for though it cost him his life he that is in possession thinks it as well worth the keeping John Sparhank in King Henry the Fourth's time meeting two men upon the way amongst other talk said That the King was no rightful King but the Earl of March and that the Pope would grant Indulgencies to all that could assist the Earl's Title and that within half a year there would be no Liveries nor Cognizances of the King that the King had not kept promise with the People but had laid Taxes upon them In Easter-Term in the third year of Henry the Fourth in the Kings Bench Rot. 12. this adjudged Treason this denying the Title with Motives though not implyedly of Action against it adjudged Treason this is a compassing the Kings death How this was a compassing of the Kings Death is declared in the Reasons of the Judgment that the words were spoken with an intent to withdraw the affections of the people from the King and to excite them against him that in the end they might rise up against him in mortem destructionem of the King My Lords in this Judgment and others which I shall cite to your Lordships it appears that it is a compassing the Kings death by Words to endeavour to draw the Peoples hearts from the King to set discord between the King and them whereby the People should leave the King should rise up against him to the death and destruction of the King The Cases that I shall cite prove not only that it is Treason but what is sufficient Evidence to make this good Upon a Commission held the 18th year of Ed. 4. in Kent before the Marquess of Dorset and others an Indictment was preferred against John Awater of High-Treason in the Form before-mentioned for Words which are entred in the Indictment Sub hac forma That he had been servant to the Earl of Warwick that though he were dead the Earl of Oxford was alive and should have the Government of part of that Country That Edward whom you call King of England was a false Man and had by Art and Subtilty slain the Earl of Warwick and the Duke of Clare his Brother without any cause who before had been both of them attainted of High-Treason My Lords This Indictment was Returned into the Kings-Bench in Trinity Term in the Eighteenth year of Edward the Fourth and in Easter-Term the Two and twentieth of Edward the Fourth he was outlawed by the stay of the outlawry so long as it seems the Judges had well advised before whether it were Treason or not At the same Session Thomas Heber was Indicted of Treason for these words That the last Parliament was the most simple and insufficient Parliament that ever had been in England That the King was gone to live in Kent because that for the present he had not the love of the Citizens of London nor should he have it for the future That if the Bishop of Bath and Wells were dead the Archbishop of Canterbury being Cardinal of England would immediately lose his head This Indictment was returned into the Kings-Bench in Trinity-Term in the 18th year of Edward the 4th afterwards there came a Privy-Seal to the Judge to respit the Proceedings which as it should seem was to the intent the Judges might advise of the Case for afterwards he is outlawed of High-Treason upon this Indictment These words are thought sufficient evidence to prove these several Indictments that they were spoken to withdraw the Peoples Affections from the King to excite them against him to cause Risings against him by the People in mortem destructionem of the King Your Lordships are pleased to consider That in all these Cases the Treason was for words only words by private Persons and in a more private manner but once spoken and no more only amongst the People to excite them against the King My Lords here are Words Counsels more then Words and Actions too not only to disaffect the people to the King but the King likewise towards the People not once but often not in private but in places most Publick not by a private person but by a Counsellor of State a Lord-Lieutenant a Lord-President a Lord-Deputy of Ireland 1. To His Majesty that the Parliament had denyed to supply Him a Slander upon all the Commons of England in their Affections to the King and Kingdom in refusing to yield timely supply for the necessities of the King and Kingdom 2. From thence that the King was loose and absolved from Rules of Government and was to do every thing that Power would admit My Lords more cannot be said they cannot be aggravated whatever I should say would be in Diminution 3. Thence you have an Army in Ireland you may employ to reduce this Kingdom To Counsel a King not to Love His People is very Unnatural it goes higher to hate them to Malice them in his heart the highest expressions of Malice to destroy them by War These Coals they were cast upon his Majesty they were blown they could not kindle in that Breast Thence my Lords having done the utmost to the King he goes to the people At York the Country being met together for Justice at the Open Assises upon the Bench he tells them speaking of the Justices of the Peace that they were all for Law nothing but Law but they should find that the Kings Little Finger should be heavier then the Loyns of the Law as they shall find My Lords Who speaks this to the People a Privy-Counsellor this must be either to traduce His Majesty to the People as spoken from him or from himself who was Lord-Lieutenant of the County and President intrusted with the Forces and Justice of those parts that he would Employ both this way Add my Lords to his Words there the Exercising of an Arbitrary and Vast Jurisdiction before he had so much as Instructions or Colour of Warrant Thence we carry him into Ireland there he Represented by his place the Sacred Person of his Majesty First There at Dublin the Principal City of that Kingdom whither the Subjects of that Country came for Justice in an Assembly of Peers and others of greatest Rank upon occasion of a Speech of the Recorder of that City touching their Franchises and Regal Rights he tells them That Ireland was a Conquered Nation and that the King might do with them what he pleased Secondly Not long after in the Parliament 10 Car. in the Chair of State in full Parliament again That they were a Conquer'd Nation and that they were to expect Laws as from a Conqueror before the King might do with them what he would now they were to expect it that he would put this Power of a Conqueror in Execution The Circumstances are very Considerable in full Parliament from himself in Cathedra to the Representative Body of the whole Kingdom The Occasion adds much when they desir'd the Benefit of the Laws and that their Causes and Suits
this Kingdom and in Pursuance thereof they and every of them have Traiterously Contrived Introduced and Exercised an Arbitrary and Tyrannical Government against Law thorowout this Kingdom by the Countenance and Assistance of Thomas Earl of Strafford then Chief Governor of this Kingdom II. That they and every of them the said Sir Richard Bolton Knight Lord Chancellor of Ireland John Lord Bishop of Derry Sir Gerard Lowther Knight Lord Chief Justice of the Common-Pleas and Sir George Radcliffe Knight have Traiterously assumed to themselves and every one of them regal Power over the Goods Persons Lands and Liberties of his Majesties Subjects in this Realm and likewise have Maliciously Perfidiously and Traiterously Given Declared Pronounced and Published many False Unjust and Erroneous Opinions Judgments Sentences and Decrees in Extrajudicial manner against Law and have Perpetrated Practised and Done many other Traiterous and unlawful Acts and Things whereby as well divers Mutinies Seditions and Rebellions have been raised as also many Thousands of his Majesties Liege People of this Kingdom have been Ruined in their Goods Lands Liberties and Lives and many of them being of good Quality and Reputation have been utterly defamed by Pillory Mutilation of Members and other infamous Punishments By means whereof his Majesty and the Kingdom have been deprived of their Service in Juries and other Publick Imployments and the general Trade and Traffick of this Island for the most part destroyed and his Majesty highly Damnified in his Customs and other Revenues III. That they the said Sir Richard Bolton John Lord Bishop of Derry Sir Gerard Lowther Knight and Sir George Radcliffe and every of them the better to preserve themselves and the said Earl of Strafford in these and other Traiterous Courses have laboured to Subvert the Rights of Parliament and the ancient Course of Parliamentary Proceedings all which Offences were contrived Committed Perpetrated and done at such time as the said Sir Richard Bolton Sir Gerard Lowther and Sir George Radcliffe Knights were privy Counsellors of State within this Kingdom and against their and every of their Oaths of the same at such times as the said Sir R. Bolton Knight was Lord Chancellor of Ireland Chief Baron of his Majesties Court of Exchequer within this Kingdom and Sir Gerard Lowther Knight was Lord Chief Justice of the said Court of Common-Pleas and against their Oaths of the same and at such time as the said John Lord Bishop of Derry was actual Bishop of Derry within this Kingdom and were done and speciated contrary to their and every of their Allegiance several and respective Oaths taken in that behalf IV. For which the said Knights Citizens and Burgesses do Impeach the said Sir Richard Bolton Lord Chancellor of Ireland John Lord Bishop of Derry Sir Gerard Lowther Knight Lord Chief Justice of his Majesties said Court of Common-Pleas and Sir George Radcliffe Knight aforesaid and every of them of High-Treason against our Soveraign Lord the King his Crown and Dignity The said Knights Citizens and Burgesses by Protestation saving to themselves the Liberty of exhibiting at any time hereafter any Accusation or Impeachment against the said Sir Richard Bolton John Lord Bishop of Derry Sir Gerard Lowther and Sir George Radcliffe aforesaid and every of them and also of replying to them and every of their Answers which they and every of them shall make to the said Articles or any of them and of offering Proof also of the Premisses or of any other Impeachment or Accusation as shall be by them Exhibited as the Case shall according to the Course of Parliament require And the said Knights Citizens and Burgesses do pray that the said Sir Richard Bolton Knight Lord Chancellor of Ireland John Lord Bishop of Derry Sir Gerard Lowther Knight Lord Chief Justice of his Majesties said Court of Common-Pleas and Sir George Radcliffe Knight and every of them be put to Answer to all and every of the Premisses and that all such Proceedings Examinations Tryal and Judgment may be upon them and every of them had and used as is agreeable to Law and Justice Copia vera Signed PHILIP PHERNESLY Cler. Parliamenti Thus did these Popular Reforming Protestants help to unhinge the Government and not only helped forward the Designs of the Irish if Sir John Temple's observation before mentioned be true of their endeavours to push out the present Ministers and to get into their places but they gave great Countenance especially to the Vulgar and colourable pretences to the Ensuing Rebellion when even the Protestants of the Parliament of Ireland as well as the Parliament of England by their severe Procedure against the Earl of Strafford for misgovernment and Oppressions done in Ireland by impeaching of these Persons and by their repeated loud Complaints of Grievances Wrongs and Injustice publickly defamed his Majesties Government and proclaimed to the whole World That those Miseries which the Irish suffered under those their Governors and for the Redress of which they pretended to take up Arms were so great real and intolerable that both the Parliaments of England and Ireland were so deeply sensible of them as to acknowledg and thus bitterly inveigh against them Nor were the active men of the Commons House there less busie but the Lawyers Darcy Martin Plunket Cusack Brown Linch Bodkin Evers and others took upon them with much confidence to declare the Law and to frame several Queries which being proposed to the Judges and their Modest Answers not being satisfactory they gave out Resolutions of their own upon them such as might serve their Interest and Designs rather then comport with the Honor Duty and Allegiance which they owed to their Soveraign The Queries together with the Judges Answers to them as also their own Resolutions which were transmitted hither I find in the Paper-Office as followeth Questions wherein the House of Commons humbly desires that the House of the Lords would be pleased to require the Judges to deliver their Resolutions IN as much as the Subjects of this Kingdom are Free Queries propounded by the Parliament of Ireland to the Judges of that Kingdom Loyal and Dutiful Subjects to his most Excellent Majesty their Natural Liege-Lord and King and to be governed only by the Common Lawes of England and Statutes of Force in this Kingdom in the same manner and form as his Majesties Subjects of the Kingdom of England are and ought to be Governed by the said Common-Laws and Statutes of Force in that Kingdom which of Right the Subjects of this Kingdom do Challenge and make their Protestation to be their Birth-right and best Inheritance Yet in as much as the unlawful Actions and Proceedings of some of his Majesties Officers and Ministers of Justice of late years introduced and practised in this Kingdom did tend to the infringing and violation of the Laws Liberties and Freedom of the said Subjects of this Kingdom contrary to his Majesties Royal and Pious Intentions Therefore the Knights Citizens and Burgesses in
out of the hands of the King And to effect this all those Plots and Contrivances which the Reader will meet with in the ensuing Collections some of which are manifestly detected to be False Forged and Ridiculous were with the utmost Industry improved and magnified to run the People headlong into Tumults Mutinies and Rebellion There was the Plot of the Army against the Parliament the Plot against Pym by sending him an infected Plaister in a Letter the Plot in Scotland against Hamilton and Arguile which was to beget another of the same Nature in England Beal the Taylor 's Plot of 104 Men who for 40 s. apiece for the Commons and 10 l. for Lords were to kill just so many of the Lords and Commons to a Man there was the Plot discovered in a Letter to Mr. Bridgman information of French Spanish and Danish Plots besides the great Plot of the Papists and Bishops to bring in Popery and the King and his Evil Councellors to destroy Priviledges and Parliaments and to fire the City and cut the Throats of the Citizens Now all these Plots Centred in this one Point that the Kingdom being in such extreme Danger not only from Foreign Enemies but Domestique the People could have no manner of Security for their Lives Liberties Estates or Religion unless the King would trust the Parliament with the Power of the Sword the Militia of the Kingdom the Navy Forts Garrisons Castles Magazines and Stores and more especially the Tower of London and the Towns of Portsmouth and Kingston upon Hull that so by their Order and Appointment such Persons as His Majesty thought fit to bestow those Trusts upon might be displaced and such as the Parliament could confide in the Creatures of the Faction might have those important Trusts and Charges conferred upon them Whilst the People continually amused and alarm'd with these apprehensions of Danger which the Faction perswaded them threatned them from every quarter of the Heavens were blown up into an Universal Ferment of desperate Fears and incurable Jealousies the Horrid Rebellion in Ireland broke out which gave such Countenance and Colour to all the former though never so fictitious Rumors of Plots and Conspiracies that the Nation was all in a Flame and under the most dreadful Apprehensions that the very same Design was laid for the Ruin and Destruction of England which gave the Faction all the Confidence and opportunity they could have wished or desired to seize upon the Militia by force which they could not by perswasions obtain from the King who now evidently saw where all their fine Pretensions to Loyalty and Duty would most certainly Terminate And so resolutely were they bent upon this Usurpation that they permitted the Rebellion in Ireland for want of timely Supplies of Men and Money to suppress it to grow to that formidable height as to put England to the vast Expence of Blood and Treasure which it did afterwards by the neglecting to extinguish this fire upon its first Eruption Nor was this the only Use which the Faction in the Two Houses in England made of this Rebellion in Ireland For when afterwards they came to break out into a Rebellion themselves certainly not less horrible and detestable since they pretended to be acted by a Religion which hitherto had decried Popery upon the very score of allowing Principles of Rebellion deposing and murthering Lawful Princes the Parliament in their Papers Answers and Declarations secretly reflected upon the King and by their impudent Agents and Emissaries and the allowed Scriblers and News-Printers the very Pests of the Age openly published that the Rebellion in Ireland began by his knowledge and connivance and by that means they laid all those Massacres and Murthers which were there most barbarously committed at His Majesties door and by heightning the Infamous actions of the Rebells there with the most aggravating Circumstances of Inhumanity and Cruelty whilst they secretly insinuated the King to be concerned in them they certainly robbed him of the Hearts and Hands the Allegiance and Affections of his Subjects I cannot therefore but esteem it a Duty which common humanity challenges from all mankind to indeavour the vindication of the injured and oppressed but I look upon my self as under the severest Obligations of Christianity Conscience Truth and Justice to clear the Reputation of this Royal Sufferer from the horrible Detractions Slanders and Calumnies with which those brutish Rebels did not only blemish his Life and Actions but have most barbarously persecuted his Innocent Memory indeavouring therefore to make him appear Criminal that their hands which were died in his Sacred Blood might appear less Guilty And I shall esteem it a very singular Honor and the greatest Glory of my life that Providence has given me the opportunity to be in some measure Instrumental toward the fulfilling of that prophetick Passage in his incomparable Book 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cap. 15. where he hath these words concerning the Jealousies raised and Scandals cast upon him by his Enemies For Mine Honour I am well assured that as Mine Innocency is clear before God in point of any Calumnies they Object so My Reputation shall like the Sun after Owles and Bats have had their freedom in the Night and darker times rise and recover it self to such a Degree of Splendor as those Ferab Birds shall be grieved to behold and unable to bear for never were any Princes more Glorious then those whom God hath suffered to be tried in the Fornace of Afflictions by their injurious Subjects I am very sensible that in pursuing the Historical Account of the Irish Rebellion I shall have the management of a very difficult Province there being a sort of People who think there can be no Hyperbolies in aggravating the blackness of the Irish Rebellion though at the same time they think every little reflection too hard and sharp that touches upon the English Rebellion And if a Writer cannot devest himself not only of the Humanity of a just and generous Heathen but of the Charity of a good Christian he shall be pursued with the odious Reproaches of a Favourer of Popery and therefore I must avow my Resolution to be honestly to follow the Conduct of Truth without the least declining on any hand to the best of my Understanding and Information and in order to that Procedure though I think and upon all occasions shall indeavour to make it appear that the Rebellion of the Irish was a most Horrid and Treasonable Defection from their Duty and Loyalty and carried on with most barbarous and unexampled Cruelty yet I shall not exactly follow the steps of some other Pens who have undertaken to give an account of the Transaction of the Affairs of that time since to me it is evident that they have not dealt fairly neither with the King nor Loyal Party nor indeed with Truth her self but have concealed some things and palliated others which in Justice they ought not to have done and
