earl of Middleton's Commission the Parliament of Scotland granted the King so great a Revenue that the King signified his Pleasure not to raise any more but tho Middleton in the general Opinion had done more in Scotland than could have been expected yet Lauderdale thought he had not done enough and therefore got the Parliament to be dissolved and a new one to be called in 1663 and the Earl of Rothes the Ring-leader of the Presbyterians in the Reign of Charles the First and was the first that subscribed the Letter to Lewis the XIII th for his Aid by the Appellation of Au Roy to be made Commissioner The King's Supremacy in all Ecclesiastial and Civil Matters and so great a Revenue as the King could ask being settled by Middleton one would have thought no more could be done yet another Law must be passed intituled the Humble Tender Whereby the Kingdom of Scotland is obliged to raise the King twenty thousand Foot and two thousand Horse sufficiently armed and furnished with forty days Provision to be in a readiness at his Majesty's Call And also that all Scots-Men from sixteen to sixty if the King should have further use of them should hazard their Lives and Fortunes as they shall he called by his Majesty for the Safety and Preservation of his Sacred Person Authority and Government to march into any part of Scotland England or Ireland for the suppressing any Foreign Invasion or Intestine Troubles or any other Service wherein his Majesty's Honour c. was concerned And this Law it may be was the Equivalent for which the Forts were demolished Tho Rothes was Commissioner when the Act passed yet Lauderdale assumed to himself the Glory of it and it 's observable this Act passed the same Year and about the same time the King issued out his Declaration of Indulgence to the Dissenters in England Thus you see as the Parliament of Scotland outrun the Parliament of England in Loyalty to the King so at least they went hand in hand with them in grauting the King more Aids than he would ask of the Subjects of his antient Kingdom Never had Kings of England or Scotland their Debts so easily
sit out a greater Fleet of Men of War than ever any French King did before Nor were the Dutch behind-hand but made proportionable Advances not doubting but the King would make good his Proportion according to the League so lately made between the King and them in case the French King made any Attempt upon them Upon the 24th of October 1670 the Parliament met again and notwithstanding all the Aids granted the King in April before my Lord-Keeper Bridgman told the Parliament the great Care his Majesty had of them and the Kingdom since their last Recess and that besides the triple Alliance he had made many advantagious Alliances both for Security and Profit of Trade with the Swede Dane Spaniard and Duke of Savoy But since the Dutch and French made such vast Naval Preparations it was necessary for the Safety and Honour of the Nation that the King should at least keep equal Pace with them which could not be done without great Supplies which must be speedily granted for the King intended to put an End of this Session before Christmas but the Success of this Speech so ill agreeing with the Premises it was not permitted to be printed yet you may read it at large in Mr. Marvel's Growth of Popery But whatever Treaties of Commerce were made with other Princes the Keeper finds none with France where neither the advantagious Treaty made by Oliver was observed nor any new one made but the French King did use the English with all imaginable Oppressions without any Redress from the King However this Speech wrought so pathetically with the Parliament that they gave the King one Shilling in the Pound of the real Value of all the Lands of England for one Year and an Additional Excise upon Beer and Ale for six Years and the Law-Bill for nine Years which three Bills were computed at two Millions and a half And now this dark Design founded in such deep Dissimulation Hypocrisy and Perfidiousness as Oliver Cromwel would have been ashamed of and blush'd at begins to receive Light For the Parliament having granted the King the Aids were in Consequence prorogued and did not meet to act till the fourth of February 167 1 2. But in regard that not only the extirpating the Protestant Religion but the Subversion of the Western Parts of Europe was now designed which extended as far as the Baltick Sea and the Bounds of the Turkish and Tartar Empires we will be a little particular in it But what is most amazing is that the King in appearance a Protestant and a free independent King so used by the French King in his Exile and since his Restoration should be so forward in joining with a Faithless and Boundless Ambitious Neighbouring Prince which if his Design had succeeded had involved the Kingdoms of England Scotland and Ireland in the same Condition with the rest of Christendom The Vizard-Mask under which the Popish Party covered their Hypocrisy in propagating their Catholick Cause for plain-dealing must never be expected in it in King Charles the First 's time was Arminianism which then had the Ascendant in Laud's Regency but since the King's Restoration the Protestant Dissenters being so fiercely prosecuted by the Parliament it was judged that the dispensing with Penal Laws against Dissenters from the Church of England would conjoin the Protestant Dissenters Interest with the Popish and this not only appeared by Practice but by Design in Coleman's Letters to Father Ferier and La Chaise the French King's Confessors As before the first Dutch War the King issued out his Declaration of Indulgence for dispensing with the Penal Laws in Ecclesiastical Affairs in the Interval of the sitting of the Parliament so did he before the second War It seems to me that the Designers of this War got some secret Oath or Promise from the King that he should not do the like again for the King told the House of Commons he would stand by his Declaration of Indulgence and sure nothing but Queen Money would have got him off However these Conspirators were more zealous than politick for before the King issued out his Declaration of Indulgence in England upon the 26th of February 1671 he issued out his Proclamation in Ireland wherein he granted general Licence to all Papists to live in Corporations exercise Trades there and enjoy the same Privileges as other Subjects ought to do which was a greater Privilege than his Protestant Subjects had for by their Charter all who were not free of the Corporations could not have the Benefit of their Privileges But that the Catholick Design might take deeper Root and Continuance the Duke of York's Sons being dead and the Princesses his Daughters being bred up in the Protestant Religion Care must be taken to establish the Popish for the time to come for which it was expedient the Duke should marry some Popish Princess and to this end the Arch-Dutchess of Inspruck was propounded and a Treaty entred into upon it But tho the Princess's Religion pleased the French King yet the Interest this Marriage would bring with it did not So that tho the Treaty were far advanced yet the French King who ruled all the Roast propounded the Princess of Modena the Daughter of a little Italian Prince and a Dependant of the French King's yet had a great Interest in the Court of Rome and this against all Endeavours of the Parliament and to the Dishonour of the Treaty with the Arch-Dutchess prevailed the French King having adopted her a Daughter of France and given her a Portion But while these Designs are laid in the dark here in England the French King bare-faced by his Ambassador at Vienna in a solemn Speech declared that his Master had undertaken the War against Holland for propagating the Catholick Cause and that all good Christians were bound to join with him to extirpate Heresy and that he would restore all his Conquests to re-establish the true Worship banish'd out of the Holland's meaning the Vnited Netherlands Territories which you may read more at large in Mr. Secretary Trevor's Appeal c. Now let 's see how agreeable these Mens Morals were to their Religious Pretences in laying the Scene for this designed Dutch War The Treasury since the Death of my Lord Treasurer Southampton was managed by Commissioners and if the Aids granted by the Parliament were not sufficient for carrying on the King's Designs the French King is to supply him further but things were not ripe enough yet for these Monies to be returned into the Exchequer lest they might give cause of Suspicion and therefore between six and seven hundred thousand Pounds were received by Mr. Chiffins he to have two Pence in the Pound to be disposed of as the King shall order If you doubt this you may examine Mr. Chiffins's Accounts when he was advised to pass them and take his Quietus out of the Exchequer Tho by the Defensive League between the King and States when the Triple League
of his Majesty's Subjects who are Dissenters in Matters of Religion from the Church of England And a Bill passed the House accordingly but was stopt in the House of Lords Causa patet the dead Weight joining with the Caballing Party But whatever the Commons thought of the King 's Dispensing Power in England Lauderdale the fifth in the Cabal in England was of another Opinion in Scotland for in the second Parliament c. 1. held by him he gets an Act declaring That by Virtue of the King's Supremacy the ordering the Government of the Church does properly belong to his Majesty and Successors as an inherent Right of the Crown and that he may enact and emit such Constitutions Acts and Orders concerning Church-Administrations Persons Meetings and Matters as he in his Royal Wisdom shall think fit c. any Law Act or Custom to the contrary notwithstanding And that he might not be less active in Scotland than his Brother Clifford was in England and Buckingham and Arlington were in Holland being armed with these other Powers he made all sorts of People depose upon Oath their Knowledg of the Persons of Dissenters not Popish Meetings in the Exercise of their Worship upon Penalty of Fining Imprisonment Banishment and Transportation to be sold for Slaves imprisoning all outed Ministers who shall preach out of their Families till they give Security of 5000 Marks Scot not to do the same again every Hearer being a Tenant to pay 25l Scot and Cotter 12 toties quoties they shall offend and that it shall be Death for any to preach in Fields or Houses where any are without doors and 500 Marks Reward for any to secure such dead or alive and gave Orders That every Man for himself and all under him should give Bond not to go to Field-Meetings and to inform against pursue and deliver up all outed Ministers to Judgment The Execution of these Orders was not by legal Officers but by an Army of Highland Robbers who quartered upon the Country so that it may be a Question whether the French King did not take his Measures in his Dragoon-Reformation by the ground-work laid by Lauderdale But his Grace which it seems did work irresistibly did not stay here for his Highland Army which consisted of eight or nine thousand Men not only lived upon Free Quarter upon all sorts of the King 's peaceable Subjects but in most places levied great Sums of Money under the Notion of Dry Quarters they had only regard to the Duke 's private Animosities for the most part of the Places where they quartered and destroyed had not been guilty of Field-Conventicles The King's Subjects were denounced Rebels and Captions issued out for seizing their Persons for not entring into Bond That neither they nor any under them shall go to Field-Conventicles and the Nobility and Gentry were disarmed who had ever been faithful to the King and assisted in suppressing Field-Conventicles Indictments were delivered in by the King's Advocate in the Evening to be answered next Morning upon Oath otherwise they were to be reputed guilty These and many more of this kind in the Matters relating to Lauderdale's Administration of Affairs in Scotland were represented to the King and that by his Command and are in Lauderdale's and his Lady's Impeachment which are all in Print Notwithstanding all this it was this Lauderdale who had procured an Act of Parliament to raise 20000 Foot and 2000 Horse to march into England to serve the King upon all Occasions And tho the Duke to prevent the Fame of his Actions arriving in England had by a Proclamation forbid all Subjects to depart the Kingdom without Licence yet the Noise of his Actions flew every where in England not less than the Censures of the Star-Chamber and High Commission in Laud's Regency did in Scotland and in due time the Duke shall hear of them Can any Man now believe That the King by his Declaration of Indulgence intended any Benefit to the Dissenters in England whilst Lauderdale without doubt by his Order was acting these things in Scotland The House of Commons could not at first step forget all the Loyalty they before profest to the King nor yet would they own the Dutch War and therefore they voted the King 1238750 l. to supply the King 's extraordinary Occasions but before they would let this Bill slip through their Fingers they tack'd a Bill to it by which no Papist should have any publick Employment This Bill catch'd my Lord Treasurer Clifford the first in the Cabal who was forced to resign his Treasurer's Place or renounce Popery which he would not do his Pensioners not being against it hoping thereby to get the Places which the Popish Party held and even my Lord Chancellor Ashley from Delenda Carthago now sets up for the Country Party against the Designs of the Cabal so moultry are all Designs which are not cemented in Justice and Honour The King having got the Bill for the Money the further Sitting of the Parliament became uneasy to him whereupon the Parliament was adjourned till the 20th and after to the 27th of October viz. 1673. During this Recess there were three Sea-Fights between the English French and Dutch Prince Rupert Admiral in all which the French stood aloof looking on whilst the English and Dutch battered one another only Monsieur de Martell for engaging was recalled checked and dismissed As the English thrived no better by Sea so neither did the French by Land for first the Elector of Brandenburg then the Emperour and at last the King or Queen Regent of Spain apprehensive of the Danger common to them all of the French subduing the Dutch Provinces entred into a mutual League for their Defence and by their Conjunction the Prince of Orange recovered many of the Vpland Towns in almost as little Time as the French had taken them In this state the Swede now broke loose from the Triple League whereby he opened the Gap to let in this Confusion and became a Pensioner to France and proposes a Treaty of Peace to be held at Cologn and thither the King the Emperor the French King and the King of Spain send their Plenipotentiaries to treat of it The French King's Propositions were so insolent that if granted our King could have nothing yet the King pudet haec insisted That tho he was contented with such Propositions as he required so as accepted in ten Days yet if granted by the States they should be of no force nor will he enter into any Treaty of Peace unless his most Christian Majesty shall receive Satisfaction from the States in his Particular After the French King should have all the King's Demands were a Regulation of the Trade to the East-Indies a Settlement of the Freedom of Navigation in Europe the Arrears for the Fishing-Trade upon the English Coast to assert a settled Revenue to the Crown for every Buss or Dogger-boat for the future and to make Satisfaction for the Damages
of Indulgence was an unlawful Act and that if they had submitted to the King's Will to have enjoined it to have been read in all Churches and Chappels of their respective Diocesses it had been an unlawful Act which was one Reason they could not comply with the King's Will and that this Declaration was not intended a Favour to the Protestant Dissenters but a Design to ruin the established Religion and Church of England and the enjoining the Bishops to have read was a Design upon their Persons as well as the Declaration was upon the Church and that the King professed himself to be of the Popish Religion which they believed and declared to be Idolatry in the worshipping Images and derogatory to God's Honour by Invocation of Saints whereby they grant to Creatures an Omniscience which is inseparable from God and only to be ascribed to him and that the King had owned the Papal Power which not only claims a Dominion over all Kings and Kingdoms to be at the Pope's disposal and who had declared the Church of England to be Heretical Schismatical and Sacrilegious Persons with whom no Faith is to be kept but had assumed a Power equal or superiour to God himself in dispensing with God's Laws and setting its own above them by sending his Ambassador to the Pope and receiving his Nuncio With what Conscience then could the Bishops approach God's Altars in their highest Acts of Devotion and in the Prayer for the Parliament declare to God that he is their most religious King and in the Litany to pray to God to keep and strengthen the King in the Worship of God or Religion which the King profest And how could they delare to God he is their most gracious Sovereign when he had imprisoned them for not submitting to his unlawful Will and had owned a Power which had declared them Hereticks Schismaticks and Sacrilegious Persons who were by all ways and means to be extirpated from the Face of the Earth Yet the Bishops by their Canonical Obedience were as much obliged hereto and to enjoin the Clergy in their respective Diocesses to offer these Praises to God as they were not to obey the King's Will by enjoining the King's Declaration of Indulgence to be read by all the Clergy in their Diocesses To this Dilemma had the flattering Church and State in King Charles the II's Reign tho intending it against the Presbyterians by their Act of Vniformity brought the Church and State too in the Reign of King James But lest this establishing of Popery should have no longer support than in the King's Life a new Miracle is to be added to the Legend for the next day after the Bishops were committed to the Tower the Queen was brought to Bed of a Prince of Wales so that now they had got a Prince of Wales and the Queen received the Consecrated Clouts and the Pope by his Nuncio is become God-father a Foundation so infallible is laid for exalting the Papal Chair and extirpating the Pestilent Northern Heresy that it's Heresy to doubt it But Man purposes and God disposes and in truth without God's special Assistance not only these Dominions of England Scotland and Ireland but all the Western Parts of Europe were not to be retrieved out of I may say even a desperate State for in England the King had a standing Army of above 20000 Men and the Whigs were but too forward to congratulate the King in his Designs and in humouring him in giving him up their Charters as the Tories in King Charles his Reign in their Abhorrences of the King 's calling a Parliament and as forward then as the Whigs now in surrendring their Charters The Protestant Army in Ireland not only disbanded by Tyrconnel and a Popish Army set up but the Protestants disarmed and Scotland so perfectly subdued that there the King 's Absolute Will without reserve must pass for Law The King of Spain so weak as not able to defend himself much less relieve others the Empire engaged in a War against the Turks in the East so as the Western Parts were in no Condition to repel the Impression the French should make upon it The Kingdoms of Sweden and Denmark remote and at such natural Enmity with one another that if one should side with France or England the other would engage against it and tho Holland were considerable elsewhere at Sea yet their Strength at Sea was inferiour to the English but much more in Conjunction of the French with the English However something must be done for Modesty in this State had been the highest Crime and of all Foreign Princes the Prince of Orange was most immediately concerned not only in the Oppression of the French King upon his Principality of Orange and the Dangers which threatned the Vnited Provinces by the swelling Grandeur of the French but by the King 's Arbitrary Proceedings in England for the Princess was the Presumptive Heir to the Crown of England and Scotland And since it is the Laws and Constitutions which erect these Nations into Kingdoms whereof the King is the Head then if the King destroys the Laws and Constitutions he is neither King nor the Princess of Orange Presumptive Heir to them besides since the King had assumed a Power of Dispensing with the Laws he might as well in Dispensing with the Succession and the Prince was well assured neither those about the King nor the Pope would much favour his or his Lady's Title to the Crown nor was the introducing the Prince of Wales into the World intended to have either the Prince or Princess come to the Crown of England The Prince of Orange thus injured by both these Kings and being denied the Benefit of any Humane Laws for redress has recourse to God and his Sword for relief and opposes the Justice of his Cause against the Potency of his Adversaries Nor does he take up his Sword to vindicate his own Rights only but for restoring the Kingdoms of England Scotland and Ireland to their antient Rights Laws and Privileges invaded by King James and to put a stop to the French King 's boundless Ambition and Tyranny in Murdering Ravaging and Destroying rather than making a War upon all his neighbouring Princes not dispossest and ruined by him A Design so great by so little a Prince as no less than a Divine Power could inspire him to such an Undertaking The Prince these two last years had several Conferences with the Electors of Brandenburg Saxony and the Princes of the House of Lunenburg and other Princes of Germany it 's believed in concerting Measures how to behave themselves against the Designs of these two Kings but the Results were so secret that I find no mention of them But how secret soever these Results were yet the Preparations to put them in Execution could be no Secret especially the Naval Preparations by Sea though the Dutch Ambassador assured the King they were not intended against him yet refused to communicate
Laws and Constitutions of it and to have maintained the Honour of it abroad made it their Business to have subverted them and being thereby always at Variance and Contentions with their Subjects lost their own and the Nation 's Honour abroad and by taking no Care of the foreign Concerns of the Nation became contemptible to other Nations Nay the last three Kings instead of restraining the French Ambition and Tyranny joined with them in advancing of them as if they designed to make the French King an Universal Monarch as well as to destroy the Constitutions of England And I would know a Reason why now his Majesty King William has by God's Blessing redeemed this Nation from the imminent Danger which the French King in conjunction with King James designed upon the Western Parts of Christendom as well as these Kingdoms of England Scotland and Ireland any Christian should endeavour or desire the Restitution of King James any more than the Primitive Christians did Dioclesian Maximi◠and Maxentius after God had freed them from their Rage and Persecution by Constantine APPENDIX MY Lord Bacon compares Times to Ways some more plain and easy to pass others more rugged and more hard to pass the former is better for him who lives in them the latter is better for the Reader not only in the Pleasure of reading the Variety of Accidents in them but because in their Contests fine Notions arise which otherwise might have been concealed and which may be beneficial to the Readers in succeeding Times and also in shewing the Causes of these Distempers succeeding Generations may be admonished hereby to prevent them in time to come In these Treatises we have given an Account of the manifold Varieties of Accidents which have hapned for above 80 Years in the Kingdoms of England Scotland and Ireland France Spain and the States of the Vnited Netherlands and though the Roman and Grecian Histories may give Instances of the like by Land yet none of them can shew the like of the French Grandeur by Sea in little more than forty Years but more especially in that this was acquired in the Face of two neighbouring Nations either of which could have prescribed Laws to all the World besides herein the one claiming the Dominion of the British Seas the other of the Indian and Southern Ocean On the other Side Spain which in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth was both the Envy and Dread of these Western parts of Christendom is now fallen into that abject State as it is scarce in the Power of Christendom to uphold it from falling under the Dominion of the French and this History in some Measure hath shewn the Causes both of the Grandeur of France and the Cadency of Spain To the natural Advantages which the French had above other Nations after the Death of Queen Elizabeth was added that James the first and Charles the first of England whose Interest it was to have restrained the ambitious and aspiring Humour of the French were degenerous Princes wholly given up to be governed by Flatterers and Favourites and made it their Business to usurp another Jurisdiction over the Nation than they could claim by their Inherent Birth-right so that if the Long Parliament in 1640 had not put a Stop to Charles his Career no mortal Creature could have foreseen where it would have ended King James not to disturb his licentious and voluptuous Pleasures stood only still and looking