such persons only excepted as be imployed here c. do hereafter make their personal Residence and not depart for England or other place without privity of Our Deputy any former Letters to the contrary notwithstanding And because We resolve to have this course constantly observed if you shall have notice of any Contemner of this Command Our Will and Pleasure is That you proceed against them in an exemplary way to deterr others And for so doing this shall be your Warrant From whence he inferred That this being required by the Law of the Land by the Request of the Irish according to the Lord Faulkland 's former Instructions and justified by the King's Letter he trusted it would not appear to their Lordships so great a Crime as at first it might seem That the Council concurred to the Proclamation that there was great reason of State for it in regard O Neal and Tir Connel having Regiments of the most ancient Irish Septs in the Service of the King of Spain if every one might withdraw at pleasure without giving an account it would open all the Power and Means to distemper that State and he feared it would produce sad Events in that Kingdom And here I cannot but admire the Prophetick Wisdom of this Great Man and States man so soon justified by the Event when upon this Liberty procured by the English Parliament in so few months after his Death that Horrid Rebellion and Massacre broke out which produced the most deplorable Events in the World But to proceed he shewed further That this Restraint was to prevent the going over of the Nobility and Gentry to be Educated at Doway and St. Omers and was for the Interest of the Protestant Religion As to my Lord of Esmond which appeared to be so foul a business he was stayed as being Major General of the Army and could not be spared but he was mistaken if shortly after he did not give him Licence and whereas my Lord of Esmond was said to have no Commission to Examine Witnesses some Evidence accidentally appearing his Lordship took notice of God's Providence and Goodness to assist him and for this purpose Mr. Riley was Examined who Deposed That my Lord of Esmond and Sir Pierce Crosby had a Commission to Examine Witnesses in the Case between them and the Earl of Strafford Mr. Ralton attested the same He further added That the Lord Esmond was stayed on a Complaint of Sir Walsingham Cook 's concerning a Practice against Sir Walsingham 's Life For the Lord Roche he was informed against in the Star-Chamber which he was willing to forget for that Gentleman's Honor the Complaint being of that Nature that he was not willing to press it As to Mac Carty the Decree was made by a Letter from His Majesty on a notable fraud of the Father in the Case of Sir James Craig and the Restraining Young Mac Carty was to prevent his going to Doway or St. Omers and that he that swears it is Solicitor in the Case and unfit for a Witness As to Mr. Parry the Reason appeared in the Sentence which attested by Mr. Gibson was Read as followeth WHereas Henry Parry The Sentence against Mr. Parry one of them who attended the Lord Chancellor as his Lordship's Register-keeper or Clerk for private Judicatures and Keeper of the Books of these Private Proceedings was Commanded to attend the Board to be Examined And whereas in Contempt thereof he not onely neglected to attend accordingly but departed this Kingdom which being represented to His Majesty it pleased His Majesty to require his return hither to attend this Board To which end a Bond was taken for his Appearance here the next Council-day after the 12th of Aug. And whereas he was present himself at this Board 9th of October 1638 but offered no Petition as if he disdained so far to humble himself to this Authority whereupon it being made known to him That it became him in the Duty he owed to the Dignity of this Board to come by Petition as all other Men but he forbearing to exhibit his Petition till he was called by us the Deputie to do it and then when he exhibited it he therein misrecited his Offence alleadging it to be for his repairing to England without Licence whereas his Offence was The disobeying the Orders of this Board Secondly He laid a Tax on William Ralton Esq Alleadging That on pretence of Direction from Secretary Cooke he took his Bond for Appearance here whereas he knew it was not by any feigned direction but by appointment of Secretary Cooke by His Majestie 's Direction Thirdly In stead of humbling himself he desired Cancelling of his Bond and Dismission from attendance and the rather because he conceived he had not in any degree transgressed the Proclamation cautelously alledging that to be his Offence which was not laid to his Charge And forasmuch as his first Offence in Esloyning himself to shun the guilt whereof he was convinced and after his bold and insolent behaviour at this Board in answering plainly That he conceived the Command of the Lord Chancellor ought to free him from the Command of this Board deserves such proceedings against him as may be both Punishment to him and Example to others It is therefore Ordered That he stand Fined in 500 l. bound to his Good Behaviour stand Committed to the Castle during the Deputy's Pleasure and make Acknowledgment of his Offence at this Board And the Form of his Submission is set down I Acknowledge I presented a Presumptuous and Untrue Petition c. Given 30 October 1638. The Names of those that Subscribed it were also Read The Lord Dillon was Examined about the Lord Esmond affirmed That it was suggested that he had set some persons on to cut off Sir Walsingham Cook which was confirmed by Sir Adam Loftus Lord Dillon and that the Witnesses not concurring my Lord Esmond was dismissed To which the Earl added That as soon as he was clear he had liberty to go into England And for the Fees for Licences Mr. Slingsby and Mr. Little attested That they had 20 s. of Privy Councellors and Officers of the Army of others 5 s but it was voluntary and many times none at all was paid He concluded That he hoped nothing hitherto shall convince him of Treason before their Lordships to whose Judgment he did with all humility submit To this Mr. Palmer replyed Mr. Palmer's reply That his Lordship had used a great deal of Wit and Art to colour his Actions and to induce the King to an allowance of them but his Acts of Injustice shew quo obtentu this Proposition was gotten that as it prevented Clamorous Complaints so it terrified those which were real lest they should be punished as clamorous That the 25 H. 6. though it gave leave to seize their Lands that departed without Licence yet restrained not their persons That as to the Petition for Residence of Vndertakers there was a great difference
and yet these are the Guildings and Paintings that are put upon such Counsels These are for your Honour for your Service whereas in truth they are contrary to both But if I shall take off this varnish I hope they shall then appear in their own Native deformity and therefore I desire to consider them by these Rules It cannot be for the Honour of the King that His Sacred Authority should be used in the practice of Injustice and Oppression That his name should be applyed to patronize such horrid crimes as have been represented in Evidence against the Earl of Strafford and yet how frequently how presumptuously his Commands his Letters have been vouched throughout the course of this Defence Your Lordships have heard when the Judges do Justice it is the King's Justice and this is for his Honour because He is the fountain of Justice But when they do Injustice the offence is their own but those Officers and Ministers of the King who are most officious in the exercise of this Arbitrary Power they do it commonly for their advantages and when they are questioned for it then they fly to the King's Interest to his Direction And truly my Lords this is a very unequal distribution for the King that the dishonour of evil courses should be cast upon him and they to have the advantage The prejudice which it brings to him in regard of his profit is no less apparent it deprives him of the most beneficial and most certain Revenue of his Crown that is The voluntary Aids and Supplies of His People His other Revenues consisting of goodly Demeans and great Mannors have by grants been alienated from the Crown and are now exceedingly diminished and impaired But this Revenue it cannot be sold it cannot be burdened with any Pensions or Annuities but comes intirely to the Crown It is now almost Fifteen years since His Majesty had any Assistance from His People and these illegal wayes of supplying the King were never prest with more Violence and Art then they have been in this time and yet I may upon very good grounds affirm That in the last Fifteen years of Queen Elizabeth She received more by the Bounty and Affection of her Subjects then hath come to his Majesties Coffers by all the inordinate and rigorous courses which have been taken And as those Supplies were more beneficial in the Receipt of them so were they likewise in the use and imployment of them Another way of prejudice to His Majesties profit is this Such Arbitrary Courses exhaust the People and disable them when there shall be occasion to give such plentiful Supplies as otherwise they would do I shall need no other proof of this then the Irish Government under my Lord of Strafford where the Wealth of the Kingdom is so consumed by those horrible Exactions and Burdens that it is thought the Subsidies lately granted will amount to little more then half the proportion of the last Subsidies The two former wayes are hurtful to the King's profit in that respect which they call Lucrum Cessans by diminishing his Receipts But there is a third fuller of mischief and it is in that respect which they call Damnum emergens by encreasing his Disbursements such irregular and exorbitant attempts upon the Liberties of the People are apt to produce such miserable Distractions and Distempers as will put the King and Kingdoms to such vast Expenses and Losses in a short time as will not be recovered in many years We need not go far to seek a proof of this these two last years will be a sufficient Evidence within which time I assure my self it may be proved that more Treasure hath been wasted more loss sustained by His Majesty and His Subjects then was spent by Queen Elizabeth in all the War of Tyron and in those many brave Attempts against the King of Spain and the Royal Assistance which she gave to France and the Low-Countries during all Her Reign As for greatness this Arbitrary Power is apt to hinder and impair it not only at home but abroad A Kingdom is a Society of men conjoyned under one Government for the Common good The World is a Society of Kingdomes and States The King's Greatness consists not only in His Dominion over his Subjects at home but in the Influence which he hath upon States abroad That he should be great even among Kings and by his Wisdom and Authority so to incline and dispose the Affairs of other States and Nations and those great events which fall out in the World as shall be for the good of Mankind and for the Peculiar advantage of His own People This is the most glorious and magnificent greatness to be able to relieve distressed Princes to support his own Friends and Allies to prevent the Ambitious Designs of other Kings and how much this Kingdom hath been impaired in this kind by the late mischievous Counsels your Lordships best know who at a near distance and with a more clear sight do apprehend these publick and great affairs then I can do Yet thus much I dare boldly say that if his Majesty had not with great Wisdom and Goodness forsaken that way wherein the Earl of Strafford had put him we should within a short time have been brought into that miserable condition as to have been useless to our Friends contemptible to our Enemies and uncapable of undertaking any great Design either at home or abroad A Fourth Consideration is That this Arbitrary and Tyrannical Power which the Earl of Strafford did exercise in his own Person and to which he did advise His Majesty is inconsistent with the Peace the Wealth the Prosperity of a Nation It is destructive to Justice the Mother of Peace to Industry the spring of Wealth to Valour which is the active Virtue whereby the prosperity of a Nation can only be procured confirmed and enlarged It is not only apt to take away Peace and so entangle the Nation with Wars but doth corrupt Peace and puts such a malignity into it as produceth the effects of War We need seek no other proof of this but the Earl of Strafford's Government where the Irish both Nobility and others had as little security of their Persons or Estates in this peaceable time as if the Kingdom had been under the rage and fury of War And as for Industry and Valour who will take pains for that which when he hath gotten is not his own or who fight for that wherein he hath no other Interest but such as is subject to the Will of another The ancient encouragement to men that were to defend their Countreys was this That they were to hazard their Person pro Aris focis for their Religion and for their Houses But by this Arbitrary way which was practised in Ireland and counselled here no man had any certainty either of Religion or of his House or any thing else to be his own But besides this such Arbitrary courses have an ill
operation upon the courage of a Nation by embasing the hearts of the People A servile condition does for the most part beget in men a slavish temper and disposition Those that live so much under the Whip and the Pillory and such servile Engines as were frequently used by the Earl of Strafford they may have the dregs of Valour Sullenness and Stubborness which may make them prone to mutinies and discontents But those Noble and Gallant affections which put men to brave designs and attempts for the preservation or enlargement of a Kingdom they are hardly capable of Shall it be Treason to embase the King's Coin though but a piece of Twelve-pence or Six-pence and must it not needs be the effect of a greater Treason to embase the Spirits of his Subjects and to set a Stamp and character of Servitude upon them whereby they shall be disabled to do any thing for the Service of the King and Commonwealth The Fifth Consideration is this that the exercise of this Arbitrary Government in times of suddain danger by the invasion of an enemy will disable His Majesty to preserve himself and His Subjects from that danger This is the only pretence by which the Earl of Strafford and such other mischievous Counsellors would induce his Majesty to make use of it and if it be unfit for such an occasion I know nothing that can be alledged in maintainance of it When War threatens a Kingdom by the coming of a Forraign Enemy it is no time then to discontent the people to make them weary of the present Government and more inclinable to a change The supplies which are to come in this way will be unready uncertain there can be no assurance of them no dependance upon them either for time or proportion And if some Money be gotten in such a way the distractions divisions distempers which this course is apt to produce will be more prejudicial to the publique safety than the Supply can be advantagious to it and of this we have had sufficient experience the last Summer The Sixth That this crime of Subverting the Laws and introducing an Arbitrary and Tyrannical Government is contrary to the Pact and Covenant betwixt the King and his People that which was spoken of before was the legal union of Allegiance and Protection this is a personal union by mutual agreement and stipulation confirmed by Oath on both sides The King and his People are obliged to one another in the nearest relations he is a Father and a Child is called in Law pars patris He is the Husband of the Commonwealth they have the same interests they are inseparable in their condition be it good or evil he is the Head they are the Body there is such an incorporation as cannot be dissolved without the destruction of both When Justice Thorp in Edward the III. time was by the Parliament condemned to death for bribery the reason of that Judgment is given because he had broke the King's Oath not that he had broke his own Oath but he had broken the King's Oath that solemn and great Obligation which is the security of the whole Kingdom If for a Judge to take a small summ in a private Cause was adjudged capital how much greater was this offence whereby the Earl of Strafford hath broken the King's Oath in the whole course of his Government in Ireland to the prejudice of so many of his Majesties Subjects in their Lives Liberties and Estates and to the danger of all the rest The Doctrine of the Papists Fides non est servanda cum Haereticis is an abominable Doctrine yet that other Tenet more peculiar to the Jesuits is more pernicious whereby Subjects are discharged from their Oath of Allegiance to their Prince whensoever the Pope pleaseth This may be added to make the third no less mischievous and destructive to humane Society than either of the rest That the King is not bound by that Oath which he hath taken to observe the Laws of the Kingdom but may when he sees cause lay Taxes and Burthens upon them without their consent contrary to the Laws and Liberties if the Kingdom This hath been Preached and published by divers And this is that which bath been practised in Ireland by the Earl of Strafford in his Government there and endeavoured to be brought into England by his Counsel here The Seventh is this It is an offence that is contrary to the end of Government The end of Government was to prevent oppressions to limit and restrain the excessive power and violence of great men to open the passages of Justice with indifferency towards all This Arbitrary Power is apt to induce and encourage all kind of insolencies Another end of the Government is to preserve men in their Estates to secure them in their Lives and Liberties but if this design had taken effect and could have been setled in England as it was practised in Ireland no man would have had more certainty in his own then Power would have allowed him but these two have been spoken of before there are two behind more important which have not yet been touched It is the end of Government that Vertue should be cherish'd Vice supprest but where this Arbitrary and unlimited Power is set up a way is open not only for the security but for the advancement and encouragement of evil such men as are apt for the execution and maintenance of this Power are only capable of preferment and others who will not be instruments of any unjust commands who make a conscience to do nothing against the Laws of the Kingdom and Liberties of the Subject are not only not passable for employment but subject to much jealousie and danger It is the end of Government that all Accidents and Events all Counfels and Designs should be improved to the publique good But this Arbitrary Power is apt to dispose all to the maintainance of it self The wisdom of the Council-Table The authority of the Courts of Justice The industry of all the Officers of the Crown have been most carefully exercised in this the Learning of our Divines the Jurisdiction of our Bishops have been moulded and disposed to the same effect which though it were begun before the Earl of Strafford's imployment yet it hath been exceedingly furthered and advanced by him Under this colour and pretence of maintaining the King's Power and Prerogative many dangerous practises against the peace and safety of the Kingdom have been undertaken and promoted The increase of Popery and the favours and encouragement of papists have been and still are a great grievance and danger to the Kingdom The innovation in matters of Religion the Usurpations of the Clergy the manifold burthens and taxations upon the people have been a great cause of our present distempers and disorders and yet those who have been chief furtherers and actors of such mischiefs have had their Credit and Authority from this that they were forward to maintain this power The
committit from the Lex talionis he that would not have had others to have a Law Why should he have any himself Why should not that be done to him that himself would have done to others It 's true we give Law to Hares and Deers because they be Beasts of Chase It was never accounted either cruelty or foul play to knock Foxes and Wolves on the head as they can be found because these be Beasts of Prey The Warrener sets Traps for Polcats and other Vermine for preservation of the Warren Further my Lords most dangerous Diseases if not taken in time they kill Errors in great things as War and Marriage they allow no time for repentance it would have been too late to make a Law when there had been no Law My Lords for further Answer to this Objection he hath offended against a Law a Law within the endeavouring to subvert the Laws and Polity of the State wherein he lived which had so long and with such faithfulness protected his Ancestry Himself and his whole Family It was not Malum quia prohibitum it was Malum in se against the Dictates of the dullest Conscience against the Light of Nature they not having a Law were a Law to themselves Besides this he knew a Law without that the Parliament in Cases of this Nature had Potestatem vitae necis Nay he well knew that he offended the Promulged and Ordinary Rules of Law Crimes against Law have been Proved have been Confessed so that the Question is not De culpa sed de poena What degree of Punishment those Faults deserve We must differ from him in Opinion That twenty Felonies cannot make a Treason if it be meant of equality in the use of the Legislative Power for he that deserves death for one of these Felonies alone deserves a Death more painful and more Ignominious for all together Every Felony is punished with loss of Life Lands and Goods a Felony may be aggravated with those Circumstances as that the Parliament with good reason may add to the Circumstances of Punishment as was done in the Case of John Hall in the Parliament of the 1 H. 4. who for a Barbarous Murder committed upon the Duke of Glocester stifling him between two Feather-Beds at Calice was adjudged to be Hanged Drawn and Quartered Batteries by Law are only punishable by Fine and single Damages to the Party Wounded In the Parliament held in 1 H. 4. Cap. 6. one Savage committed a Battery upon one Chedder Servant to Sir John Brooke a Knight of the Parliament for Somersetshire It 's there Enacted that he shall pay double Damages and stand Convicted if he render not himself by such a time The manner of proceedings quickned and the penalty doubled the Circumstances were considered it concerned the Common-Wealth it was a Battery with Breach of Priviledge of Parliament This is made a perpetual Act no warning to the first Offender and in the Kings-Bench as appears by the Book-Case of 9 H. 4. the first leaf Double Damages were recovered My Lords in this of the Bill the Offence is High and General against the King and the Common-wealth against all and the best of all If every Felony be loss of Life Lands and Goods What is Misuser of the Legislative Power by Addition of Ignominy in the Death and Disposal of the Lands to the Crown the Publick Patrimony of the Kingdom But it was hoped that your Lordships had no more skill in the Art of killing Men then your worthy Ancestors My Lords this Appeal from your selves to your Ancestors we do admit of although we do not admit of that from your Lordships to the Peers of Ireland He hath Appealed to them your Lordships will be pleased to hear what Judgment they have already given in the case that is the several Attainders of Treason in Parliament after the Statute of 25 E. 3. for Treasons not mentioned nor within that Statute and those upon the first Offenders without warning given By the Statute of 25 E. 3. it 's Treason to levy War against the King Gomines and Weston afterwards in Parliament in the 1 R. 2. n. 38 39. adjudged Traytors for surrendring two several Castles in France only out of fear without any Compliance with the Enemy this not within the Statute of 25th E. 3. My Lords In the 3d year of Rich. 2d John Imperiall that came into England upon Letters of Safe Conduct as an Agent for the State of Genoa sitting in the evening before his door in Breadstreet as the words of the Records are Paulo ante ignitegium John Kirkby and another Citizen coming that way Casually Kirkby troad upon his Toe it being twilight this grew to a Quarrel and the Ambassador was slain Kirkby was Indicted of High-Treason the Indictment finds all this and that it was only done se defendendo and without malice The Judges it being out of the Statute 25 E. 3. could not proceed the Parliament declared it Treason and Judgment afterwards of High-Treason there 's nothing can bring this within the Statute of 25 E. 3. but it concerns the Honour of the Nation that the publick Faith should be strictly kept It might endanger the Traffique of the Kingdom they made not a Law first they made the first man an Example this is in the Parliament Roll 3 R. 2. Number 18. and Hillary-Term 3 R. 2. Rot. 31. in the Kings-Bench where Judgment is given against him In 11 R. 2. Tresilian and some others attainted of Treason for delivering Opinions in the Subversion of the Law and some others for plotting the like My Lords the Case hath upon another occasion been opened to your Lordships only this is observable that in the Parliament of the first year of Henry the Third where all Treasons are again reduced to the Statute of 25 E. 3. These Attainders were by a particular Act confirmed and made good that the memory thereof might be transmitted to succeeding Ages they stand good unto this day the offences there as here were the endeavouring the Subversion of the Laws My Lords after the 1 H. 4. Sir John Mortimer being committed to the Tower upon suspition of Treason brake Prison and made his escape This is no way within any Statute or any former Judgment at Common-Law for this that is for breaking the Prison only and no other cause in the Parliament held the second year of Henry the Sixth he was attainted of High-Treason by Bill My Lords Poysoning is only Murder yet one Richard Cooke having put Poyson into a Pot of Pottage in the Kitching of the Bishop of Rochester whereof two persons dyed he 's Attainted of Treason and it was Enacted that he should be Boyled to death by the Statute of 22 H. 8. c. 9. By the Statute of the 25. H. 8. Elizabeth Barton the Holy Maid of Kent for pretending Revelations from God That God was highly displeased with the King for being divorced from the Lady Catherine and that in
Disloyalties I will omit and passing by as well particular Bishops and Prelates as Stephen Arch-Deacon of Norwich and others as also of them in general I will only relate one villanous passage of Trayterous Disloyalty whereof as good Authors deliver the Archbishops and Prelates were principal Abettors and Conspirers The King being at Oxford the Bishops and Barons came thither with armed Multitudes without number and forced him to yield that the Government should be swayed by 25 Selected Peers Paris Thus one of the greatest Soveraigns was but the Six and twentieth petty King in his own Dominions c. To him Succeeded his Son K. H. 3. who being at Clerkenwel in the House of the Prior of Saint John's was told by him no less sawcily than disloyally if I may not say traiterously That he should be no longer King than he did Right to the Prelates Whereto he answered What do you mean to deprive me of my Kingdom and afterward Murther me as you did my Father And indeed they performed little less as shall hereafter appear But now to take the particular passages in order In this King's Reign Stephen then Archbishop of Canterbury as we read was the Ring-Leader of Disorders both in Church and State and no better was Peter Bishop of Winchester But not to speak of them in particular but of them all in general and that in Parliament at Oxford saith Matth. Paris and Matth. Westm came the Seditious Earls and Barons with whom the Bishops Pontifices ne dicam Pharisei those were his words had taken Counsel against the King the Lord 's Anointed who sternly propounded to the King sundry traiteterous Articles to which they required his Assent but not to reckon all the Points you shall hear what the same Authors deliver of their Intent I will repeat the words as I find them These turbulent Nobles saith M. West had yet a further Plot than all this which was first hatched by the Disloyal Bishops which was That four and twenty Persons should there be Chosen to have the whole Administration of the King and State and yearly appointment of all great Officers reserving only to the King the highest Place at Meetings Primus Accubitus in Coenis and Salutations of Honour in Publick Places To which they forced him and his Son Prince Edward to Swear for fear as mine Author saith of Perpetual Imprisonment if not worse for the Traiterous Lords had by an Edict threatned Death to all that resisted And the Perfidious and wicked Archbishop and Bishops Cursing all that should rebel against it Which impudent and Traiterous Disloyalty saith Matth. Paris and Matth. Westm the Monks did detest asking With what fore-heads the Priests durst thus impair the Kingly Majesty expresly against their sworn Fidelity to him Here we see the Monks more Loyal and Honest than the Lord Bishops we have Cashiered the poor Monks and are we afraid of the Bishops Lordliness that they must continue and sit in Parliament to the Prejudice of the King and People And so we may observe That this * This which he accounts Treason in the Bishops was no more than this Man and his fellow-Members would have imposed upon the King in the 19 Propositions Traiterous Bishop did make this King as the former had done his Father meerly Titular From him I pass to his Son Edward the First In his Reign Boniface was Archbishop of Canterbury and Brother to the Queen what he and the rest of the Prelates did in prejudice to the Regal Authority and Weal Publick I will pass over the rather for that they declare themselves in his Son's Reign so wicked and disloyal that no Age can Parallel of which thus in brief Doth not Thomas de la More call the Bishop of Hereford Arch-Plotter of Treason Omnis mali Architectum and not to speak of his contriving the Death of the late Chancellor and other particular Villanies he is Branded together with Winchester then Chancellor and Norwich Lord Treasurer to occasion the dethroning of this Prince Nay after long Imprisonment his very Life taken away by Bishop Thorlton's Aenigmatical Verse though he after denied it Edwardum Occidere nolite timere bonum est But this Adam de Orleton alias Torleton and his fellow Bishops in this King's Reign I may not slightly pass over Therefore I desire we may take a further view of them First of this Adam Bishop of Hereford we find that he was stript of all his Temporalties for supporting the Mortimers in the Barons Quarrel He being saith Thomas de la More a Man of most subtil Wit and in all wordly Policies profound daring to do great Things and Factious withal who made against King Edward the Second a great secret Party To which Henry Burwash Bishop of Lincoln for like Causes deprived of his Temporalties joyned himself as also Ely and others Walter Stapleton Bishop of Exeter a Turn-Coat left the Queen and came to England to inform the King of his Queens too great familiarity with Mortimer which afterward cost him his Head Perhaps some now as Thomas de la More will say he was therein a good Man yet I will take leave to think not do I fear to speak it This was no part of Episcopal Function But I will pass him by not concluding him either good or bad every Man may think as he pleaseth I will declare the Traiterous and Disloyal Actions of the other Bishop formerly mentioned This Bishop of Hereford whom I find called the Queens bosom Councellor Preaching at Oxford took for the Text My Head my Head aketh 2 Kings 4.19 concluding more like a Butcher than a Divine that an Aking and Sick Head of a Kingdom was of necessity to be taken off and not to be tampered with by any other Physick whereby it is probable that he was the Author of that Aenigmatical Verse formerly recited Edwardum occidere c. And well may we believe it for we find that he caused Roger Baldock Bishop of Norwich the late Lord Chancellor to die miserably in Newgate Not much better were Ely Lincoln Winchester and other Bishops that adhered to the Queen Mortimer and others of her part Nor can I commend those Bishops that were for the King and the Spencers The Archbishop of Canterbury and his Suffragans decreeing the Revocation of those Pestilent Peers the Judgment given against them judged as Erronious Thus these Lord Bishops as all in a manner both before and after instead of Feeding the Flock of Christ only Plotted dismal Wars Death and Destruction of Christians I might tell you how in this King's Reign as in others * Certainly this was made a President for such were the Pretences and Practises of this Man and his Associates they perswaded the Lords and Peers of the Realm that they had Power and Right not only to reform the King's House and Council and to place and displace all great Officers at their Pleasure but even a joynt Interest in