on whilst Lewis the 13th had near broke the Interest of the Reformed in France but Charles in the first Act of his Reign lent the French a Fleet to subdue the Rochellers at that time superior to Lewis by Sea and as inconsiderately in the second Year of his Reign made War with France having in the first Year made War against the Spaniard whereby both Spain and France joining against the English brought that Loss and Dishonour upon the English in the Expedition of the Isle of Rhee and Charles being as loose in his Resolutions as inconsiderate in his Actions after the Death of the Duke of Buckingham who had engaged him in both these Wars made a secret Peace with the French and left the Reformed out of it though he engaged them to join with him in the War whereby the whole Interest of the Reformed was rooted out So that the Original of the French Grandeur by Sea and Land may be truly ascribed to these two Hereditary Princes James and Charles After the Tyranny of Charles his Reign had degenerated into the Usurpations of the Rump they thinking to prejudice the Dutch made the Act of Navigation which crampt up all the foreign Trades of England and the fishing Trade which above all others is the Nursery of Seamen and encrease of Navigation to English-built Ships and sail'd with ¾ English whether there be Ships or Mariners or not and without any Consideration of Times whether of War or Peace Though we have in this History and in The Reasons of the Decay of the Strength Wealth and Trade of England and also in the View of the Act of Navigation in reference to the Laws which yet stand unrepealed to the Trades for Masts Rafters Boards foreign Oak Timber Pitch and Tar and to the Trades for rough Hemp and Flax and to the fishing Trades and also to the Safety of the Nation against Foreign Powers at large demonstrated the Iniquity of this Law and the dangerous Consequences of it yet it is fit even here to take some Notice of it and of the Navigation of the Nation before the Act and how the Case stands now by reason of it Before the Rump contrived the Act of Navigation the English as the Traders told me alone fished upon the Coasts of Iseland and Westmony for Ling and the Cod-fish called Haberdin and at that time the Town of Alborough in Suffolk as I was informed fished yearly to those Seas with 35 Sail of Vessels called Iselands-Barks and the Town of Sould or Southold with 15 and Great Yarmouth with manifold more the Number I cannot tell but this I can tell That besides London and other parts of Norfolk and Suffolk which they supplied with this sort of Fish as also the Navy Royal and other Ships with this sort of Provision the Town of Yarmouth yearly exported to Calice St. Valery Diep Havre de Grace St. Maloes Brest and other parts of France 150000 Haberdin and Ling and by their Trades with these returned Sails and Nets for their Navigation and Fisheries Wells and Lyn in Norfolk too drove Trades into these Seas but I am not informed in how many Vessels but I have heard the Inhabitants of Wells complain that they have almost lost their Trades and I belive Lyn wholly Before the Act of Navigation the English from the Western Ports drove threefold a greater Trade in the Newfound-Land Fishery than the French whereas the French now drive above twenty-fold more the Trade to Newfound-Land Fishery than the English do And I have
my self of the Difficulties I labour under in these Expedients For a Reformation of State Affairs cannot be made but to the Hinderance of many particular Men whose Education it may be has placed them in their Stations these are known and by these I am sure to meet with all possible Opposition whereas in contending for the Benefit and Security of the Nation every body's Business is no body's Business and not one in ten thousand will concern themselves in it however Truth is sacred and a divine Air attends it and what is neglected in the present time may prevail in succeeding Generations And I will beg but one thing of my Opponents viz. That they will not answer me by Clamour but by Reason and not Reason in Extremes for thereby we shall differ and wrangle in the Means without end and let this stand for a Maxim That the Publick in all Business of this Concern is to be preferred before the Private and the Safety of the Nation before any Man 's particular Interest The Security of every Country depends upon the Strength of one Country against another in case of War between them and herein Countries are to be considered as they are placed in reference to each other The Bounds of Inland and Mediterranean Countries are Rivers Lines and Forts which are esteemed sacred and a Violence done to them is esteemed a just Cause of War and so long as these are preserved the Countries within are secured from foreign Wars Britain is an Island which knows no Bounds but the Ocean and the Kings of it are Soveraigns of those Seas which beat upon the British Shores and in preserving this Soveraignty Britain is more secure from foreign Invasion than any other Kingdom in the World how great soever which is on the Terrene Continent But this Dominion hath been of late disputed by the Dutch and is at present by the French nor shall the King of Britain be secure of the Soveraignty longer than he is able to defend it against the French and Dutch whereas at present the French contend for this Soveraignty against the English in Conjunction with the Dutch But suppose by an Accident of the Times in these Circumstances the French had joined the Dutch as they did in the first Dutch War in King Charles II's Time not 30 Years since what a Condition had these Kingdoms of England Scotland and Ireland been in And I say the King of England shall never be able to maintain the Dominion of the British Seas and thereby secure the Safety of the Nation unless he be able to defend it against the French in Conjunction with the Dutch I 'm a Lover of Mathematical Learning because it premises its Principles before Men begin to learn or reason from them whereas otherwise where Men begin Disputing they proceed and end in Contention and Wrangling and I say that Trade is a Principle to Navigation but above all the Fishing Trades and therefore as you encrease your Trades so you may infinitely encrease your Navigation and as Trade is a Principle to Navigation so is Navigation a Principle to maintain the Dominion of the Seas and therefore so much as the Trades of England be lessened so much will the King be less able to maintain the Dominion of the Seas upon the Coasts of England and Scotland and this will be in a double proportion for so much as we lose in either the French and Dutch will gain as well to the Loss of England as to the endangering the Safety of it against foreign Enemies How therefore we may preserve the Trades which we now enjoy and encrease them by our selves and where we cannot do by our selves by the help of others is the main Design of these Expedients Expedient I. That the King establish his Throne in Religion Justice and Mercy and that herein the Subjects Fear God and honour and obey the King for if either stray from hence they will fall either into Confusion or Tyranny whereby the Nation will become divided in it self to the endangering the Safety of it from within and without and never be happy till it be restored to what it was before Expedient II. 1. That for the Conservation of the Trades we now enjoy and for the Employment of our English Natives Foreigners continue to be excluded from our American Plantations and herein neither French nor Dutch have any Reason to complain for the Dutch do the same in their Spice Trade and so do both French and Dutch in their African and American Plantations but herein it 's not fit for the English to be restrained to English-built Ships as well for the Inconveniences which have been shewed before as for that we may want English Timber for this and our other navigating Trades and the King for building and repairing his Navy Royal wherein our English Men of War built of English Timber excel all other being more tough and less liable to splinter whereby the English Men of War built of English Timber will endure a Battery which Ships built of foreign Timber will not 2. That the home-vent of our Newcastle and Sunderland Trades in times of Peace be driven by the Natives of England exclusive to Foreigners as also our other Trades from Port to Port in England and also to Ireland tho these be impoverishing Trades to the Nation for the Pitch Tar Masts Cordage and Sails generally used in these Trades are foreign Commodities to the Nation and for acquiring which we return very little of our Manufactures and the digging the Coals out of the Pits and burning them in London and other Places no ways enriches the Nation to supply the foreign Expence for Pitch Tar c. used in them nor are either old Men Women or Children employed in these Trades but only young and lusty Men and that but half the Year so that Ipswich and other Coast-Towns which depended upon these Trades are almost quite unpeopled by reason the rest of the Inhabitants find no Employment in them However I 'm confident that this Newcastle and Home-Trade and that to our American Plantations employ above four fifths of all the Ships in all the Trades we drive by Navigation and therefore we 'll take care to keep these by excluding Foreigners out of them in times of Peace and unless Foreigners beat us out of these Trades they cannot get them from us For ought I know the Newcastle and Sunderland Trades are better carried on in English-built Ships than foreign because Coals being a bulky Commodity and lying loose in the Hold of the Ships in stormy Weather and rolling Seas batter the sides of the Ships and the English Timber being tougher than the foreign it better endures this than those foreign built but it were Arrogance for any to say because of one Convenience no other Ships shall be employed in this Trade for hereby the King may want English Timber to build and repair his Men of War besides all Arts and Sciences are
Manuscripts and Historians Containing the Lives of the Kings and Memorials of the most Eminent Persons both in Church and State With the Foundations of the Noted Monasteries and both the Universities Vol. I. By James Tyrrel Esq Fol. A New History of Ecclesiastical Writers Containing an Account of the Authors of the several Books of the Old and New Testament and the Lives and Writings of the Primitive Fathers An Abridgment and Catalogue of all their Works c. To which is added A Compendious History of the Councils c. Written in French by Lewis Ellies du Pin Doctor of the Sorbon In seven Volumes Fol. An Essay concerning the Power of the Magistrate in Matters of Religion c. 8o. All sold by Andr. Bell at the Cross-keys and Bible in Cornhil INTRODUCTION WHEN King James became King of England the Kingdom of France was bounded on the North with the British Sea from la Bresle on the East where this River which parts Normandy from Boloignois discharges it self into the Sea and in the Latitude of 50 Deg. North and 5 Min. from whence West and by South it extends it self to Portsal in Bretaign about 340 Miles distance and in the Latitude of 48 Degrees and North and by East from la Bresle to Calais which lies in the Latitude of 50 Degrees 40 Minutes From Portsal to the South inclining into the East upon the Bay of Biscay France extended it self to St. Jean de Luz which is the Frontier to Spain in the Latitude of 44 Degrees and from St. Jean de Luz East and by South it extended it self along the Pyrenean Hills to Perpignian in the Country of Rosillion in the Latitude of 42 Deg. 30 Min. From Perpignian on the South to Piedmont on the East towards the North it was bounded by the Mediterranean Sea and from Calais on the North the Eastern parts of France to the South were bounded by the Spanish Netherlands Lorain Alsace the State of Geneva Savoy and Piedmont The Continent was near threefold more than England including Wales Before the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella in the Year 1474. Spain was divided into six Kingdoms whereof four were Christian viz. the Kingdoms of Castile and Leons Arragon Navarre and Portugal and two Mahometan viz. Granada and Murcia But when K. James came to be King of England all these Kingdoms were united under Philip the 3d King of Spain Ferdinand and Isabella having conquered the Kingdoms of Granada and Murcia after Isabella's death Ferdinand conquered Navarre and Philip the 2d claimed and conquered Portugal in 1584. after the Death of Don Sebastian who was overthrown and slain by the King of Fez and Morocco in 1580. All these Kingdoms thus united were greater than France by about â…“ Spain thus united is a Peninsula having on the North-East and South-East the Pyrenean Hills on the North-East is Fontarabia and on the South-East Cape de Creux the rest of Spain is environed by the Bay of Biscay