Indictments where the Matter in Issue being that the said Brook refused to Administer the said Sacrament because the said Ingram and Carter would not receive Tickets with their Sur-Names before their Christen-Names which was a Course never used amongst them but by the said Brook He the said Sir Robert Berkley did then much discourage the said Ingram's Councel and over-rule the Cause for matter of Law so as the Jury never went from the Bar but there found for the said Brook And the said Sir Robert Berkley bound the said Ingram to the good Behaviour for the prosecuting the said Indictments and ordered him to pay Costs to the said Brook for wrongfully inditing him And whereas the said Carter not expecting the Tryal at the same Assizes he preferred his Indictment was then absent whereupon the said Sir Robert Berkley did cause to be entred upon the said Indictment a vacat quia non sufficiens in lege and ordered an Attachment against the said Carter which said proceedings against the said Ingram and Carter by the said Sir Robert Berkley were contrary to Law and Justice and to his own knowledge 10. That the said Sir Robert Berkley being one of the Justices of the Court of Kings-Bench and duly sworn as aforesaid in Trinity Term 1637. deferred to discharge or bail Alexander Jenings Prisoner in the Fleet brought by Habeas Corpus to the Bar of the said Court the return of his Commitment being that he was committed by two several Warrants from the Lords of the Councel dated the fifth of November 1636. The first being only read in Court expressing no cause the other for not paying Messengers Fees and until he should bring a Certificate that he had paid his Assessment for Ship-Money in the County of Bucks but remitted him And in Michaelmas Term after the said Jenings being brought by another Habeas Corpus before him as aforesaid and the same returned yet he the said Sir Robert Berkley refused to discharge or bail him but remitted him And in Easter Term after several Rules were given for His Majesties Councel to shew Cause why the said Jenings should not be Bailed a fourth Rule was made for the said Jenings to let His Majesties Attorney General have notice thereof and notice was given accordingly and the said Jenings by another Habeas Corpus brought to the Bar in Trinity Term after and the same return with this addition of a new Commitment of the Fourth of May suggesting he the said Jenings had used divers scandalous Words in derogation and disparagement of His Majesties Government He the said Jenings after several Rules in the end of the said Trinity Term was again remitted to Prison And he the said Sir Robert Berkley did on the fifth of June last defer to grant His Majesties Writs of Habeas Corpus for William Pargiter and Samuel Danvers Esquires Prisoners in the Gate-House and in the Fleet And afterwards having granted the said Writ of Habeas Corpus the said Pargiter and Danvers were on the eighth of June last brought to the Bar of the said Court where the Returns of their Commitments were several Warrants from the Lords of the Councel not expressing any Cause yet he the said Sir Robert Berkley then sitting in the said Court deferred to Bail the said Pargiter and Danvers and the eighteenth of June last made a Rule for a new return to be received which were returned the 25th of June last in haec verba Whereas His Majesty finding that his Subjects of Scotland have in Rebellious and Hostile manner Assembled themselves together and intend not only to shake off their Obedience unto His Majesty but also as Enemies to invade and infest this His Kingdom of England to the danger of his Royal Person c. For prevention whereof His Majesty hath by the Advice of his Councel-Board given special Commandment to all the Lord-Lieutenants of the Counties of this Realm appointed for their Rendezvouz in their several and respective Counties there to be conducted and drawn together into a Body for this Service And whereas His Majesty according to the Laws and Statutes of this Realm and the constant Custom of his Predecessors Kings and Queens of this Realm hath Power for the defence of this Kingdom and resisting the force of the Enemies thereof to grant forth Commissions under His Great Seal to such fit Persons as he shall make choice of to Array and Arm the Subjects of this Kingdom and to compel those who are of able Body and of able Estates to arm themselves and such as should not be of able Bodies but of Ability in Estate to Assess them according to their Estates to contribute towards the Charge of arraying others being able of Body and not able in Estate to arm themselves And such Persons as should be contrariant to commit to Prison there to remain untill the King should take further Order therein And whereas the Earl of Exeter by vertue of His Majesties Commission to him directed for the Arraying and Arming of a certain number of Persons in the County of Northampton hath assest William Pargiter being a Man unfit of Body for that Service but being of Estate and Ability to contribute amongst others to pay the Sum of five Shillings towards the arraying and arming of others of able Bodies and wanting Ability to Array and Arm themselves And whereas we have received Information from the said Earl that the said William Pargiter hath not only in a wilful and disobedient Manner refused to pay the said Money assessed upon him towards so important a Service to the disturbance and hindrance of the necessary defence of this Kingdom but also by his ill example hath mis-led many others and as we have just cause to believe hath practiced to seduce others from that ready obedience which they owe and would otherwise have yielded to His Majesties just command for the publick defence of His person and Kingdom which we purpose with all convenient speed to enquire further of and examin These are therefore to will and require you to take into your Custody the Persons of the said William Pargiter and Samuel Danvers and them safely to keep Prisoners till further order from this Board or until by due course of Law they shall be delivered Yet he the said Sir Robert Berkley being desired to Bail the said Pargiter and Danvers remitted them where they remained Prisoners till the Ninth of November last or thereabouts although the said Jenings Pargiter and Danvers on all and every the said returns were clearly Bailable by Law and the Council of the said Jenings Pargiter and Danvers offered in Court very sufficient Bail And he the said Sir Robert Berkley being one of the Justices of the Court of the Kings Bench denied to grant his Majesties Writs of Habeas Corpus to very many others his Majesties Subjects and when he had granted the said Writs of Habeas Corpus to very many others his Majesties Subjects and on the return
be made acquainted by the Lords of the Council why they Committed and therefore Remitted him And in Michaelmass Term after the said Jenings being brought by another Habeas Corpus as aforesaid and the same returned yet he the said Sir John Brampston refused to Discharge or Bail him but remitted him And in Easter Term next after several Rules for His Majesties Council to shew cause why he the said Jenings should not be Bailed a fourth Rule made for the said Jenings to let His Majesties Attorney have notice which notice was given accordingly yet he remitted him And the said Jenings by another Habeas Corpus brought to the Barr as aforesaid in Trinity Term after and the same return with the addition of a new Commitment of the fourth of May 1638. suggested that he the said Jenings had used divers scandalous words in derogation and disparagement of his Majesties Government After several Rules in the end of the said Trinity Term he again remitted him to Prison And he the said Sir John Brampston about the ninth of July after at his Chamber in Serjeants-Inn being desired by Mr. Meawtis one of the Clerks of the Council-Board to discharge the said Jenings for that he the said Jenings had entred into a Bond of 1000 l. to appear before the Lords of the Council the next Michaelmas Term after and to attend de die in diem yet the said Sir John Brampston refused to discharge the said Jenings until he entred into Recognisance to appear the next Term and in the mean time to be of his good behaviour And the said Jenings was continued on his said Recognisance till Easter Term after And the said Sir John Brampston did on the fifth of June 1640. deferr to grant His Majesties Writ of Habeas Corpus for Samuel Danvers and William Pargiter Esquires Prisoners in the Gate-House and in the Fleet and when he had granted the said Writ the said eighth Day of June after the return being the Order of the Council-Table not expressing any cause he the said Sir John Brampston deferred to Bail the said Pargiter And the eighteenth of June after made a Rule for a new return to be received which was returned the five and twentieth of the said June in haec verba Whereas His Majesty finding that His Subjects of Scotland have in Rebellious and Hostile manner Assembled themselves together and intend not only to shake off their obedience unto His Majesty but also as Enemies to Invade and Infest this His Kingdom of England to the danger of His Royal Person c. For prevention whereof His Majesty hath by the Advice of His Council-Board given special Commandment to all the Lord Lieutenants of all the Counties of this Realm with expedition to Arm and Array a certain number of able Men in each County to be prepared ready to be conducted to such places as should be appointed for their Rendezvouz in their several and respective Counties there to be conducted and drawn together in a Body for this Service And whereas His Majesty according to the Laws and Statutes of this Realm and the constant Custom of His Predecessors Kings and Queens of this Realm hath Power for the defence of this Kingdom and resisting the Force of the Enemies thereof to grant forth Commissions under His great Seal to such fit Persons as he shall make choice of to Array and Arm the Subjects of this Kingdom and to compel those who are of able Body and of able Estates to Arm themselves and such as should not be able of Bodies but of Ability in Estate to Assess them according to their Estates to contribute towards the charge of Arraying and Arming others able of Body and not being able in Estate to Arm themselves And such Persons as should be contrariant to commit to Prison there to remain untill the King should take further order therein And whereas the Earl of Exceter by vertue of His Majesties Commission to him directed for the Arraying and Arming of a certain number of Persons in the County of Northampton hath assest William Pargiter being a Man unfit of Body for that Service but being of Estate and Ability fit to contribute amongst others to pay the Summ of five Shillings towards the Arraying and Arming of others of able Bodies and wanting Ability to Array themselves And whereas we have received Information from the said Earl that the said William Pargiter hath not only in a willful and disobedient manner refused to pay the said Money assessed upon him towards so Important a Service to the disturbance and hinderance of the necessary defence of this Kingdom but also by His ill example hath misled many others and as we have just cause to believe hath practised to seduce others from that ready obedience which they owe and would otherwise have yielded to His Majesties just command for the publick defence of His Person and Kingdom which we purpose with all convenient speed to enquire further of and examin These are therefore to will and require you to take into your Custody the Person of the said William Pargiter and him safely to keep Prisoner till further Order from this Board or untill by due Course of Law he shall be delivered And the like return was then made in all things mutatis mutandis concerning the said Danvers for not paying a Summ of Money assessed upon him Yet he the said Sir John Brampston deferred to Bail the said Danvers and Pargiter but remitted the said Danvers to the Fleet where he remained till the 12 of July 1640. and the said Pargiter to the Gate-House where he remained till the Ninth of November last although the said Jenings Danvers and Pargiter upon all and every the said Returns ought to have been discharged or bailed by Law and the Councel of the said Jenings Danvers and Pargiter offered in Court very sufficient Bail And he the said Sir John Brampston being Chief Justice of the Court of Kings-Bench denyed to grant His Majesties Writ of Habeas Corpus to very many other His Majesties Subjects and when he had granted the said Writs of Habeas Corpus to very many others His Majesties Subjects and on the return no Cause appeared or such Cause only as was clearly bailable by Law yet he remanded them where they remained Prisoners very long which said deferring to grant the said Writs of Habeas Corpus and refusals and delays to discharge Prisoners or suffer them to be Bailed contained in this Article are destructive to the Fundamental Laws of this Realm and contrary to former resolutions in Parliament and to the Petition of Right which said Resolutions and Petition of Right were well known to him the said Sir John Brampston 4. That whereas there was a Cause depending in the Court Christian at Norwich between Samuel Booty Clerk and Collard for two Shillings in the Pound for Tythes for Rents of Houses in Norwich and the said Collard moved by his Councel in the Court of Kings-Bench
truely incident and belonging to the Place of Chief Justice of the said Court of Common-Pleas should be restored and continued they have Vnanimously Resolved Voted Declared and Ordered That the said Offices of the first and third Prothonotary of the said Court of Common-Pleas of the Clerk of the Warrants of the Clerk of the King's Silver of the Clerk of the Essoignes of the Clerk of the Treasury and of all the Phillizers and of all the Exigenters except for the County of Monmouth do by right belong to the Disposition of the Lord Chief Justice of the said Court of Common-Pleas for the time being and that the Grants formerly made by Letters Paents of the said Offices or Clerks Places or any of them are illegal and void in Law and it is further Ordered That the said several Letters Patents herein mentioned shall be forthwith brought into this House Mr. Comptroller brings a Message from the Queen in Writing Wednesday July 21. in these Words WHen the Parliament did the other Day The Queens Message by Mr. Comptroller express their Affections to Me in taking into Consideration the Journey which I had resolved on for the recovery of my Health and represented a Desire of My stay with a tender Care of removing all Occasions of My Indisposition I could not then give them a positive Answer such as I desired for their Satisfaction because I knew not if My Health would give way unto it but since that Time I have resolved to venture my Health and for complying with their Desires not to go since My Presence here will be acceptable unto them and that they conceive it will be for the good of the Kingdom for I desire nothing more then to let them see that I shall in all things be ready to gratifie them and to serve the State though as I then said with the hazzard of my Life Upon the Receipt of which Message it was Ordered That the Bill for the Queens Joynture shall be reported this Afternoon and Mr. Comptroller is to represent to Her Majesty that this House is very sensible of the favor done by Her Majesty and that they are thinking of some more solemn way of representing it Ordered That the same Committee that attended Her Majesty before shall meet with the Committee of Lords to present Thanks to Her Majesty at such time as their Lordships shall think fit and a Conference to be desired with the Lords about it their Lordships having had the like Message from Her Majesty sent to their House At which Conference it was agreed to return Her Majesty Thanks in these Words as was reported by Mr. Hollis BOth Houses of Parliament have with very much Comfort and Thankfulness received that Gracious Message Mr. Hollis Reports the thanks of both Houses to the Queen for putting off her Journey to the Spaw whereby your Majesty hath been pleased to declare your Resolution of staying your intended Journey at their humble Desire which they hope will be no Prejudice to the Recovery of your Health but rather an advancement of it by that Contentment which You will receive from the continual Expression of their Affection and Zeal to do you Service And they have commanded Me in their Names to declare that both Prayers and Indeavors shall concur in all things tending to your Majesties Wellfare and Prosperity These Promises were well observed when they voted her Majesty a Traitor afterwards for assisting the King against them in an Actual Rebelbelion The Queens Answer Thursday July 22. Cessation continued 15 days longer which they shall ever esteem as a very great Blessing both of the Kingdom and of themselves To which Her Majesty returned this Answer I Am very glad that both Houses of Parliament have taken my Resolution of staying my Journey in so good Part they may see by it I have preferred their Content before My Health and I shall still continue to do all lies in My Power to serve the King and for the good of this Kingdom and to please them as they have already seen The Cessation of Arms was voted to be continued Fifteen Days longer from the expiration of the present Term upon the same Conditions if the Treaty continue so long This Day Mr. Smart who Articled against Dr. Cosins was by Order of the Lords restored to his Prebend in Durham and had also the Vicaridge of Aycliff in the Bishoprick of Durham bestowed on him upon the Death of Dr. Carr the present Incumbent So forward was the Zeal of the Faction to incourage and reward these Men who had been the Opposers of the Government and the real Incendiaries by promoting false and scandalous Accusations against the Bishops and the Dignified Clergy A Report from the Committee of Seven Ordered That the Articles then Reported be kept secret They were about the Conspiracy but not being entred in the Journal I cannot oblige the Reader with them The Earl of Bristol reported the Answer of the Scots Commissioners to the Two Propositions Earl of Bristol Reports the Scots Answer about disbanding which the Lords Commissioners were Ordered by this House to propound to them The Answer was ALthough the extreme necessity of the Army hath been so represented unto us as that the Arrear and 80000 l. of Brotherly assistance have not been sufficient to disband our Army and pay the most necessary present Charges yet have we not refused to agree to your desires in every thing within our Power which moveth us who are but a few of the Commissioners to offer not only the representing of our present desires to the General and Committees but the perswading of their condescending so far as necessity can permit both about the time of disbanding our Army so much desired by us all and which will be done chearfully and readily as soon as the Articles are ratified in the Parliament here and the Mony that shall be agreed upon sent and received at Newcastle As also for continuing the forbearance of the payment of 80000 l. for some short time But we are bold to desire an Alteration in your Lordships Paper that it may be the most possible for them to agree thereto as all the by-gone Arrears would be presently sent to Newcastle that they may have time to make Accompts and prepare for Disbanding so all the Arrears that will be due to the last day of the Payment of our Army may be shortly satisfied either here at London for answering Ecxhanges or sent to Newcastle to help the Disbanding there And for the 80000 l. that your Lordships would offer to Deliver and Embarque the same here before the Tenth of August that it may be in Scotland against the King's coming or the 20th day of the said month at farthest because divers have lent all their Moneys and sold all their Victuals for the publick use of the Army who must now be supplied with some part of their Mony and price of their Victuals otherwise it