on the North by the Atlantick Ocean on the West and South to Gibralter and to the North-East by the Mediterranean Sea from Gibralter to Cape de Creux The North of Spain viz. the North of Biscay and Galicia is in the Latitude of 44 Degrees North and the South parts of Andaluzia and Granada in the Latitude of 36 Degrees 30 Minutes but the extent of Spain about the middle Region of it from East to West is more than from North to South being near 14 Degrees 20 Minutes in Longitude The Isle of Britain is the greatest of Europe it may be of the World for ought is certainly known at least none comparable to it except Madagascar or St. Laurence and Japan if it be an Island The North of it is in the Latitude of 58 Degrees North the South-East in 51 Degrees and towards the West inclines into the Latitude of 50 Degrees It 's bounded on the South by the Channel or British Sea on the East by the German Ocean on the North by the Deucaledonian Ocean and on the West by the Verguvian Britain is divided into two Kingdoms England and Scotland England including Wales above â…“ greater but incomparably a better and more fertile Soil and a more temperate Climate in a Northern Climate lying South of Scotland The Kingdom of Scotland hath several Islands depending upon it on the North and West on the North is a Knot of Islands or Rocks called The Orcades I cannot tell whether they be distinguished by Names but on the North of these in the Latitude from 60 Degrees to 61 Degrees lies Shetland or Shotland which the Romans called Vltima Thule and on the West are the Hebrides the most considerable of them are the Isles of Mul Sky and Lewis Besides Ireland and the Isles of our Western Plantations the Isle of Man which lies between Lancashire and Ireland the Isle of Anglesey which lies between Wales and Ireland the Isles of Wight Garnsey and Jersey which lie in the British Sea between England and France and the Sorlings or Isles of Silly a Knot of Islands about a Degree West of the Lands-end of Cornwal are in the Dominion of the Kingdom of England Ireland is a Kingdom and Island depending upon the Kingdom of England greater than Scotland and near as big as England excluding Wales and is near of an Oblong Figure unless the Province of Munster inclines towards the West near a Degree into the South The North of Ireland lies in the Latitude of 55 Degrees 30 Minutes North and the South-East in the Latitude of 52 Degrees 30 Minutes and the South-West in the Latitude of 51 Degrees 40 Minutes the breadth from East to West is near 4 Degrees 20 Minutes Longitude Ireland on the North is bounded by the Deucaledonian Ocean on the East by St. George's Channel on the South by the Atlantick Ocean and on the West by the Verguvian Ocean It will much conduce to open the Design of the ensuing Treatise if we look back to the Dissolution of the Roman Western Empire and see what Kind of Government succeeded in the Kingdoms of Spain France and England and so take a view of the Causes of the Ruin of the Western Empire and herein I shall follow Helvicus his Christian Vulgar Aera As Britain was the first Country which received the Christian Faith so Constantine the Great the first of all the Christian Roman Emperors was born a Britain and became Emperor in the year of Christ 306. A Prince who as he excelled in Christian Piety so was he adorned with all Moral Vertues requisite in so great a Prince and being zealously addicted to propagate the Christian Faith and Religion he chiefly intended these above all other things but herein he met with great Opposition nor could he attain these Ends without shaking the Strength and Foundation of the Constitutions of the Empire For in propagating the Christian Faith and Religion Constantine was not only opposed by Dioclesian Maxentius and Maximin who were Emperours
one the 4th of Edw. the 3d c. 14. the other 36 Edward 3. c. 10. and when Parliaments thus frequently met Grievances were nipt in the Bud the Courts of Law kept to the Administration of Justice uprightly the Ambition of great Men restrained Factions and Innovations suppressed and when the Parliament met thus frequently the King had an Account of the State of the Nation and upon Redress of Grievances if any were the Parliament in acknowledgment of their Duty gave the King a Gratuity sometimes a Fifteenth other times a Subsidy and at other times a Subsidy and a Fifteenth and sometimes a Subsidy and two Fifteenths but never more before the 35 of Eliz. and the King in return granted a general Pardon to his Subjects with such Exceptions as the Parliament pleased and thus a mutual Love and Understanding between the King and his Subjects was nourished and encreased Whereas by the long discontinuance of Parliaments Grievances multiply and take Root so as they become so much more difficult to be redressed by how much longer the Discontinuances last The Favourites by their flattering the Prince not only keep him in Ignorance of the State of his Subjects but fix the Prince so to their Will that it becomes so habitual in him that the Prince prefers them before his Subjects and their Flatteries before the Advice of his Parliament and often takes their parts before that of the Parliament and Nation These long Intervals of Parliaments you 'll see will beget long Parliaments and the Members get to be chosen by the Favour of great Men and vast Expence so that the Grievances with the Parliament should redress become diffused into the Body of the Parliament than which nothing can be more dangerous to the Constitution of Parliament Besides that the publick Business may not be interrupted during the Sessions of Parliament the Members of both Houses have Privileges whereof they are the only Judges both in their own Persons and of their Servants whereby they are exempted from Arrests or any Process at Law which is not only grievous to the Subjects but oft the Ruine of them But now it 's time to see what the King's Proclamation for calling his first Parliament tended to Before King James his coming to the Crown of England the Election of Members in the House of Commons was so free that the Letters of the King or any Noble Man to chuse a Member was judged Cause sufficient to render the Election void but the King by this Proclamation gives order what Sorts of Men and how Qualified should be chosen by the Commons and concludes We Notify by these Presents That all Returns and Certificates of Knights Citizens and Burgesses ought and are to be brought to the Court of Chancery and there to be filed upon Record and if any be found to be made contrary to this Proclamation the same is to be rejected as unlawful and insufficient and the City or Borough to be fined for the same and if it be found that they have committed any gross or wilful Default or Contempt in the Election Return or Certificate that then their Liberties according to the Law are to be seized as forfeited And if any Person take upon him the Place of a Knight Citizen or Burgess not being duly elected and sworn according to the Laws and Statutes in that behalf provided and according to the Purport Effect and true Meaning of this our Proclamation then every Person so offending to be fined and imprisoned for the same Never was such a Prelude to the Meeting of a Parliament by any of the Kings of England either of the Saxon Danish Norman or British Race and if the King in the Beginning thus extends his first Note above ELA to what Pitch will he strain his Prerogative hereafter However since Forfeitures of Charters Fining and Imprisoning of Members not elected and returned according to this Proclamation were the Penalties imposed by it for the better Execution it might have been declared who should judg of these Elections and Returns or by what Law It fell out unluckily I think I may say designedly that upon the opening of the Parliament several of the House of Commons one of which was Sir Herbert Crofts coming to hear the King's Speech in the House of Lords had the Door shut upon them and were repulsed by a Yeoman of the Guard one Bryant Cash with the uncivil and contemptible Terms of Goodman Burgess you come not here The King in a long and tedious Speech which you may read at large in Stow's Chronicle after he had expressed his Thanks to the whole Nation for their Universal Acclamations in receiving him for their undoubted Sovereign which so much conduced to their Happiness in the Union of all Claims in his Person being the undoubted Heir of Hen. 7 and Elizabeth the Eldest Daughter of Edward the 4th wherein the Titles of the Houses of York and Lancaster were reconciled He tells them the Wonders which he will do both in reference to the inward and outward Peace of the Kingdom which how well he performed you will hear hereafter But as to the Glory which he ascribes to himself of being King by inherent Birthright from Hen. 7. and his Queen I think he could not have taken a worse Topick for what he so much gloried in For no hereditary Monarch has a better Title to his Crown than the Ancestor from whom he first claims had and it is evident Henry the 7th had no Colour of Title to the Crown of England by Inheritance being only descended from John of Gaunt by Katherine Swinford his Concubine when John of Gaunt's Wife was alive nor could the King claim any Title from the Wife of Henry the 7th for Henry himself would never own she had any reigning not only during her Life without naming her in the Coins Proclamations or Laws but after her Death and was not only crowned without her but called a Parliament without her ere he was married to her and had the Crown entailed upon him and the Heirs of his Body before he married her Besides there is no Averment against an Act of Parliament and the Act of the first of Richard the 3d declares all the Issue of Edward the 4th by the Lady Grey the Mother of Henry the 7th's Wife to be Illegitimate and so uncapable of any Inheritance to the Crown of England But how edified soever the Commons were with the King's Speech they were little pleased with the Yeomen of the Guards usage of their Members which in due time the King shall hear of However the King who since his coming in had been acquainted only with Flatteries introduced with the Epithet of most sacred which I find rarely applied to any of his Predecessors and how properly applied to him giving himself up to a dissolute and prophane Life let another judg was buoyed up with a mighty Expectation of the Success of his Proclamation and Speech which did not succeed
Exchequer where he pleaded and the King's Counsel demurring the Point in Law came to be argued on both sides Mr. Whitlock has a remarkable Passage of Judg Croke concerning his Opinion in the Case of which he speaks knowingly viz. that the Judg was resolved to give his Judgment for the King and to that end had prepared his Argument yet a few Days before he was to argue upon some Discourse with some of his nearest Relations and most serious Thoughts of the Business and being heartned thereto by his Lady who was a good and pious Woman told her Husband upon this Occasion That she hoped he would do nothing against his Conscience for fear of any Danger or Prejudice to him or his Family and that she was content to suffer Want or any Misery with him rather than be an Occasion for him to do or say any thing against his Conscience or Judgment Upon these and many the like Incouragements but chiefly upon better thoughts he suddenly altered his Purpose and Arguments and when it came to his turn contrary to Expectation he argued and declared his Opinion against the King and so did Judg Hutton after however the rest of the Judges gave their Opinions against Mr. Hambden However the King this Year to sweeten the Judges Opinion for levying Ship-Money set out a Navy of sixty Men of War to disturb the Dutch Fishing on the Coasts of England and Scotland under the Command of the Earl of Northumberland who seized and sunk several of the Dutch Busses whereupon they sued to the King for leave to fish promising to pay an Acknowledgment of 30000 l. per Annum But this ill agreed with the King's Reason for levying Ship-Money which was that Pirats infested our Coasts to the indangering the Safety of the Nation See William de Britaine f. 16 17. But if the Dutch were thus bold upon our Coasts by the Liberty granted them by Hugo Grotius they were much bolder in the East-Indies where they stile themselves Soveraigns of all the Seas in the World for Anno 1620 they seized upon two Ships of the English called the Bear and the Star in the Straits of Mallaca going to China and confiscated Ships and Goods valued at 150000 l. I suppose Grotius could not give a like Instance of any Dutch Ships so used for passing through the Channel and last Year viz. 1635 an English Ship called the Bona Esperanza going towards China by the Straits of Mallaca was violently assaulted by three Dutch Men of War the Master and many of the