Vote in favour of Mr. Small a Minister in Lincoln Shire The House then took into Consideration the Case of one Small a Minister in Lincolnshire sometime ago deprived of his Living by the Sentence of the High-Commission Court Conference about the Tower c. upon which it was Resolved c. That the deprivation of Edmond Small from his Living of Holm in Com. Lincoln by Sentence of the High Commission Court was Illegal and he shall be restored to his Living There was a Conference with the Lords about putting the Kingdom into a Posture of Defence as also about the Tower of London the Lieutenant Sir William Belfour being gone with the King into Scotland about some private Affairs of his own so that it was necessary that the Earl of Newport the Lord Constable of the Tower should take Care of it himself It was also there moved That Care might be taken of the Isles of Jersey Wight and Guernsey Which was agreed by the Lords and 50 men of the Hamlets to guard by Day and 50 by Night and 40 or 50 more to be added upon Emergent Occasion The Bill for Tonnage and Poundage for two Months longer was this day passed by Commission in the usual form and manner Monday August 16. Bill for Tonnage and Poundage for two Months passed by Commission * Incendiaries to be prosecuted and who those were After this the Interrogatories were delivered in to the Lords and read upon which the Scots Commissioners desire Witnesses may be Examined concerning the Earl of Traquayr Sir John Hayes Clerk Register in Scotland Sir Robert Spotswood and Dr. Walter Balcanquell and Mr. John Maxwell sometime Bishop of Ross who are pursued as Incendiaries The Interrogatories being approved of It was Ordered That the Lord Privy Seal E. Warwick E. Dover Viscount Say and Seal L. Wharton are appointed by this House to be Committees for the taking of the Examination of Witnesses in this Business and their Lordships or any Three or more to meet when they please to appoint Then the Lord Privy Seal E. Pembroke and L. Goring were sworn at the Clerks Table the Lord Keeper reading the Oath and are to be Examined concerning the Incendiaries Ordered also That John E. of Sterling Robert Young Printer William Warnor Corrector and Robert Chapman Compofer shall attend the Lords Committees this Afternoon and be Sworn and Examined in the business concerning the Incendiaries This was in order to the discovery of the Writer of the King 's large Declaration which was generally supposed to be Dr. Bellcanquel Dean of Durham which had so much Mordacis Veritatis of sharp and cutting Truth in it that the Scots thought there was no other Way to undo the Reputation of the Book but by ruining the Reputation of the Author and no way so Effectual for that as the Brand of an Incendiary burnt upon the forehead of his fame by this Publique Procedure which yet could not but even then be liable to suspition his Enemies being his Accusers and the Majority of these Lords Committees who were to report and in Effect therefore to be his Judges being apparently of the Scottish Party and Interest A Message was brought from the Commons by Mr. Strode Message about the Desperate Estate of the Kingdom and Hull to let their Lordships know That they have taken into Consideration the desperate Estate the Kingdom now stands in in the time of Disbanding the Army and they have Considered of the Danger the King's Ammunition at Hull is in if there should be any design upon it Therefore they desire their Lordships would joyn with them in some Course that the Ammunition there be not stirred nor removed from thence without the Order of both Houses of Parliament Hereupon it was Ordered That a Letter be sent to the Lord General to give Order That no Munition or Artillery of the Kings at Hull be removed or sent from thence but by Order from both Houses Mr. Pym reports from the Committee about the Commission for the Commissioners of both Houses who are to attend the King in Scotland Difficulty about the Commission for the Commissioners to go into Scotland That the first thing they took into Consideration was the Commission to give Power to these Commissioners and the doubt is Whether such a Commission may be granted or no the King being now out of the Kingdom so that the Royal Assent cannot now be had and it would be of much danger if such a Power may not be had and therefore they desire the Opinion of the House in this Point Upon which a Conference was desired with the Lords upon this Subject After which Mr. Pym Reported it to the House That the Lords were doubtful The Opinion of the Lords at a Conference about it and therefore propounded to have a Messenger sent to procure his Majesties Warrant and the Commissioners to stay here till the Messenger returned and that in the mean time they would consider of their Instructions This day the Earl of Dorset signified to the Lords House That he hath Waited on the Queen and hath acquainted her Majesty with the Humble Desires of this House touching restraining of the Capuchin Friers in Sommerset House from tampering and withdrawing the Kings People Her Majestie sayes The Queens Answer about the Capuchin Friers at Denmark-House Aug. 17. 1641. It is much against her Will that they have gone abroad or have endeavoured to pervert any from their Religion and her Majestie is also very unwilling that any English People should resort there to Chappel but her Majesty will give Order to prevent these for the future And the Earl of Dorset said He would obey their Lordships Command and send for the Chief of the Capuchins and give him a strait Command not to suffer any of the Friers to go abroad nor any English People to come to them or to hear Mass there The Impeachment brought up from the House of Commons against the 13 Bishops was read Votes in the House of Lords about the Impeachment of the 13 Bishops and the House fell into Debate what time they should have to Answer and whether in this Debate they should be present in the House And it was Resolved upon the Question That the Lords the Bishops that are Impeached may Sit in this House without Voting when it is in Debate whether they shall have further time to Answer or not Resolved c. That such of the Bishops as are Impeached shall not Sit here in this House when the Merits of the Cause is in Debate Resolved c. That when the disposing of the manner of the Proceedings of the Cause is in Debate the Bishops may Sit in this House but not Vote The Letter drawn by the Committees of both Houses to the Lord General concerning Hull The Letter to the Lord General concerning Hull was read as follows May it please your Excellency I Am commanded by the House of Peers
Allegiance of this Kingdom what is this but to extol other then Regal Authority and to Crucify the Majesty of our Most Gracious Soveraign betwixt the two Thieves of Government Tyranny and Treason My Lords having such a full and lasting Gale to drive me into the Depth of these Accusations I cannot hereby Steer and Confine my Course within the Compass of Patience since I read in the first Volums of their Brows the least of these to be the certain Ruine of the Subject and if prov'd a most favourable Prologue to usher in the Tragedy of the Actors Counsellors and Abetters herein What was then the first and main Question it was the Subversion of the Fundamental Laws of this Kingdom Let then Magna Charta that lies Prostrated Besmeared and Grovelling in her own Gore discount her Wounds as so many Pregnant and Undeniable Proofs mark the Epethite Magna 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 confirmed by thirty Parliaments in the Succession of eight Kings the Violation of which hath several times ingaged the Kingdom of England in a Voluntary Sacrifice a Charter which imposeth that Pleasant and Wel-becoming Oath upon all Soveraignty to vindicate and preserve the Immunity thereof before the Crown incircle their Royal Temples in this Oath of so high consequence and general Interest his Majesty doth in a manner levie a fine to his Subjects use for avoiding all frandulent conveyances in the Administration of Justice And this Oath is transplanted unto the Judges as the Feoffees in trust appointed between his Majesty and the Subject and sealed by his Majesties provident care with that emphatical penalty that their Estates and Lives shall be in the Kings mercy upon the Violation of the same either in whole or in part neither hath the deserved punishment for the breach of this Oath enacted as fulgura ex vitrio or as bugbears to inforce the obedience of Children no my Lords the just execution of it upon their Predecessors though in breaches not so capital might have warned them to have strangled their ill born resolutions in the Cradle before they now proclaim their infancie and petition for their punishment Witness Sir Thomas Weyland his banishment confiscation of his Goods and Lands only for his mercenary Justice contrary to his Oath who was Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in the time of Edward the first Witness Sir William Thorp Chief Justice of the Kings Bench in the time of Edward the Third who was adjudged to be hanged because he had broken the Kings Oath made unto the People wherewith he was intrusted in the Roll. Now my Lords though Magna Charta be sacred for antiquity though its confirmation be strengthned by Oath though it be the proper Dictionary that expounds meum tuum and assignes a Subject his Birth-right yet it only survives in the Rolls but now miserable rent and torn in the practice These words Salvo contenemento live in the Rolls but they are dead in the Castle Chamber These words Nullus liber homo ejicitur è libero suo tenemento in praejudicium parium live in the Rolls but they are dead where property and free-hold are determined by paper-Petitions These words Nulli vendemus nulli differemus Justitiam live in the Rolls but they are dead when the Suites Judgments and Execution of the Subjects are wittingly and illegally suspended retarded and avoided Shall we desire to search the mortal wounds inflicted upon the Statute Laws who sees them not lying upon their death Bed stab'd with Proclamations their primitive and genuine tenures escheated by Acts of State and strangled by Monopolies Will you survey the Liberties of the Subjects every Prison spues out illegal Attachments and Commitments every Pillory is dyed with the forced Blood of the Subjects and hath ears though not to hear yet to Witness this complaint Do you doubt of the defacement of the amiable Offices of his Majesties most transplendent and renowned Justice and Grace let then that Microcosme of Letters Patents confirmed under his Majesties and his Predecessors broad Seal of the Kingdom being the publick faith thereof and yet unchristened by frivolous and private opinions rise up in Judgment let the abortive Judgment of the tenure in Capite where no tenure was exprest nay let the Heretical and Traiterous opinions where the Tenure was exprest yet to draw in all by Markets and Faires granted in the same Patents rise up in Judgments What glass hath this unhappy divided Kingdom from his Majesties presence and audience to contemplate the fair and ravishing form of his Royal intentions in but in the clear and diaphanous administration of his Justice and what do these Trayterous and Illegal practises aim at but in affront to his Majesty which we most tenderly resent and discontent to his Subjects to multiply as by a Magick Glass the Royal dispensation of his Favors into the ugly and deformed Visage of their Suppression of the Liberties Devastation of the Estates and the Deprivation of the Lives of his Loyal Subjects so that it may be said Regali Capiti cervicem consul equinam Jungere sic vellet variasque inducere plumas My Lords these ought to be considered with as serious an Ear as they were practised by mischievous Experiments Inquire of the Netherlands why their Fields are grown Fertile by the Inundation of Blood why the pensive Matrons solemnize too too frequent Funerals of their Husbands and Issue and they will Answer you it was for the Preservation of their Hereditary Laws which Tyranny would have innovated This Kingdom personated in the sable Habit of a Widdow with dishelved Hairs seems to Petition your Lordships That since she is a Mother to most of us yet certainly a Nurse unto us all that you would make some other for Redress of her Tyrannical Oppression These Persons Impeached resemble the opacous Body of the Earth interposed to Ecclipse that Light and Vigor which the solar Aspect of Majesty would communicate unto his Subjects They Imitate the Fish Sepia that vomits a Dark Liquor out of her Mouth to cloud the Waters for her securer Escape They are those whom to the Keys have been committed yet they have barred the Do or to them that Knoc't They are those Unnatural Parents that give their Children Stones instead of Bread and Scorpions for Fish Was it for this purpose that the Royal Authority situated them in these Eminent Places that like Beacons upon high Hills they should Discover and Proclaim each Innovation and Stratagem against the Publick Weal whilest they in the mean time imploy therein Fire to Publick Incendiary or like Ignes fatui seduce the easie and believing Traveller into Pits and unexpected Myres Were they sworn to Seal their Damnation and not their Confirmation of our Liberty Estates and Lives Shall a man be censured for Perjury in that Breach of his private Faith and those be justifiable in Treason aggravated by Perjury against the Dignity of the Crowns and Publick Faith of the Kingdoms No
Armies or Multitudes of Armed Men lawfully or unlawfully convented together the right use whereof in all times hath been found most necessary in this Kingdom And further to that Question they cannot Answer for that as they conceive it doth concern his Majesties Regal Power and that the Answer of the other Part of the Question doth properly belong to another Profession whereof they have no Cognizance 9. To the Ninth they say That as the taking of any Oath before any but such Judges or Persons as have Power to give or Demand an Oath for decision of Controversies is by most Divines in most Cases counted to be a rash Oath and so an Offence against God within the third Commandment so the perscribing or demanding of a set Oath by any that cannot derive Power so to do from the Crown where the Fountain of Justice under God doth reside Is an Offence against the Law of the Land and as for Voluntary and Extrajudicial Oaths altho freely taken before Arbitrators or others they say as this Kingdom is Composed in many Particulars as the Nature and Consequence of the Course or the Quality of the Person who taketh or before whom the same is taken may concern the Common-Wealth or the Members thereof such taking of such Oaths or Proceeding or Grounding on such Oath in deciding of Differences according to the several Circumstances that may occur therein or the Prejudice it may introduce to the Common-Wealth may be punishable by the Common Law or if it grow unto an height or general Inconvenience to the Common-Wealth or Members thereof in the Castle-Chamber for thô such an Oath be Voluntary yet in most Cases it is received by him that doth intend to ground his Judgment thereon and after the Oath is taken the Arbitrator or he that intends to yield Faith to the Party that took the Oath doth examine him upon one or more Questions upon the said Oath unto the Answer whereof he doth give Faith and Assent trusting on the said Oath And whereas Oaths by God's Institution were chiefly allowed to be taken before lawful Magistrates for ending Controversies yet common Experience doth teach in this Kingdom That oftentimes Orders and Acts grounded on such Voluntary Oaths beget Strife and Suits and commonly such Orders when they come to be measured by the Rules of Law or Equity in the King's Courts become void after much expence of Time and Charge that we say nothing of that that thereby many Causes proper for the King's Courts are drawn ad aliud examen are thereby the Justice and Courts often defrauded and declined 10. To the Tenth they say That they are not Judges of Rules of Policy but of Law and that they know no certain Rule of Law concerning Reducement of Fines the same being Matters of his Majesties meer Grace after a Man is censured for an Offence And that they know no Law that none shall be admitted to Reducement of his Fines or other Penalties in the Courts in the Question specified until he confess the Fact for which he was Censured But forasmuch as the admittance or Reducement after Conviction for an Offence is Matter of Grace and not Justice It hath been the constant Course of those Courts both here and in England for clearing of his Majesties Justice where the Party will not go about to clear himself by reverfal of the Censure or Decree not to admit him to that Grace until he hath confessed the justness of the Censure pronounced by the Court against him and that the rather for that commonly the Ability or disability of the Party doth not appear in Judgment before them but the Nature and Circumstances of the Offence according to which they gave Sentence against him or them in Terrorem after which when the Party shall make the weakness of his Estate to appear or that the Court is otherwise ascertained thereof they do of Course proportion the Censure or Penalty having regard to his Estate 11. To the Eleventh they say That neither the Judges of the King's Bench as they inform us that are of that Court or Justices of Goal-Delivery or of any other Court do or can by any Law they know deny the Copies of Indictments of Felony or Treason to the Party only Accused as by the said Question is demanded 12. To the Twelfth they say That where Lands are holden of the King by Knights-Service in Capite the Tenant by the strict Course of Law ought in Person to do his Homage to the King And until he hath done his Homage the Ancient Course of the Exchequer hath been and yet is to issue Process of Distringas out of the second Remembrancers Office to distrain the Tenants ad faciendum Homagium or ad faciendum finem pro Homagio suo respectuando upon which Process the Sheriff returneth Issues and if the Tenants do not thereupon appear and compound with the King to give a Fine for Respit of Homage then the Issues are forfeited to the King for the Contempt But if he appear then the Court of Exchequer doth agree with him to Respite his Homage for a small Fine wherein they regulate themselves under the Rate expressed and set down in England by Virtue of a Privy Seal in the 15th year of Queen Elizabeth wherein the Rates are particularly set down according to the yearly value of the Lands which Rates are confirmed by Act of Parliament in the first of King James c. 26. in England before which time there was not any such certainty but the same rested in the discretion of the Court by the Rule of Common Law and so it doth at this day in Ireland Howbeit we conceive that the Court of Exchequer here do well to regulate their discretions by those Rates in England and rather to be under then to exceed the same which the Barons there do as they do inform us that are Judges of the other Courts 13. To the 13th they say That they know no Rule of Law or Statute by which it should be Censurable in the Subjects of this Kingdom to Repair and Appeal unto His Majesty for Redress of Injuries or for other their Lawful occasions unless they be prohibited by His Majesties Writ or Proclamation or other his Command But they find that by the Statute of 5 R. 2. that the passage of the Subjects out of the Realm is prohibited without special License excepting Noblemen and others in the said Statute specially excepted and some inference to that purpose may be made upon that Statute of 25 H. 6. c. 2. in this Kingdom 14. To the Fourteenth they say That some Deanries and Dignities not Deans or Dignitaries as the Question propounds it are properly Et de mero Jure Donative by the King some Elective and some Collative according to the first Foundation and Usage of those Churches And they humbly desire that they may not be required to give any further Answer to this Question for that it may concern many Mens