Men killed and the Ship brought into Mallaca and there the Ship and Goods were confiscate valued at 150000 l. and this very Year the Dragon and Katherine two English Ships of Sir William Courten valued at 300000 l. besides the Commanders and others who had great Estates in them were set upon by seven Dutch Men of War as they past the Straits of Mallaca from China and by them taken the Men tied back to back and thrown over-board the Goods taken out of the Ships which were sunk and seized for the State The State and Church of England thus established in Doctrine and Discipline the Arch-bishop's next Care was to have the same in Scotland and herein he was so absolute that the King told the Marquess Hamilton when he was his Commissioner in Scotland that the Arch-bishop was the only English-man he entrusted in the Ecclesiastical Affairs in Scotland and no Care need be had of the Church of Ireland since my Lord Viscount Wentworth was Lieutenant there who to all Intents pursued the Arch-bishop's Instructions Here let 's see how the Church stood in Scotland before the Arch-bishop undertook to reform it James the 5th of Scotland died the 13th of December 1542 leaving only one Daughter Mary but five Days old by Mary of Lorain his Wife Sister to Francis Duke of Guise and Charles Cardinal of Lorain two the most powerful Princes in France after King Henry the 2d and the most zealously addicted to the Popish Religion After the King's Death Cardinal Beaton got a Priest Henry Balfour to forge the King's Will whereby the Cardinal the Earls of Huntley Argile and Murray were to have the Government during the Queen's Minority but the Nobility not believing it chose the Earl of Arran Governour and Henry the King of England desiring to unite the Kingdoms by marrying his Son Edward with the Infant-Queen sent a solemn Embassy to the Governour and Council of Scotland to consent to this Marriage which was done only the Queen Dowager and the Cardinal dissenting and this was confirm'd by the Parliament convened at Edinburgh the 13th of March following Yet the Queen-Mother and Cardinal got the Queen to be married to Francis the Dauphin Son of Henry the 2d of France In this Parliament the Scots were permitted to read the Scripture in the English Tongue till the Prelates should publish one more correct But in the Year 1559 the Scots began their Reformation in Religion at Perth the intervening Accidents of the Scots Endeavours to reform and the Opposition by the Regent the Cardinal and the Prelates you may read in Bishop Spotswood's History of the Church of Scotland and Sir Melvil's Memoirs To suppress the Progress of this Reformation the Queen-Mother who was Regent calls in an Army and Navy of French to oppose them The Reformers call in an Army and Navy of English the English Fleet fire the French Ships in their Harbour and compel the French to leave Scotland and in 1560 the Queen Regent died leaving Scotland in a kind of Interregnum In August following a Parliament convened at Edinburgh by a Warrant from the King and Queen wherein the Mass and Popery were suppressed and the Reformation of the Kirk of Scotland in Doctrine and Discipline established but the King and Queen now of France as well as Scotland refused to confirm either nor was this Kirk-Doctrine and Discipline confirmed till the Queen was deposed and Murray made Regent in 1567. The Reformation was purely after the Mode of Calvin and Church of Geneva a Common-Prayer was ordained not strictly to be observed but as a Pattern of Prayer In it were ordained four sorts of Assemblies viz. National Provincial Weekly Meetings of Ministers and the Eldership of every Parish Superintendents were likewise established whose Office was to visit the Kirk within limited Places these had Power to cite and deprive Ministers but must be assisted by some grave Ministers next adjoining as also to ordain Ministers But the Hierarchy of the Church of Scotland as they were esteemed one of the States in Parliament was not then nor after taken away by Parliament nor their Power of Ordination and Visiting within their Diocesses yet in Visitation and Ordination the Superintendents had a concurring Power with the Bishops and the Bishops were subject to be cited and proceeded against for Scandal neglect of their Office Symony c. by the General Assemblies This Reformation viz. 1581 was subscribed by
Protestation wherein they Promise Vow and Protest in the Presence of God to maintain the true Protestant Religion expressed in the Doctrine of the Church of England and according to their Duty and Allegiance to maintain and defend his Majesty's Royal Person and Estate the Power and Privilege of Parliament and Liberties of the Subjects and to preserve the Union and Peace between the Kingdoms of England Scotland and Ireland but herein was the Difference between the Scots and English the Scots would improve their Covenant and establish it in England but the English scarce ever after care for their Protestation However the Commons prevail with the Lords to take it and then impose it upon the Nation upon the Penalty of being deemed Malignants and Disaffected The King little pleased with what he had done and less with what the Houses had done without him follows the Scots into Scotland and there cajoles the Covenanters with all Courtship imaginable makes Lesley the Scots General Earl of Leven and confers other Honours upon the Covenanters calls a Parliament and consents to the Extirpation of the Hierarchy and establishes Presbytery as fully as the Kirk of Scotland could desire The Scots at present promise all Duty and Obedience to him but how well the King found it in a short time will appear Whilst the King was thus busied in Scotland a horrible and hellish Massacre was perpetrated in Ireland by the Irish upon the English wherein it 's computed above 200000 Protestants Men Women and Children were butcher'd after which followed an universal Rebellion excepting in Dublin Londonderry and Inniskillen which was headed by the Pope's Nuncio a most proper Head for such a Body Yet so intent were the Factions in England and Scotland in establishing their Designs that little care was had of the miserable Relicks of the Protestants in Ireland It appears evident to me that Richlieu's Scarlet was deep dy'd in the Blood of the poor English in this Massacre for these Reasons 1. That the Scots who at this time were Pensioners to France were not medled with in their Lives and Fortunes as you may see in Sir Richard Baker f. 315. a b. 2. The King being in Scotland when he heard of the Massacre of the English and Rebellion of the Irish he moved the Parliament of Scotland then sitting for a speedy Relief to the English which they refus'd And it 's strangely observable That tho the Massacre and Rebellion in Ireland brake out the 23d of October yet the King did not proclaim them Rebels till the first of January and then by Proclamation gave a strict Command that no more than forty of them should be printed and that none of them should be published till his Majesty's Pleasure was further signified Upon the King's going into Scotland the Parliament prorogued themselves to a certain Day But the Commons appointed a Committee to prepare Business against their next Meeting yet send Spies to observe all the King's Actions and after the King 's Return to London which was upon the 25th of November 1641 the House of Commons upon the 5th of December make a Remonstrance of all the King's Miscarriages abroad and of the Grievances and Illegalities of his Ministers at home from the beginning of his Reign and that the King might be sure to see it as well as hear of it they print and publish it The King not being used to such Language was stung to the quick by the Commons Declaration and to retaliate it in Act upon the third of January enters the House of Commons and demands five of their Members to be tried for High Treason for holding Correspondence with the Scots Than which he could not have done a more imprudent Act for by it he unravelled all that he had done in Scotland by involving the Scots in the same Crime But the Members had their Agents in the King 's most secret Councils and had notice of the King 's coming before and so the five Members were withdrawn This Act of the King did not only set the House in a Flame and put the City into Tumults but brought Petitions from Buckingham-shire where Mr. Hambden one of the Five Members was Knight that the Privileges of Parliament might be secured and Delinquents brought to condign Punishment All this while poor Ireland lay bleeding The King as unstable in his Resolutions as inconsiderate in his Actions retracts all he had done and promises not to do so again But to no purpose for the Members resolve not to trust his Royal Word Prerogative and absolute Will and Pleasure and therefore will tear the Power of the Militia from him Rather than suffer this tho upon the Pretence of Tumults the King resolves to leave London But before the King left London my Lord Mayor Sir Richard Gurney Sir George Whitmore Sir Henry Garoway and other principal Citizens waited upon the King and engaged if he would stay they would guard him with 10000 Men if occasion were and told him If he went he would leave the City open for the Members to do as they pleased and that they were sure to be first undone the King told them he was resolved Then Sir Henry Garoway said Sir I shall never see you again However his Eldest Son Mr. William Garoway a worthy Gentleman who yet lives went with the King and followed him in all his Wars The worthy Citizens proved true Prophets for soon after the King left London the Members imprisoned my Lord Mayor Sir Henry Garoway Sir George Whitmore and all others whom they suspected would be faithful to the King and then in London began to assume the Power of the Militia After the King left London he went to York and from thence went towards Hull but is shut out of the Town by Sir John Hotham whom the King proclaims Traitor and now before it came to Sword and Pistol Men began a War with their Pens And herein it is observable that the Writers for the King chiefly maintained his Cause out of Sir Coke's Pleas of the Crown which by Order of the King's Council was upon Sir Edward's Death-Bed seized as dangerous and seditious and I do not find any who wrote for the Parliament ever used any one Topick out of it to justify their Cause tho it and Sir Edward's other Books of the Comment upon Magna Charta and Jurisdiction of Courts were printed by Order of the House of Commons and by them petitioned that the King would deliver the Originals to Sir Robert Coke Sir Edward's Heir Whilst things were in this Hurly-burly in England Portugal and Catalonia revolt from the Spaniard which as it was a mighty Blow to Spain so it much conduced to the Advancing the Designs of Cardinal Richlieu in France In England things could not hold long at this Stay but upon the 22d of August the King comes to Nottingham and hastily sets up his Standard there and invites all his loving Subjects to come to his Assistance against the Rebels
Northumberland side by force of them passed the Tine and killed and took 300 English Prisoners and after took New-Castle and seized four great Ships of the English laden with Corn and imposed a Tax of 350 l. a day upon the Bishoprick of Durham and 300 l. a day upon the County of Northumberland upon pain of Plundering and the Scots committed many Injuries and Insolencies upon the English where the Scots quartered as you may read in Mr. Whitlock's Memoirs fol. 34 35. Thus was the state of things altered Mr. May says pag. 34. it should be pag. 18. And that War which was intended for an Enslavement of both the Nations truly said but untruly intended became the Bond of Concord between them God defend the Nation for time to come of such Concord or such Causes of it The Parliament Mr. May says began with Matters of Religion divers Ministers who had been of good Lives and Conversations conscientious in their ways and diligent in their Preaching and had by the Bishops and those in Authority been motested and imprisoned for not conforming to some Ceremonies which were imposed on them were now by the Parliament relieved and recompensed for their Suffering and others who had been scandalous either for loose wicked living or else Offenders in way of Superstition both which to discountenance the Puritans had been frequently preferred were censured and removed Here Mr. May is right but yet partial in that he does not tell how that the Orthodox Clergy as the Bishops of Lincoln Williams Dr. Hall of Norwich Dr. Prideaux of Worcester Dr. Brownrig of Exeter Dr. Morton of Durham c. and all the Orthodox Anti-Arminian Heads of both Universities and also Dr. Saunderson Dr. Featly and many others underwent the same Fate with those Ministers which Mr. May speaks of Pag. 38. which should have been 24. Mr. May says That the Parliament ordered that the Scots should be recompensed for all their Charges and Loss by that mischievous War which the King had raised against them Here Mr. May is not only partial and unsincere but the contrary hereof is true for the Scots in the former War took up Arms and seized the Regalia at Sterlin took Towns in Scotland and other ways committed Acts of Hostility before the King raised Arms to suppress them as is before and so they did in this latter raise Arms in Scotland before they invaded England before the King raised any Army See Whitlock's Mem. fol. 276. Where Mr. May had this unless framed by himself I cannot tell but Sir Richard Baker recites the Demand at large and the Commons Answer to them And this Mr. May speaks of is the sixth Demand Wherein they desire from the Justice and Kindness of the Kingdom of England Reparations concerning the Losses which the Kingdom of Scotland hath sustained and the vast Charges they have been put unto by occasion of the late Troubles To which the Commons answer That the House thinks fit that a Friendly Assistance and Relief shall be given towards the Supply of the Loss of the Scots and that the Parliament did declare that they did conceive that the Sum of 300000 l. is a fit Proportion for their Friendly Assistance and Relief formerly thought fit to be given towards the Supply of the Loss and Necessities of their Brethren of Scotland and that the Houses would in due time take into Consideration the Manner how and when the same shall be raised Now let any Man shew out of Mr. May where that mischievous War which the King had raised against them is to be found If Mr. May had been a faithful Historian he should have made Truth and not the Distempers of a distracted Time nor the Clamours of his prejudic'd Brain to have been the Measures of his Story He should have set forth how like Pedlars they treated the English in their Particulars in their 8th Demand of 514128 l. 9 s. besides the Loss of their Nation to 440000 l. Yet they did not give in that Account with an Intent to demand a total Reparation of all their Charges and Losses but were content good Men in some measure to bear a Remnant Mr. May should have set forth how perfidiously the Scots dealt with the English Nation when in their Remonstrance at their first coming in they professed that they would take nothing of the English but for Money or Security whereas they plundered and taxed Northumberland New-Castle and the Bishoprick of Durham so that those Places could not recover their Losses in 20 Years as Sir Benjamin Rudyard in open Parliament charged them and that the English formerly established the Scots Reformation at their own bare Charges whereas the Scots presumed to require a greater Sum than was ever given the King Which you may read more at large in Sir Rich. Baker fol. 417. These are the Parliament's Brethren for whose Brotherly Assistance they voted 300000 l. towards a Supply of the Losses and Necessities note that of our Brethren of Scotland and that the Parliament would in due time take into Consideration the Manner of raising and Days of Payment and in the mean time leave New-Castle Northumberland and Durham a Prey to these devouring Scots But lame-footed Vengeance shall overtake this Fraternity and that by no visible Power at present but what shall arise from among themselves I could add many more Particulars of Mr. May's Partiality and Insincerity but this already said is sufficient And now it 's time to enquire whether the King or Parliament or both designed the ensuing War and who first designed it tho the Distemper of the Times was so distracted and variable that it 's hard to judg of Intentions by Actions The Royalists excuse the King from any Intention of a Civil War in England in that he protected no Man from the Justice of the Parliament and that he had put away all those which the Parliament called Evil Counsellors both in Church and State having made Mr. St. John his Attorney and Mr. Holborn his Solicitor both which were his Antagonists in imposing Ship-Money and upon his going into Scotland made the Earl of Essex Chamberlain and General of his Forces on this side Trent and in the Church reversed all the Proceedings in the Star-Chamber against the Bishop of Lincoln and preferred Dr. Hall from Exeter to the Bishoprick of Norwich and made Dr. Brownrig Bishop of Exeter and Dr. Prideaux Bishop of Worcester who were the most Learned of the Church of England and most opposite to the Arminian Tenets and of most exemplary Life and Piety and before his going into Scotland passed all Bills presented to him by the Houses even that of not dissolving the Parliament without their Consent which he would never have done if he had had any Intention of raising a War against them or a Civil War in England Mr. May p. 43. it should be p. 25. tells us of a twofold Treason against the Parliament if you 'll take his word and that the
Wing of Horse of the Parliament's which Prince Rupert pursued too far tho with great Slaughter but the King 's left Wing of Horse was broken by Sir William Balfour Sir Philip Stapleton and the Lord Fielding However the Victory was uncertain the Success was not so for the King took Banbury Town and Castle and Oxford and Prince Rupert took my Lord Say's House at Brought and made Excursions near London whereupon the Parliament recalled Essex to defend themselves And it was time for the King was marching towards London having taken Reading and Henley and at Brentford both Armies fought Essex being assisted by the Trained Bands and Apprentices of London and the King was forced to retreat and if Essex had followed in all Appearance the King would have lost his Army not having Bullet enough to have maintained one quarter of an Hour's Fight and towards the latter end of the Year Prince Rupert storms Cirencester and puts many of my Lord Stamford's Regiment to the Sword and took 1100 Prisoners which were used with great Barbarity and Colonel Nathaniel Fines in the West was routed by Prince Rupert and in the North Sir John Hotham was beaten by the Forces commanded by the Earl of Cumberland Sir Fran. Worsley Sir Marm. Langdale and Sir Thomas Glenham This Year there was a Treaty of Peace at Oxford the Parliament's Propositions were That the King should disband his Army return to the Parliament leave Delinquents to Trial and Papists to be disbanded That a Bill be brought in for abolishing Episcopacy c. and such other Bills as should be presented for Reformation Recusants to abjure Papacy to remove malignant Counsellors to settle the Militia as the Parliament desired to prefer to Offices such as the Parliament should name and to take in all that were put out of Commissions of the Peace A Bill to vindicate the Lord Kimbolton and five Members to enter into Alliances for the Palatinate and to grant a general Pardon excepting to the Earl of New-Castle Digby and others To restore Parliament-Members to their Offices and to restore their Losses The King proposed That his Revenue Magazines Ships and Forts be restored That what had been done contrary to Law and the King 's Right may be recalled That all illegal Power claimed or acted by Order of Parliament be disclaimed And as the King will consent to the Execution of all Laws concerning Popery and Reformation so he desires a Bill for preserving the Common-Prayer against Sectaries that all Persons excepted against by this Treaty may be tried per Pares with a Cessation of Arms and a free Trade This Treaty began March 4. 1642 and broke off April 15. following viz. 1643. But this is observable in this fickle King that four Days before the Treaty broke off the King said he was fully satisfied and promised to give the Parliament-Commissioners his Answer in Writing according to their Desires but because it was past Midnight he would have it drawn up in Writing and give it them in the Morning but instead thereof the King gave them a Paper quite contrary to what was concluded the Night before Whitlock's Mem. fol. 65. a. The Treaty of Peace thus broke off both sides proceed in War The Queen this Year about the beginning of May landed at Scarborough in Yorkshire from Holland having avoided a Squadron of Men of War designed by the Parliament to intercept her and brought abundance of Arms and about 3000 Soldiers and was proclaimed Traitor by the Parliament and after joined with the King and his Army at Edg-Hill in Warwickshire And if the Parliament prospered so ill last Year they succeeded worse this for the Earl of Northampton enters Litchfield and drives the Parliament's Forces into the Close and after that defeats Sir John Gell and Sir W. Brereton but the Earl was slain at the Head of his Forces and the Earl of New-Castle in the North overthrew the Parliament's Forces commanded by Sir Thomas Fairfax at Bradforth and Sir William Waller is defeated in the West Prince Rupert takes Bristol and Prince Maurice Exeter Biddiford Barnstable Appleford and Dartmouth The great Hambden is routed and mortally wounded at Chalgrave Field by Prince Rupert And now the King had two conquering Armies in the North and West and the Parliament none considerable to oppose either so that if either the King or the Marquess of New-Castle had marched to London in all Appearance either Army would have found little Opposition but instead hereof the King sits down and besieges Glocester and the Marquess of New-Castle comes before Hull This gave the Parliament an Opportunity to recruit Essex's Army and to enter into a Treaty to procure the Scots to bring an Army into England again for to assist the Parliament In this Treaty a double Consideration is remarkable first The Instability of humane Actions which are founded in Passion and Prejudice for there was but one Year between this Treaty and the National Protestation by the Parliament to Maintain the true Protestant Religion expressed in the Doctrine of the Church of England which Passage Mr. Whitlock in his Memoirs fol. 43. has left out and according to their Duty and Allegiance to maintain and defend his Majesty's Royal Person and Estate the Privileges of Parliament and Liberties of the Subjects and to preserve the Union between the Kingdoms of England Scotland and Ireland and this to be taken by all English-men but now the Scots would not stir one Step unless the Parliament of England would join with them in their Covenant which ill agreed with their Protestation which the Parliament submitted to The other was a Discovery of a Spark which soon after broke out into such a Flame as consumed the Covenant Presbytery the Parliament King and Church and State of England for tho during the Prosperity of the King's Affairs this Fire was covered yet when young Sir Henry Vane who was one of the Parliament's Commissioners and one who loved the Presbyterian Government no better than the Episcopal saw that the Parliament would submit to the Scotish Covenant and Discipline he stifly opposed it singly and at last carry'd it that the Nations should join in a Solemn League and the Scots would have Church-Government to be according to the Example of the best Reformed Churches but Sir Henry Vane insisted to have it according to the Word of God only and carried both points Afterwards one of Sir Henry's Fellows expostulated with him why he should put them to so much Trouble about such needless Trifles Sir Henry answer'd He was mistaken and did not see far enough into the matter for a League shewed it was between two Nations and might be broken upon just Reasons but not a Covenant and that Church-Government according to the Word of God by the Difference of Divines and Expositors would be long enough before it were determined for the learnedst held it clearly for Episcopacy so that when all agreed we may take in the Scots Presbytery