and with all giving him in Charge that in his Name he should return his Thanks to the whole City One would be apt to think by this Days Solemnity that there was not a more Loyal City or a more happy Prince in the whole Universe and to say the Truth it may be the better part of the City was never more sincere in their Affections to this most Excellent Prince and could they have kept the Governing Power in their Hands they would have given other Testimonies of their Loyalty then this Entertainment tho possibly one of the most Splendid Magnificent and well Managed that ever was given to a King of England But the prevailing Faction at Westminster who knew it would be impossible to carry on their Designs against the Monarchy without the Assistance of London the Magazine of Men and Money never ceased to actuate the Rabble and inferior Ranks of People and to Incense them against the Loyal and Governing Part till by Tumults Outrages and Violences they had wrested the Power wholly out of the Loyal Hands and vested it in such Persons as they were assured would be serviceable to their Interest and Designs as hereafter in the subsequent Relation we shall see And now possibly it will be expected that I should gratify the Reader with an Account of the Transactions of that Parliament in Scotland during his Majestie 's Presence among them and if I cannot herein Answer the Expectation of the Inquisitive I have this to plead in my own justification that the defect is not occasioned by my want of Industry For during the late aboad of his Royal Highness the Illustrious Prince James Duke of York in that Country to whose prudent Conduct not only Scotland owes so much for its present Peace Establishment and Tranquility but even England is as sensible of the good Effects of his Presence there as formerly it has been of the ill Influence the Counsels and Actions of that Nation have had upon the Affairs of this I writ to my very Worthy Friend Francis Turner Doctor in Divinity one of his Royal Highnesses Chaplains to procure me an Authentick Account of those Transactions from the Original Records of the Parliament of Scotland Who in Answer to my Request informed me how willing he was to oblige the Publick in that particular but that all those Records were irrecoverably lost for it seems in the time when that Scourge of God's Anger the late Usurper and Execrable Regicide Cromwel made his inroad into Scotland that he might set all the Marks of Slavery upon a Nation that had the Misfortune to fall under the Power of his Sword he brought along with him all the Publick Records of Scotland and deposited them in the Tower of London and when upon his most Gracious Majesties happy Restauration the King was pleased to command the restoring of them to that his Ancient Kingdom as a mark of his Favor and their regained Liberty the Ship which was imployed for their Transportation was unfortunately lost and Perished in her Voyage thither and though I did not the least doubt of the Truth of this Account from a Person of my Authors Integrity and Honor yet so Industrious was I to present the World with something that might look like an Indeavor to satisfie in this particular that hoping at least that the Titles of the Acts and Graces which then passed were not also Shipwrack't I had recourse to the Collection of the Scottish Laws and Statutes made by Sir Thomas Murray of Glendook and now lately Printed by his Majesties special Warrant but to my great disappointment from the Parliament holden in the Year 1633 in the Reign of the Royal Martyr till the year 1661 in the first Parliament holden in Scotland after his Majesties happy Restauration I find a Breach and Interruption and not so much as the Titles of any of those Acts which passed during the time of those dismal Revolutions Providence it self seeming concerned to Erase and obliterate the Records and Remembrance of the Disloyalty of that Generation of Men that so their Actions might not remain upon Record as ill Presidents to Posterity and indeed the Loyalty of the present Nobility and Gentry of that Kingdom has in a great measure expiated the Crimes and Errors of their Predecessors as will evidently appear both by their late firme adherence to the Interests of the Crown during the Commotions raised by the Presbyterian Faction in that Kingdom in the Year 1678. and by their annulling all the Proceedings of the Conventions Assemblies and Parliaments from the Year 1640 till the Year 1661. I have met with one Particular however in a little Book written as was supposed by Mr. James Howel concerning the Transactions of those Times where he mentions a Law which then passed which was very remarkable which he saith was the reviving of an old Statute to the same Effect Part of an Act of the Scottish Parliament 1641. making it Treason to levy Forces without the King's Commission which they caused to be Published throughout the whole Realm of Scotland by which it was Statute and Ordained That it should be detestable and damnable Treason in the highest Degree for any of the Scots Nation conjunctly or singly to levy Arms or any Military Forces upon any Pretext whatsoever without the King 's Royal Commission which I also find mentioned in the Continuation of Baker pag. 514. But it seems Presbyterians and Papists agree in this particular That no Faith is to be kept with Hereticks for they shortly after proved their own Popes and absolved themselves and the Nation from the Obligation of this Law by raising of Men and joyning with the English Rebels as in due time we shall see It is most certain that at this time the King complied to the utmost with the Desires of the Scottish Parliament insomuch that they could scarce Request so fast as he Granted his Majesty being resolved to put one of his Kingdoms if possible into a Posture of Peace and Quietness Several Honors were likewise then Conferred among the rest the Marquiss of Hamilton was created a Duke and General Leshly Earl of Leven of whom I meet with these two remarkable Particulars Leshly was so transported at this extraordinary Bounty and unexpected as well as unmerited Honor that he often protested and once particularly at Perth upon his Knees in the House of the Earl of Kenoul that he would never again bear Arms against the King but he not long after made the Poet a Prophet verifying the Verse Nulla Fides Pietasve viris qui Castra sequuntur And for Duke Hamilton there having been a pretended Conspiracy against him and Argyle which though the Proof amounted to nothing at all yet the Information had some oblique Reflections upon his Majesty the King who could not conceal his resentment of this Carriage in Hamilton which he had so little merited from him when he delivered him his Patent of Duke in Parliament according
graciously pleased to concur with the humble desires of your People in a Parliamentary way for the preserving the Peace and Safety of the Kingdom from the malicious Designs of the Popish Party For depriving the Bishops of their Votes in Parliament and abridging their immoderate Power Usurped over the Clergy and other your good Subjects which they have most perniciously abused to the hazard of Religion and great prejudice and oppression of the Laws of the Kingdom and just Liberty of your People For the taking away such oppressions in Religion Church-Government and Discipline as have been brought in and fomented by them For Uniting all such your Loyal Subjects together as joyn in the same fundamental truths against the Papists by removing some oppressions and unnecessary Ceremonies by which divers weak Consciences have been scrupled and seem to be divided from the rest for the due Execution of those good Laws which have been made for securing the Liberty of your Subjects 2. That your Majesty will likewise be pleased to remove from your Council all such as persist to favour and promote any of those Pressures and corruptions wherewith your People have been grieved and that for the future your Majesty will vouchsafe to employ such Persons in your great and publick Affairs and to take such to be near you in places of Trust as your Parliament may have cause to confide in that in your Princely Goodness to your People you will reject and refuse all mediation and solicitation to the contrary how powerful and near soever 3. That you will be pleased to forbear to alienate any of the forfeited and escheated Lands in Ireland which shall accrue to your Crown by reason of this Rebellion that out of them the Crown may be the better supported and some satisfaction made to your Subjects of this Kingdom for the great expences they are like to undergo this War Which humble desires of ours being graciously fulfilled by your Majesty we will by the blessing and favour of God most cheerfully undergo the hazard and expences of this War and apply our selves to such other courses and councils as may support your Royal Estate with Honour and Plenty at home with Power and Reputation abroad and by our Loyal Affections Obedience and Service lay a sure and lasting Foundation of the greatness and prosperity of your Majesty and your Royal Posterity in future times A Remonstrance of the State of the Kingdom THE Commons in this present Parliament Assembled having with much earnestness and faithfulness of affection and zeal to the publick good of this Kingdom and his Majesties Honour and Service for the space of Twelve Months wrastled with the great dangers and fears the pressing miseries and calamities the â—arious distempers and disorders which had not only assaulted but even over-whelmed and extinguisht the Liberty Peace and Prosperity of this Kingdom the comfort and hopes of all his Majesties good Subjects and exceedingly weakned and undermined the Foundation and strength of his own Royal Throne Do yet find an abounding Malignity and opposition in those Parties and Factions who have been the cause of those Evils and do still labour to cast Aspersions upon that which hath been done and to raise many difficulties for the hindrance of that which remains yet undone and to soment Jealousies betwixt the King and Parliament That so they may deprive him and his People of the fruit of his own gracious Intentions and their humble desires of procuring the publick Peace Safety and Happiness of the Realm For the preventing of those miserable effects which such malicious endeavours may produce We have thought good to declare 1. The Root and the growth of these mischievous Designs 2. The Maturity and Ripeness to which they have attained before the beginning of the Parliament 3. The effectual means which hath been used for the extirpations of those dangerous evils and the Progress which hath therein been made by his Majesties goodness and the Wisdom of the Parliament 4. The ways of obstruction and opposition by which that Progress hath been interrupted 5. The courses to be taken for the removing those Obstacles and for the accomplishing of our most dutiful and faithful intentions and endeavours of restoring and Establishing the Ancient Honour Greatness and Security of this Crown and Nation The Root of all this Mischief we find to be a Malignant and pernicious design of subverting the Fundamental Laws and Principles of Government upon which the Religion and Justice of this Kingdom are firmly Establisht The Actors and Promoters hereof have been 1. The Jesuited Papists who hate the Laws as the Obstacles of that change and Subversion of Religion which they so much long for 2. The Bishops and the corrupt part of the Clergy who cherish Formality and superstition as the natural effects and more probable supports of their own Ecclesiastical Tyranny and Vsurpation 3. Such Councellors and Courtiers as for private ends have engaged themselves to further the Interests of some Forraign Princes or States to the prejudice of his Majesty and the State at home The Common Principles by which they moulded and Governed all their particular Counsels and Actions were these First to maintain continual differences and discontents betwixt the King and the People upon Questions of Prerogative and Liberty that so they might have the advantage of siding with him and under the notions of Men addicted to his service gain to themselves and their Parties the place of greatest trust and power in the Kingdom A Second To suppress the Purity and Power of Religion and such as were best affected to it as being contrary to their own ends and the greatest impediment to that change which they thought to introduce A Third To conjoyn those Parties of the Kingdom which were most propitious to their own ends and to divide those who were most opposite which consisted in many particular Observations to cherish the Arminian part in those points wherein they agree with the Papists to multiply and enlarge the difference between the common Protestants and those whom they call Puritans to introduce and countenance such Opinions and Ceremonies as are fittest for Accommodation with Popery to encrease and maintain ignorance loosness and prophaneness in the People That of those three Parties Papists Arminians and Libertines they might compose a body fit to act such counsels and resolutions as were most conducible to their own ends A Fourth to diaffect the King to Parliaments by slanders and false imputations and by putting him upon other ways of supply which in shew and appearance were fuller of advantage then the ordinary course of Subsidies though in truth they brought more loss then gain both to the King and People and have caused the distractions under which we both suffer As in all compounded bodies the Operations are qualified according to the predominant Element So in this mixt party the Jesuited Councils being most active and prevailing may easily be discovered to have had the greatest