Name originally was not Cromwel but Williams and the Name of Cromwel was by this Accident When Cromwel Earl of Essex fell in the Reign of Hen. 8. he had Cromwel's Ancestor in his Service who was a Person of lively Parts and industrious in Business which Hen. 8. observing took him into his Sereice but upon all occasions call'd him Cromwel and the King being ask'd the Reason answer'd He call'd him so in Cromwel's time and would continue to call him so still and this continued down to Sir Oliver's and our Cromwel's time Our Oliver being of a turbulent and aspiring Disposition his Father 's contracted Fortunes could not support his Extravagancies whereby he was like to have fallen into those Troubles which usually attend such Follies and to prevent them he sets up for New-England where he becomes a most zealous Promoter of their Cause But this could not long continue him there for in their first planting themselves they were poor so as he could not find Means and Opportunity to support his Extravagancies and so back he came again into England About the Year 1638 the Undertakers to drain the Fen-Lands in Lincolnshire and the Isle of Ely set up this Undertaking was mainly opposed by the Town of Cambridg fearing it would spoil their Navigation between Cambridg and Lyn-Regis whence Cambridg was supplied with Sea-Coal Wine and other Provisions When the Writs were issued out for calling the second Parliament in 1640 Oliver sets up to be chosen Burgess for the Town of Cambridg assuring them that if he were chosen he would make it his Business to overthrow the Project of draining the Fens But tho by this Project he got to be chosen yet after he became Protector he most industriously promoted the Project of draining the Fens But tho Cromwel was of a turbulent and aspiring Spirit yet before the Civil Wars broke out in England he was not conversant in any Military Discipline nor indeed of any other Learning or just or lawful Calling His Person was of a robust and coarse Complexion his Face red so was his Nose I fancy like the Roman General Sylla's great and straked with blew Veins In promoting his Cause and Interest he was most industrious and indefatigable These Qualities were observed and feared by some both of the King 's and Parliament's Party before they came to be publickly known and put in Execution I 'll give an Instance or two hereof When the King summoned the Members of Parliament of his Party to meet at Oxford in January last Williams Arch-bishop of York was likewise summoned with whom the King privately consulted what Course was best to be taken in the present Circumstances of his Affairs the Arch-bishop advised him by all means to come to an Agreement with the Parliament for since the Scots were come into England in such numerous Armies and the English of the Parliament's Party in these two last Years having acquired a Military Knowledg it would in all appearance be impossible for the King long to withstand their Forces but above all he advised the King to get Cromwel over to his side if possible otherways to take him off by any means or he would be the King's Ruin as you may read more at large in the second Part of the Bishop of Litchfield's Life of Williams Nor was Cromwel less terrible to the Earl of Essex and the Scots Commissioners than to the King's Party so that one Evening the Earl and several of his Confidents viz. Mr. Hollis Sir Philip Stapleton and Sir John Meyrick and others with the Scots Commissioners were in Consultation how to get rid of Cromwel and sent to Serjeant Whitlock and Maynard about it who came and Essex told them that he sent for them to have their Advice and Counsel upon a Matter of great Importance concerning both Kingdoms in which the Lords Commissioners of Scotland are concerned for their Kingdom as we for ours and they as well as we know your Abilities and Integrity and are desirous of your Counsel in this great Business which both the Serjeants promised faithfully to give But here take notice That as the English Parliament call'd those who were opposite to them Malignants so the Scots call'd those opposite to them Incendiaries At the Desire of Essex the Chancellor of Scotland Lowden spake as followeth Mr. Maynard and Mr. Whitlock I Can assure you of the great Opinion both my Brethren and self have of your Worth and Abilities else we should not have desired this Meeting with you And since it is his Excellency's Essex his Pleasure that I should acquaint you with the Matter upon whilk your Counsel is desired I shall obey his Commands and briefly recite the Business to you You ken vary wee le that Gen. Lieutenant Cromwel is no Friend of ours and since the Advance of our Army into England he has used all under-hand and cunning Means to take off from our Honour and the Merits of this Kingdom an evil Requital of all our Hazards and Services but so it is and we are nevertheless fully satisfied of the Affections and Gratitude of the gude People of the Nation in general It is thought requisite for us and for carrying on the Cause of the twa Kingdoms that this Obstacle or Remora be removed out of the way whom we foresee will be no small Impediment to us in the gude Design we have undertaken He not only is no Friend to us and the Government of our Church but he is also no well-willer to his Excellency whom you and we have all Cause to love and honour and if he be permitted to go on this way it may I fear endanger the whole Business therefore we are to advise of some Course to be taken for Prevention of this Mischief You ken vary wee le the Accord betwixt the twa Nations and the Vnion by the solemn League and Covenant and if any be an Incendiary between the twa Nations how he is to be proceeded against Now the Matter is wherein we desire your Opinions what you take the meaning of the Word Incendiary to be and whether the Lieutenant General be not sike an Incendiary as is meant thereby and whilk Way wad be best to proceed against him if he be proved sike an Incendiary and that we may clepe his Wings from soaring to the Prejudice of our Case Now you may ken That by our Law in Scotland we clepe him an Incendiary wha kindleth Coals of Contention and raiseth Differences in the State to the Publick Damage and he is Tanquam Publicus Hostis Patriae Whether your Law be the same or not you ken best who are mickle learned therein and therefore we desire your Judgment in these Points Mr. Whitlock answered first and after a short Preface said The Sense of the Word Incendiary is the same with us as your Lordship has expressed to be by the Law of Scotland One that raiseth the Fire of Contention in a State that kindleth burning hot Flames
Success of this Fight he was not less in the Discovery of his secret Counsels with the Queen which were so contrary to those he declared to the Kingdom for in his Letter to the Queen he declared his Intention to make Peace with the Irish and to have 40000 of them over into England to prosecute the War here And in others he complained he could not prevail with his Mungrel Parliament at Oxford to Vote that the Parliament of Westminster were not a Lawful Parliament So little Thanks had these Noble Lords and Gentlemen for their exposing their Lives and Fortunes in Defence of the King in his Adversity What then might they expect if he should prevail by Conquest That he would not make a Peace with the Rebels the Parliament without her Approbation nor go one jot from the Paper she sent him That in the Treaty at Uxbridg he did not positively own the Parliament it being otherwise to be construed tho they were so simple as not to find it out and that it was recorded in the Notes of the King's Council that he did not acknowledg them a Parliament See Whitlock ' s Memoirs fol. 147. a. The Members having got these Papers not only printed and published them but order'd them to be kept upon Record and also made a publick Declaration of them wherein they shew what the Nobility and Gentry which follow'd the King might trust to The King's Army being overthrown the Parliament had two Armies and the King none but that which was commanded by General Goring which at that time besieg'd Taunton and sore distrest it but it being governed by Blake after the famous Admiral for the Rump and Cromwel by Sea it made indeed a wonderful Resistance And now you 'll see the King's Garisons surrender by heaps For two Days after the Fight at Naseby viz. June 14. Fairfax sat down before Leicester where my Lord Loughborough was Governour and made a large Breach towards Newark whereupon the Governour surrendred it After the Surrender of York the Year before the King made that noble Gentleman Sir Thomas Glenham Governour of Carlisle which he defended till the Garison were forced to eat Horse-flesh And the Town being besieged by the English and Scots Sir Thomas to throw a Bone of Dissension between them deliver'd it up to the Scots about a Week after the Surrender of Leicester From Leicester Fairfax marches to the Relief of Taunton whereupon Goring drew off and retreated to Langport where Fairfax routed Goring kill'd 200 of his Men took 1400 Prisoners and pursued the rest to Bridgwater which Fairfax besieg'd and had it surrender'd upon the 23d of July And about that time Pontfract Castle in Yorkshire surrender'd to M. G. Pointz and upon the 25th of July Sir Hugh Cholmly surrender'd Scarborough Castle to Sir Matthew Boynton and upon the 11th of September Fairfax storm'd Bristol and Prince Rupert surrender'd the Castle upon Terms Tho the City of Hereford bravely defended it self against General Lesley and his Scots from the 13th of July to the 1st of September and then forced Lesley to raise the Siege upon pretence of relieving his own Country then over-run by the Marquess of Montross yet it was soon after surprised by Colonel Birch and Colonel Morgan Nor were the King's Forces in the Field more fortunate than those in Garison for the King having got together a Body of about 5000 Men most Welch marched towards the Relief of Chester then besieged by Sir William Brereton and Colonel Jones but in his March he was fought by General Pointz at Routon-Moor within two Miles of Chester where the King was worsted and the Lord Bernard Stewart Brother to the Duke of Richmond kill'd The King's Affairs being thus desperate in England all the Hopes now were of Scotland where Montross had conquer'd it from one End to the other and had no visible Army to oppose him and the King to make Scotland secure commanded my Lord Digby and Sir Marmaduke Langdale to join Montross with their Horse in pursuance whereof they marched to Sherborn in Yorkshire where they surprised 700 of the Parliament's Foot with their Arms and Baggage but staying for Carriages Col. Copley Lilbourn and Alured fell upon them and routed them killing and taking 100 Officers 300 Soldiers and 600 Horse with their Furniture and my Lord Digby's Coach And my Lord Digby marching on with the rest of his Forces was set upon at Carlisle Sands and utterly defeated from whence my Lord and Langdale escaped to the Isle of Man and after into Ireland From Routon-Moor the King got to Newark where Maâ—or-General Gerrard charged the Lord Digby lately defeated at Sherborn with Treason Prince Rupert and Maurice the Lord Hawley and Sir Richard Willis the Governour sided with Gerrard and the Lord Bellasis and many others with Digby and so did the King who displaced Willis and made the Lord Bellasis Governour This caused great Dissension not only in the Garison but in the Officers of the Army which the King brought with him so that the Princes Rupert and Maurice General Gerrard my Lord Hawley and Willis forsook the King and sent to the Parliament for Passes to go beyond Sea In this forlorn state the King left Newark and with 300 Horse got safe to Oxford where the Princes Rupert and Maurice not knowing whither else to go came and were seemingly reconciled to him but upon the Return of the King's Horse Pointz meets and routs them Here the King again sent to the Parliament for a Treaty of Peace which was rejected upon this Occasion Letters were taken in my Lord Digby's Coach after his Rout at Sherborn and also in the Pockets of the Arch-bishop of Tuam who was slain in an Overthrow of the Irish at Sligo in Ireland wherein the King offered the Irish a Toleration of their Religion themselves to choose a Governour of their own and to be entrusted with several Castles and Forts for their Caution upon Condition that they send 10000 Men into England to assist him against his Enemies And with these they found the Copy of the King's Commission to the Earl of Glamorgan impowering him to treat with the Rebels viz. CHARLES by the Grace of God c. To our Trusty and Well-beloved Cousin Edward Earl of Glamorgan We reposing great and especial Trust and Confidence in your approved Wisdom and Fidelity do by these Presents as firmly as under our Great Seal to all Intents and Purposes authorize and give you Power to treat and conclude with the Confederate Roman Catholicks in our Kingdom of Ireland If upon necessity any thing be condescended to wherein our Lieutenant cannot so well be seen as not fit for us for the present publickly to own therefore We charge you to proceed according to this our Warrant with all possible Secrecy and whatever you shall engage your self upon such valuable Considerations as you in your Judgment shall deem fit we promise in the Word of a King and Christian to