then the very Act which this Parliament obtained from the King that they should not be dissolved or prorogued by the King without their own Consent which was a plain Confession that till his Majesty had in this Particular by giving the Royal Assent to that fatal Bill limited the undoubted Power of his Prerogative it was an inherent Right annexed to the Imperial Crown of this Realm that the King was the sole Judg of the Calling Continuance and Dissolution of Parliaments And though some Seditious Pens and particularly the Apostate Author of the Life of Julian the Apostate have taken great Pains to revive and furbish up this Opinion and to reflect upon his present Majesty as the Rebels of this Parliament did upon his Royal Father for breaking up of some Mutinous and Troublesome Parliaments in the beginning of his Reign which plainly shews them to be of the Temper of the ill Men of those ill times yet I think they ought to stay before they Preach this Doctrine to the People for a true Privilege of Parliament till they have got such another Act of Perpetuation in one Hand and a Sword to maintain it in the other which is the only Argument that at long run such Seditious People must have Recourse to and I hope it may be some time before such another Act will be obtained and longer before they can get the Power of the Sword to maintain it And certainly were there no other Inconveniences yet the dismal Effects which the continuance of this Parliament brought upon the King and Kingdom to the intire Ruin of the Government Laws Liberty and Property of the English Nation are sufficient to give all Loyal and Honest Subjects very terrible Apprehensions not only of the thing it self but that the Persons who revive and propagate such Opinions must have Designs to compass and effect the same Mischiefs over again which like an Inundation drowned the Kingdom in Blood by the Breach of this Bank of Royal Prerogative of the Kings being the sole Judg of the continuance and dissolving of Parliaments Mr. Glyn's Speech upon this Subject was as followeth Mr. Speaker WE sit now upon that grand business of the Breaches of the Rights and Priviledges of Parliaments which are so many and great Mr. Glyn's Speech about Breach of Priviledges Jan. 5. 1641. so carefully preserved and defended and having in former times severely punished the infringers thereof that I had thought and conceived that no Subject of what degree or dignity soever would either in their own persons or by misinforming his Majesty concerning the same would have presumed to have intrenched in the least measure upon the free Liberty Rights and very Beings of Parliaments or tending to the Breach thereof But Mr. Speaker I perceive the perverseness of divers persons in places of Authority that they dare not only presume to provoke his Majesty by their politick mis-informations but dare attempt of themselves to resist the lawful power both of the King and his high Court of Parliament Mr. Speaker These Men notwithstanding they apparently perceive that their wicked practices and malicious designs cannot take effect according to their expectation but are rejected and detected as well by his Sacred Majesty as his Lords and his whole Council dare venture to endeavour by casting aspersions and spreading abroad evil reports not only of the Members but of the Proceedings of the House of Commons against them and others of their Adherents and Favourits in their wicked and desperate Actions and Designs against their lawful Soveraign and his Liege People I conceive Mr. Speaker did these persons but remember the many Presidents yet extant of the just and deserved punishments inflicted by former Parliaments upon such Miscreants as witness the Arch-Bishop of York the Duke of Suffolk Chief Justice Belknap and the rest of that Conspiracy in the Reign of King Edward the Second they would have prejudged to themselves the like danger would follow upon them for their evil Actions Nay Mr. Speaker did these men but consider with themselves the just judgments of God that have immediately lighted upon the necks of such as have been the troublers of Kingdoms and Common-wealth whereof they have been Members as well recorded in Sacred Writ as of late times in this Kingdom yet still in fresh Memory they would have laid their hands upon their Mouths and hearts when they went about to speak or do any thing tending to the dishonour of Almighty God in innovating of his true Religion corrupting the sincere Doctrine and discipline of Christ and his Apostles as also any thing tending to the dishonour and perpetual destruction of his Royal Majesty however otherwise they may pretend the Fundamental Laws and Liberties of this Kingdom the Rights and Priviledges of Parliaments and the very being thereof but surely Mr. Speaker they are altogether benummed and stupified their Consciences dead and seared their Lives and Conversations altogether devoted to the works of darkness and impurity their desires altogether sensual carnal and devilish forgetting God kicking and spurring with maliciousness against all Piety and Godliness or else they would never have adventured to practice such things as it is too too manifest they have done Mr. Speaker I intend to be brief in that which I am to speak concerning the Breaches of the Priviledges of Parliament First To inform his Majesty of any Proceedings in the House of Commons upon any businesses whatsoever before they have concluded finished and made ready the same to present to his Majesty for his Royal Assent thereunto is a Breach of the Priviledges of Parliament Secondly To mis-inform his Majesty contrary to the Proceedings in Parliament thereby to incense and provoke him against the same is a Breach of Priviledge of Parliament Thirdly To cause or procure any Information or Accusation to be brought or preferred without the knowledge or consent of the Parliament into the House against any of the Members thereof is a Breach of Priviledge of Parliament Fourthly To apprehend any such Accused to imprison their persons to seize upon their Goods or Estates to prosecute and proceed against them to their Tryal and Judgment to Condemn or Execute them upon such Accusation without the consent or advice of the Parliament is a Breach of the Priviledges thereof Fifthly To endeavour to cast an evil opinion of such Members Accused into the hearts of his Majesties Loyal Subjects whereby they disaffecting them may be ready and willing to put in execution any Command or Warrant for their apprehension and imprisonment is a Breach of the Priviledges of Parliament Sixthly To come in open Parliament for any Officer or Serjeant to demand and arrest any such Member accused be it of high Treason or any other Crime whatsoever without the knowledge of the whole House is a Breach of the Priviledges of Parliament Seventhly to come to a Parliament sitting in free consultation assisted and guarded with Armed Men and with them be sitting the
Published in all Market Towns in the Kingdom A Message was then brought up from the Commons Messa geconcerning the Prince and the Marquiss of Hertford by Sir Gilbert Gerrard to desire their Lordships To joyn with the House of Commons to injoyn the Marquiss of Hertford appointed by his Majesty to be Governor to the Prince as he will answer the Breach of that Trust that doth so immediately concern the present and future Peace and Safety of the three Kingdoms forthwith to repair to the Prince and according to the Duty of his Place to take care of him and to give his Personal Attendance on his Highness and to be very watchful to prevent that he be not carried out of the Kingdom And the House of Commons do further declare and desires the Lords will do the like That whatsoever Person shall be advising or assistant to the conveying of the Prince out of the Kingdom or attend his Highness in his Journey shall be declared and reputed a Publick Enemy to the Protestant Religion and the Peace and Safety of the three Kingdoms And that the Lords be likewise moved to joyn with the House of Commons in an humble Desire to his Majesty That he will not for any Cause whatsoever permit the Prince to be carried out of the Kingdom without the humble Advice and Consent of Parliament Thereupon It was Ordered That this House agrees with the House of Commons in all the aforesaid Particulars and will joyn with them in the whole as is desired And this Vote was drawn into an Order and the Marquiss of Hertford ordered to acquaint the King with it The Lord Marquiss of Hertford being in the House gave their Lordships this Account That when the King went to Hampton-Court he demanded the Prince of him and took him away with him in his Coach in the Afternoon and his Majesty commanded his Lordship to stay here his Lordship therefore desired this House would require no more of him then he is able to perform and as far as in him lay he would obey their Lordships Command to attend the Prince and if there be cause of Fear as the Parliament Apprehends he will give Advice thereof to the Parliament Then the Earl of Bath Reported Dutch Ambassador desired to order the States Ships to stay Ships at Dunkirk going for Ireland That he had been with the States Ambassador to desire him That he would give present Order to the States Ships that lie before Dunkirk and other Ports of Flanders for the staying of all Ships as are laden with Arms Ammunition or Provisions and bound for the Relief and Assistance of the Rebels of Ireland The Ambassador saith he had alrerdy received Intimation from the Committee of the House of Commons to this purpose and accordingly hath sent Order to their General Van Trompe but he desires he may have the desires of the Parliament in Writing that upon all Occasions he may know the better what to do therein A Message was brought up from the House of Commons to desire that their Lordships would proceed upon the Bill depending before them for taking away the Votes of the Bishops out of their House and dis-inabling all persons in Holy Orders for Exercising any Temporal Jurisdiction or Authority To which the answer was returned That the House will proceed therein with Convenient Expedition Declaration for putting the Kingdom into a posture of Defence rejected by the Lords After this the Declaration brought up Yesterday from the House of Commons concerning the putting of the Kingdom into a Posture of Defence was taken into Consideration and the House was adjourned into a Committee during Pleasure to debate the Preamble of it and after much Debate the House was resumed and the Question was put Whether that the Narrative in this Declaration shall be referred to a Committee to be so penned as that it may appear to be the Narrative onely of the House of Commons and thereupon to be so published But it was Resolved by the Major part Negatively Whereupon their Lordships resolved to have a Conference to morrow with the House of Commons to hear the Reasons that induced them to make this Narrative in this Declaration Then the Lord Keeper signified to the House That he had now received a Letter from the King with a Message which his Majesty hath commanded him to deliver presently to both Houses of Parliament The King's Letter was then read in these Words My Lord Keeper The King's Letter to the L. Keeper with a Message to both Houses Jan. 14. 1641. THis is to Command you to deliver that which is contained within this inclosed Paper as a Message from Me to both Houses and that instantly without delay And so I rest Windsor Jan. 14. 1641. Your Assured Friend Charles R. The Message was as followeth HIs Majesty being no less tender of the Privileges of Parliament and thinking himself no less concerned that they be not broken and that they be asserted and vindicated whensoever they are so then the Parliament it self hath thought fit to add to his last Message this Profession That in all his Proceedings against the Lord Kymbolton Mr. Hollis Sir Arthur Haslerigg Mr. Pym Mr. Hampden and Mr. Strode he had never the least Intention of Violating the least Privilege of Parliament and in case any doubt of Privileges remain will be willing to clear that and assert those by any reasonable Way that His Parliament shall advise him to Vpon Confidence of which He no way doubts His Parliament will forthwith lay by all Jealousies and apply themselves to the Publick and Pressing Affairs and especially to those of Ireland wherein the Good of this Kingdom and the true Religion which shall ever be his Majesties first Care are so highly and so nearly concerned And his Majesty assures himself that his Care of their Privileges will increase their tenderness of his lawful Prerogative which are so necessary to the mutual Defence of each other and both which will be the Foundation of a perpetual perfect Intelligence between his Majesty and Parliament and of the Happyness and Prosperity of His People Hereupon he sent Justice Foster and Justice Mallet to desire a Conference with them concerning this Message from the King Thus did this Admirable Prince by continual and repeated endeavors seek to bring the differences between him and the Parliament to a happy composure but without any Effect for the Heads of the Faction whom he had accused and many others who were of the Confederacy were too well acquainted with their own Guilt to trust to a Fair and Legal Trial and could not think themselves in any condition of Security so long as the King was undevested of his Royal Authority and in a capacity by being possessed of the Sword of Power to turn the Sword of Law and Justice against such high Criminals as had been the contrivers and fomenters of all the Troubles and Disorders in the two Kingdoms In the
Strafford The House of Commons in their own Name and in the Name of the whole Commons of England have this day accused your Lordship to the Lords of the Higher House of Parliament of High Treason the Articles they will in a few dayes produce in the mean time they have Resolved That your Lordship shall be Committed into Safe Custody to the Gentleman Vsher and be Sequestred from the House till your Lordship shall clear your self of the Accusations that shall be laid against you Whereupon he was immediately taken into Custody by James Maxwell Usher of the Black Rod. And that the Commons might Disable him of the Testimony and Assistance of Sir George Radcliff his great Friend and Confident it was resolved to make him a Party and accuse him of High Treason and Confederacy with the Earl which was accordingly done as is more at large related before to which the Reader is referred only a Debate worth the Observation arose upon his being a Member of the Parliament in Ireland Whether he could without Breach of Priviledge be sent for Upon which it was Resolved as a thing out of all Doubt That in case of High Treason Priviledg of Parliament neither here nor there doth reach to Protect him Notwithstanding which when afterwards his Majestie accused the Lord Kimbolton and the Five Members of High Treason and Exhibited Articles against them they did not only protect them but arraigned that proceeding as the Highest Violation of the Priviledges of Parliament making it one of the main Foundations upon which they built the Justice of the succeeding Rebellion and their taking up Arms against his Majesty It was Ordered Wednesday Novemb. 18. That no Member of the House of Commons shall visit the Earl of Strafford during his restraint without Licence first obtained from the House And the same Order was taken in the House of Peers and all the time of his Imprisonment the Lieutenant of the Tower brought in a Weekly account of the Names of those persons who visited him and by whose Order Upon Munday Munday Nov. 23. Novemb. 23. Mr. Pym presented a draught of Articles to the House which being referred to the Committee who were to prepare a Charge against the Earl were by them reported and agreed to by the House and Mr. Pym ordered to go up with them to the Lords which upon Wednesday following he did accordingly Wednesday Nov. 25. and before their Lordships laid out his Talent of Speech-making upon that subject as follows The Articles being first tendred and Read which were these I. THat he the said Thomas Earl of Strafford Articles of Impeachment against the Earl of Strafford Nov. 25. hath Trayterously endeavoured to subvert the Fundamental Laws and Government of the Realms of England and Ireland and instead thereof to introduce an Arbitrary and Tyrannical Government against Law which he hath declared by Trayterous Words Counsels and Actions and by giving his Majesty advice by force of Armes to compel his Loyal Subjects to submit thereunto 2. That he hath Trayterously assumed to himself Regal power over the Lives Liberties Persons Lands and Goods of his Majesties Subjects in England and Ireland and hath exercised the same Tyrannically to the subversion and undoing of many both of Peers and others of his Majesties Liege people 3. That the better to enrich and enable himself to go thorow with his Trayterous Designs he hath detained a great part of his Majesties Revenue without giving legal account and hath taken great Summes out of the Exchequer converting them to his own use when his Majesty was necessitated for his own urgent occasions and his Army had been a long time unpaid 4. That he hath Trayterously abused the power and authority of his Government to the encreasing countenancing and encouraging of Papists that so he might settle a mutual dependance and confidence betwixt himself and that Party and by their help prosecute and accomplish his malicious and tyrannical designs 5. That he hath maliciously endeavoured to stir up enmity and hostility between his Majesties Subjects of England and those of Scotland 6. That he hath Trayterously broken the great Trust reposed in him by his Majesty of Lieutenant General of his Army by wilfully betraying divers of his Majesties Subjects to death his Army to a dishonourable defeat by the Scots at Newborn and the Town of New-Castle into their hands to the end that by the effusion of blood by dishonour and so great a loss of New-Castle his Majesties Realm of England might be engaged in a National and Irreconciliable quarrel with the Scots 7. That to preserve himself from being questioned for those and other his Trayterous Courses he laboured to subvert the Right of Parliaments and the ancient course of Parliamentary Proceedings and by false and malicious slanders to incense his Majesty against Parliaments By which Words Counsels and Actions he hath Trayterously and contrary to his allegiance laboured to alienate the hearts of the Kings Liege people from his Majesty to set a division between them and to ruin and destroy his Majesties Kingdoms for which they impeach him of High Treason against our Soveraign Lord the King his Crown and Dignity 8. And he the said Earl of Strafford was Lord Deputy of Ireland and Lieutenant General of the Army there viz. His most excellent Majesty for his Kingdoms both of England and Ireland and the Lord President of the North during the time that all and every the Crimes and Offences before set forth were done and committed and he the said Earl was Lieutenant General of all his Majesties Army in the North parts of England during the time that the Crimes and Offences in the fifth and sixth Articles set forth were done and committed 9. And the said Commons by protestations saving to themselves the liberty of exhibiting at any time hereafter any other Accusation or Impeachment against the said Earl and also of replying to the Answers that he the said Earl shall make unto the said Articles or to any of them and of offering proofes also of the premisses or any of them or any other impeachment or accusation that shall be exhibited by them as the cause shall according to the course of Parliaments require do pray that the said Earl may be put to answer for all and every the premisses that such Proceedings Examinations Tryals and Judgments may be upon every of them had and used as it is agreeable to Law and Justice My Lords THese Articles have exprest the Character of a great and dangerous Treason Mr. Pym's Speech after the Reading the Articles against the Earl of Strafford Nov. 25. such a one as is advanced to the highest degree of Malice and of Mischief It is enlarged beyond the limits of any description or definition it is so hainous in it self as that it is capable of no aggravation a Treason against God betraying his Truth and Worship against the King obscuring the Glory and weakning the foundation