of State of Scotland and as Runnagadoes from Christianity become the greatest Persecutors of Christians so was Lauderdale of the Kirk and Presbyterian Government However Lauderdale seemed zealous for calling a Parliament in Scotland and demolishing the Forts thaâ— bridled the Scots which Monk opposed and hereby Lauderdale became popular in Scotland so that all Applications to the King from thence was by Lauderdale In this state it was not easily determined who should be Commissioner in Scotland in case a Parliament should be called for Affairs were not yet ripe enough to make a Popish one nor would the Court trust a Presbyterian one and Lauderdale would not forsake his Post at Court where he govern'd all but continue it that all the Motions in Parliament might receive their Life from him At last it was agreed That Middleton who first served the Kirk against King Charles I. and after changing Sides made some Bustle in Scotland after the King left it should be created an Earl and made Commissioner and a Parliament should be called in Scotland The Nobility and Gentry of Scotland clearly saw there was no other way to redeem Scotland from being a conquered Nation and a Province to England but by an entire Submission to the King Lauderdale knew this as well as they and therefore resolved to make them pay dear for their Deliverance and now you shall see the Nobility and Gentry which with the Kirk united against King Charles I. divide under his Son and sacrifice the Kirk and all their Discipline to make an Atonement for themselves The first Act which was shewed herein was upon this Occasion The firy Zeal of the Kirk-men burnt up all Rules of Prudence or the Consideration of the present State of Scotland so that even in this state Crowns and Scepters must submit to the Kirk And that the King might know his Duty a Company of them met together and drew up a Supplication as they said but in nature of a Remonstrance to the King setting forth the Calamities they groaned under in the Time of the Usurpers by their impious Incroachments upon the Kingdom of Jesus Christ and the Liberties thereof which of themselves they were not able to suppress and overcome and the Danger of the Popish and Prelatical Party now beginning again to lift up their Head they press him to mind his â—aths and Covenant with God c. The Committee of Estates well knowing how ungrateful this would be to the King upon the 23d of August 1660. sent a Party and apprehended these Men whereof one Mr. James Guthry was the chief of whom you 'll hear more hereafter and committed them Prisoners to Edinburgh-Castle and from thence Guthry was sent Prisoner to Dundee for treasonable and seditious reflecting on his Majesty and on the Government of England and the Constitution of the Committee of State and tending to raise new Tumults and kindling a new Civil War among his Majesty's good Subjects This was the first Spark which soon burnt into such a Flame as totally consumed the whole Kirk-Party in Scotland and left them in a much worse plight than before when they suffered under the Usurpation as they called it of the English For during the late Usurpations the Kirk enjoyed a Liberty of Conscience but it 's the Nature of some Men that unless they may persecute other Men they 'll exclaim they are persecuted themselves and therefore since they were not able to do it themselves they minded the King of his Covenant with God to extirpate Heresy Schism and Profaneness and to remove the stumbling which the King had given them in admitting Prelacy Ceremonies and Service-Book in the King's Chappel and other Places of his Dominions But these Men were mistaken in their Measures for after the King was expelled from Scotland by Cromwel he little I may say never observed the Directory of Worship Confession of Faith and Catechisms in his Family according to the National and Solemn League and Covenant as he repeated in his Coronation-Oath and less the establishing Presbyterian Government in England and Ireland and least of all in Scotland For one of the first Acts of the first Sessions was an Anniversary Thanksgiving to be observed on every May 29 with this Proem The States of the Parliament of the Kingdom of Scotland taking into their Consideration the sad Condition Slavery and Bondage this antient Kingdom has groaned under these twenty three Years the time when the Troubles arose in K. Charles the First 's Reign in which under very specious Pretences of Reformation a publick Rebellion has been by the Treachery of some and Misperswasion of others violently carried on against sacred Authority to the Ruin and Destruction so far as was possible of Religion this King's Majesty and his Royal Government the Laws Liberties and Property of the People and all the publick and private Interests of the Kingdom so that Religion it self hath been prostituted for the Warrant of all these treasonable Invasions made upon the Royal Authority and disloyal Limitations upon the Allegiance of the Subjects Therefore upon the 29th of May be set apart for an Holy Day c. Yet soon after the King's Restoration he wrote to the Presbytery of Edinburgh promising to countenance the Church as by Law established But Lauderdale knew his Mind better Here it 's observable That in 1638 when the Kirk were so zealous with lifted-up Hands in the Presence of the Eternal God to swear to establish their National Covenant there was not one of the Nobility but the Popish except the Marquess of Hamilton and the Earl of Traquair but joined with the Kirk expresly against the King's Command Traquair the Kirk-Party proceeded against as an Incendiary and after Hamilton secretly joined with the Covenanters for which King Charles I. made him Prisoner in Pendennis-Castle from whence he was discharged when Fairfax had it surrender'd And not one of the Nobility except Argile and Cassels but declare this and all the Kirk-Proceedings since Treasonable Rebellion against the Laws Liberties and Property of the People and Prostitution of Religion and this Declaration was celebrated with a double Sacrifice the Marquess of Argile being executed as a Traitor for holding Correspondence with Cromwel and his Head set where Montross's stood on the Monday before and Mr. Guthry on Saturday after for refusing to own the Jurisdiction of the Judges in Ecclesiastical Affairs had his Head set upon one of the Ports of Edinburgh This was a sad Presage to the Kirk of what followed For as they without the King would impose their Solemn League and Covenant upon England now by the King and Parliament an Oath of Allegiance in the very Nature if not the Words of the Oath of Supremacy in England is imposed upon them wherein they are to swear That the King is the supreme Governour over all Persons and in all Causes c. and That they will maintain defend and assist his Majesty's Jurisdiction aforesaid against all
paid or was one tenth part so highly caressed by their Subjects in a time of Peace Was it not strange then that the King should be in such Necessities for Money as to borrow such great Sums of the City for carrying on this hasty War before the Parliament should meet to supply him Whereas when Queen Elizabeth came to the Crown her Revenue besides the Court of Wards and the Dutchy of Lancaster was but 188179 l. per Annum and the Crown left in Debt by her Father Brother and Sister which she afterwards paid and for the four first Years of her Reign the Parliament gave her but one Subsidy and two Fifteens about 120000 l. Yet in these Years she fitted up her Navy Royal so as it was not only superiour to those of all the Neighbouring Nations but of any Prince in the World and also sent a Fleet and Land-Army into Scotland with which she expelled the French out of it And the Parliament in the fifth Year of her Reign gave her but another Subsidy and two Fifteens wherewith she assisted the Princes of the Reform'd Religion in France Whereas the Parliament in the fifth Year of this King 's actual Reign gave him 2467500 l. for carrying on the War against the Dutch I will not dispute the Justice of this War yet sure never was any made with such Precipitancy and Inconsideration both abroad and at home for as the King entred into no Alliances or Confederations abroad in it so on the contrary France and Denmark our next Neighbouring Nations join'd with the Dutch against the King and that tho the Spaniard stood Neuter in it yet the King had little reason to expect any Benefit from him having been so used in the King's Sale of Dunkirk to the French and joining with the Portuguese and French against the Spaniard And as the King had made no Foreign Alliances abroad so had he not laid up any Naval Stores at home and which is worse he had the Act of Navigation tho made by the Rump yet the Parliament 13 Car. II. confirmed it or set the Royal Stamp upon it to struggle with to supply himself with Naval Stores for carrying on the War For the Rump were as hasty in making the Act of Navigation as the King was in entring into this War and made it general without any Consideration of Time either in War or Peace and herein their Zeal to make this Law outrun their Wit or Memory for these very Men about ten Years ago viz. 16 Car. I. 21. which yet stands unrepealed taking notice of the manifold Mischiefs tho in time of Peace which happened by reason the Importation of Gunpowder was prohibited contrary to Law viz. That the Price of Gunpowder was excessively raised many Powder-Mills decayed the Kingdom much weakned and endangered the Merchants much damnified many Mariners and others taken Prisoners and brought into miserable Captivity and Slavery many Ships taken by Turkish Pirates and many other Inconveniences thereby ensued and like to ensue Therefore this Act made the Importation of Gunpowder Salt-petre and Brimstone free to Strangers as well as Natives and a Premunire to hinder it Whereas in this War if the East-India Company shall set double or treble the Price upon Salt-petre or if their Ships should miscarry yet by this Act it is Confiscation of Ship Goods Tackle Apparel and Ammunition for the Subjects of any other Nation to import Salt-petre or Gunpowder The King tho this were a Naval War having laid up no Stores for it yet if the Swede from any Port of Norway but Gottenburg or if the Bradenburgher Lubeker Hamburgher or Emdenber should import any from any Port of Norway or any rough Hemp or Flax from Leifland or Prussia for making Cordage or Sails this had been Confiscation of Ships Goods Guns Tackle Ammunition and Apparel by this Act. This Act restraining the English in the Newcastle Trade and to the Plantations to navigate their Ships by three fourths English the King was forced to man his Fleet with pressed Men the greater part whereof were Land and Water-Men Whereas if it had been free for the English during the War to have imployed Foreigners in these Navigations the King might have above twenty thousand of his best Sea-men more than he had to man his Fleet and the City of London and other Parts of England throughly supplied with Coals at half the Prices and with more Security The King by reason of this Act in the first Year of this War was forced in the dead of Winter to send Sir John Harman to Gottenburg with a Squadron of Men of War for Masts Pitch and Tar where by the Coldness of the Season some of the Ships were frozen up and many of the English lost their Noses and were benumm'd in other Parts with the Cold Yet all agreed if the King had not been supplied with Naval Stores by this Fleet he could not have fitted out a Fleet next Year These things tho evident to any Stander-by yet the Parliament took no notice of them However the King wisely dispensed with the Act of Navigation so far as it related to the Importation of Naval Stores and Hemp and Flax with this different Success that tho the Parliament the Year before boggled at the King 's dispensing with the Penal Laws against Dissenters yet they took no notice of the King 's dispensing with the Act of Navigation Tho this War was thus hastily begun yet was it managed more carelesly and prodigally than ever any was before The Officers of the Fleet like those of the Guards bought their Places to sell their Lives the poor common Sea-men not paid and wanting Money to pay their Quarters were forced to take Tickets for less than half their Wages whilst Favourites swelled into incredible Riches by the Ruin and Spoil of the Nation The innumerable Prizes taken from the Dutch were so far from contributing to the Charges of this War that many of them were given to Women and Favourites and became a Charge to the King no Inspection must be into the defraying the Monies given for the War for this was to distrust the King The Officers who had bought their Places in the Fleet instead of minding their Business made it their Business how to be Gainers for the Purchase of their Places and caballed how they might improve their Interest at Court However the King receiving no Satisfaction from the Dutch for the Injuries done to Sir William Courten and Sir Paul Pindar upon the 17th of May 1665 granted Letters of Reprisal to Sir Edward Turner and George Carew their Executors c. against the Dutch till they should be satisfied 151612 l. This Grant to stand in force notwithstanding any Peace to be made till Sir Edward Turner c. were fully satisfied of the said Sum with all their Costs and Damages Sir Thomas Allen opened the first Sea Campagn by falling upon the Smirna-Fleet and took four of them richly laden and the