afflicted Whereupon a demand was then made from his Majesty of 12 Subsidies for the release of Ship-money only and while the said Commons then assembled with expressions of great affection to his Majesty and his service were in debate and consideration of some supply before resolution by them made he the said Earl of Strafford with the help and assistance of the said Archbishop did procure his Majesty to dissolve the last Parliament upon the 5 day of May last and upon the same day the said Earl of Strafford did Treacherously Falsely and Maliciously endeavour to incense his Majesty against his loving and faithful Subjects who had been Members of the said House of Commons by telling his Majesty they had denied to supply him And afterward upon the same did Treacherously and Wickely Counsel and Advise his Majesty to this effect viz. That having tried the affections of his People he was loose and absolved from all rules of Government and was to do every thing that power would admit and that his Majesty had tried all ways and was refused and should be acquitted both of God and man and that he had an Army in Ireland meaning the Army above mentioned consisting of Papists his dependants as is aforesaid which he might imploy to reduce this Kingdom to obedience 24. That in the same month of May he the said Earl of Strafford Falsely Treacherously and Maliciously published and declared before others of his Majesties Privy-Councel that the Parliament of England had for saken the King and that in denying to supply the King they had given him the advantage to supply himself by other ways and divers other times he did Maliciously Wickedly and Falsely publish and declare that seeing the Parliament had refused to supply his Majesty in the ordinary and usual way the King might provide for the Kingdome in such ways as he should hold fit and that he was not to suffer himself to be mastered by the frowardness of the People And having so maliciously slandered the said House of Commons he did with the help and advice of the said Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lord Finch late Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England cause to be printed and published in his Majesties name a false and scandalous book entituled his Majesties Declaration of the causes that moved him to dissolve the last Parliament full of bitter and malicious invectives and false and scandalous aspersions against the said House of Commons 25. That not long after the dissolution of the said last Parliament viz. In the months of May and June He the Earl of Strafford did advise the King to go on rigorously in levying the Ship-money and did procure the Sheriffs of several Countries to be sent for for not levying the Ship-money divers of which were threatned by him to be sued in the Star-Chamber for not levying the same and divers of his Majesties loving Subjects were sent for and imprisoned by his advice about that and other illegal payments And a great loan of a hundred thousand pounds was demanded of the City of London and the Lord Mayor and the Aldermen and the Sheriffs of the said City were often sent for by his advice to the Councel Table to give an account of their proceedings in raising of Ship-money and furthering of that loan and were required to certifie the names of such Inhabitants of the said City as were fit to lend which they with much humility refusing to do he the said Earl of Strafford did use these or the like Speeches viz. That they deserved to be put to Fine and Ransome and that no good would be done with them till an example were made of them and they were laid by the heels and some of the Aldermen hanged up 26. That the said Earl of Strafford by his wicked Counsel having brought his Majesty into excessive charges without any just cause he did in the month of July last for the support of the said great charges counsel and approve two dangerous and wicked Projects viz. To seize upon the Bullion and the money in the Mint And to imbase his Majesties Coyn with the mixtures of Brass And accordingly he procured One hundred and thirty thousand pounds which was then in the Mint and belonging to divers Merchants Strangers and others to be seized on and stayed to his Majesties use And when divers Merchants of London owners of the said Bullion came to his house to let him understand the great mischief that course would produce here and in other parts what prejudice it would be to the Kingdome by discrediting the Mint and hindring the importation of Bullion he the said Earl told them That the City of London dealt undutifully and unthankfully with his Majesty and that they were more ready to help the Rebel than to help his Majesty and that if any hurt came to them they may thank themselves and that it was the course of other Princes to make use of such Moneys to serve their Occasions And when in the same Month of July the Officers of his Majesties Mint came to him and gave him divers reasons against the imbasing the said money he told them that the French King did use to send Commissaries of Horse with Commission to search into mens Estates and to peruse their accounts so that they may know what to levy of them by force which they did accordingly leavy and turning to the Lord Cottington then present said That this was a point worthy his Lordships consideration 27. That in or about the Month of August last he was made Lieutenant General of all his Majesties Forces in the Northern parts against the Scots and being at York did in the Month of September by his own authority and without any lawful warrant impose a Tax on his Majesties Subjects in the County of York of eight pence per diem for maintenance of every Soldier of the Trained bands of that County which Sums of Money he caused to be levied by force And to the end to compel his Majesties Subjects out of fear and Terrour to yield to the payment of the same He did declare that he would commit them that refused the payment thereof and the Soldiers should be satisfied out of their Estates and they that refused it were in very little better condition than of High-Treason 28. That in the Month of September and October last he the said Earl of Strafford being certified of the Scottish Army coming into the Kingdome and he the said Earl of Strafford being Lieutenant General of his Majesties Army did not provide to the defence of the Town of New-Castle as he ought to have done but suffered the same to be lost that so he might the more incense the English against the Scots And for the same wicked purpose and out of a malicious desire to ingage the Kings Kingdoms of England and Scotland in a National and Bloody War he did write to the Lord Conway the General of the Horse and under the
said Earls command that he should Fight with the Scottish Army at the passage over the Tyne whatsoever should follow notwithstanding that the said Lord Conway had formerly by Letters informed him the said Earl that his Majesties Army then under his command was not of force sufficient to encounter the Scots by which advice of his he did contrary to the duty of his place betray his Majesties Army then under his command to apparent danger and loss All and every which Words Counsels and Actions of the said Earl of Strafford Traiterously and contrary to his Allegiance to our Soveraign Lord the King and with an intention and endeavour to alienate and withdraw the hearts and affections of the Kings Liege People of all his Realms from his Majesty and to set a division between them and to ruine and destroy his Majesties said Kingdoms For which they do farther impeach him the said Thomas Earl of Strafford of High Treason against our Soveraign Lord the King his Crown and Dignity To which the Earl according to the Order of the House of Lords prefixing the 23 of February for that purpose being brought to their House gave in his Answer in two hundred Sheets of Paper an abstract whereof as I find it in Mr. Rushworth's Trial of Thomas Earl of Strafford is here subjoined TO the First Article The Answer of Tho. Earl of Strafford to the 28 Articles of the Commons Feb. 23. he saith He conceives that the Commission and Instruction differ not from those formerly granted but refers to them and that such Alterations and Additions as were made were for ought he knoweth rather for the explanation than for the enlarging of the Jurisdiction the Care whereof was left to the Secretary of that Council and to the King 's Learned Council to be passed for the good of the King's Service and the Publick Welfare of that Province for Legality of the Proceedings divers eminent Lawyers were joyned with the President who for the Legal parts was by them to be directed He did not advise or procure the enlargement of the Commission and Instructions and he believeth nothing hath been practiced since that was not in former Times contained in former Commissions under general words He believeth Sir Conyers Darcy was lawfully Fined for Misdemeanors as a Justice of Peace and hath heard he being in Ireland that Sir John Boucher was Fined for some great Abuse at the Kings being at York going into Scotland to be Crowned to the Proceedings he refers himself He denies that he hath done any thing by that Commission or Instruction other than he conceived he might by virtue thereof lawfully do To the Second Article The little Finger of the Law He denieth the speaking of those words but saith That 30 40 l. or more being returned as Issues out of the Exchequer against some that had compounded for Knighthood for 10 l. or 20 l. so as the Issues far exceeded the Composition and yet would next time have been increased The said Earl upon this occasion said That now they might see that the little Finger of the Law was heavier than the King's Loins which he spake to nourish good Affections in them towards His Majesty and not to threaten or terrifie any as the Article is supposed To the Third Article Ireland a Conquered Nation he saith Ireland is not Governed by the same Laws that this Kingdom is unless it be meant by the Common Laws their Customs Statutes Execution of Martial Laws Proceedings at Council-Board very much differ they spake not the words in the Article to any such intent He saith It might be fit enough for him to remember them of the great Obligation they had to the King and His Progenitors that suffered them being a Conquer'd Nation to enjoy Freedom and Laws as their own people of this Kingdom and it might be that upon some such occasion he said to those of Dublin That some of their Charters were void and nothing worth and did not bind His Majesty farther than He pleased which he believes to be true having been formerly so informed by His Majesties Learned Council upon sundry occasions To the Fourth Lawyers not to dispute the Orders of the Council-Board in the Earl of Cork's Case he saith That the legal and ordinary Proceeding at Council-Table are and time out of mind have been by Petition Answers examination of Witnesses as in other Courts of Justice concerning British Plantations the Church and Cases hence recommended by the King for the time being and in Appeals from other Courts there and the Council-Board have always punished Contempts to Orders there made to Proclamations and Acts of State by Fine and Imprisonment He saith That it might be he told the Earl of Cork that he would Imprison him if he disobeyed the Orders of the Council-Table and that he would not have Lawyers dispute or question those Orders and that they should bind but remembreth not the Comparison of Acts of Parliament and he hath been so far from scorning the Laws that he hath endeavoured to maintain them the Suit against the Earl in the Castle-Chamber was concerning the Possessions of the Colledge of Youghall worth 6 or 700 l. which he had endeavoured to get by causing of unlawful Oaths to be taken and very undue means the matter proceeded to Examination and Publication of Witnesses and after upon the Earl of Cork's humble Suit and payment of 15000 l. to His Majesty and his acknowledgment of his Misdemeanors obtained a Pardon and the Bill and Proceedings were taken off the Files and he remembers not any Suit for breach of any Order made at Council Table To the Fifth he saith Lord Mountnorris sentenced to suffer death by Martial Law The Deputies and Generals of the Army have always executed Martial Law which is necessary there and the Army and the Members thereof have been long time Governed by printed Orders according to which divers by Sentence of the Council of War have formerly been put to death as well in the time of Peace as War The Lord Mountnorris being a Captain of a Company in the Army for mutinous words against the said Earl General of that Army and upon two of those ancient Orders was proceeded against by a Council of War being the Principal Officers of the Army about twenty in number and by them upon clear Evidence Sentenced to Death wherein the said Earl was no Judge but laboured so effectually with His Majesty that he obtained the Lord Mountnorris's Pardon who by that Sentence suffered no personal hurt or damage save about two days Imprisonment And as to the other Persons he can make no Answer thereunto no particulars being described To the Sixth he saith The Suit had depended many years in Chancery The Lord Mountnorris put out of Possession and the Plaintiff Complaining of that delay the said Earl upon a Petition as in such Cases hath been usual calling to him the then Master of the Rolls
House of Commons by whom the rest might the better be guided Mr. Secretary Windebank said He feared the House would first be Answered of their Grievances and Voted for a Breach of the Parliament Mr. Secretary Vane in opposite terms said That there was no hope that they would give the King a Penny and therefore absolutely Voted for a Breach And the Earl of Strafford conceiving His Majesties Pleasure to have accepted Eight Subsidies had been delivered to the House of Commons by Mr. Secretary Vane did in His Majesties turn deliver his Vote for Breach of the Parliament which otherwise he would not have done it being contrary to what he Resolved when he came thither and like Opinion was delivered by the rest of the Lords being about twenty except two or three at the most The Parliament being Dissolved His Majesty desired Advice of His Council How money might be raised affirming That the Scotch Army was ready to enter into the Kingdom The said Earl in presence of others in the Council delivered his Opinion That in a Case of absolute and unavoidable necessity which neither would nor could be prevented by ordinary remedies provided by the Laws nor all His Majesties other means sufficient to defend the Common-wealth Himself or their Lives and Estates from an Enemy without force of Arms either actually entred or daily expected to Invade the Realm He conceived that His Majesty was absolved from ordinary Rules and might use in as moderate a way the necessity of the Cause would permit all ways and means for defence of Himself and Kingdom for that he conceived in such extremity Salus Populi was Suprema Lex provided it were not colourable nor any thing demanded imployed to other use nor drawn into Example when Law and Justice might take place and that when Peace was settled Reparation was to be given to particular men otherwise it would be unjust This was not officiously declared but in Council forced by the duty of the Oath of a Counsellor which is that he shall in all things to be moved treated and debated in Council faithfully and truly declare his Mind and Opinion according to his Heart and Conscience which Oath the said Earl took and humbly prays their Lordships Consideration thereof He denieth the words in the Article or any words to the intent thereby expressed To the 24th he saith He delivered his Opinion with such Cautions and Restrictions as in the Answer to the Precedent Article and is well assured his Discourse at all times hath been without ill Intentions to either of the Houses of Parliament which he ever did and shall think and speak of with all Reverence He denies that he knew of the Publishing or Printing of the Book nor who caused it to be Printed or Published for at that time he was sick in his Bed more like to die than to live To the 25th he saith Ship-Money was levied and adjudged to be due before his coming over Sheriffs were then called up as before and not otherwise If any were sued in Star-Chamber it was without any particular indeavour of his It appearing at the Board That the Mayor and Sheriffs of London had been slow in Collecting Ship-Money he said They were but Ministerial and ought to Exact and not dispute the King's Writs and that if through their remisness the King should be less able to provide for the Publick Safety when any Forreign Army was ready to enter the Kingdom they might deserve to be Fined and Ransomed which he spake more to hasten them than of purpose to advise any such Prosecution but denies the other words being under favour such Expressions as he is not accustomed unto To the 26th he saith He advised not either of those Projects being then sick in Bed but it being debated at the Council-Table Whether it were better for the King to raise Gold and Silver or Coin base Money He for the Reasons then given delivered his Opinion for the latter Sundry Merchants Adventurers coming to his house desired him to move His Majesty then at Oatlands to Release the Bullion or Money he told them He knew of no such thing and would not meddle with it nor would his Health permit him to go abroad and said That if their denying the King in such a Publick Danger the Loan of 100000 l. upon good Security the King were constrained for the Preservation of the Land to stay the Bullion they might thank themselves and the City receiving so great a benefit by Residing amongst them they made but an unthankful acknowledgment in such a Straight to refuse the Loan of that Sum. The Officers of the Mint came to the Council-Board and the Earl then shewed a Letter he received from the Earl of Leicester wherein was related That the Cardinal had appointed Commissioners to go into the Merchants houses at Paris to peruse their Shop-Books and Accompts and to Cess every man according to his Ability towards the payment of the King's Army and then said That it was but just for Us here in England to bless God for being under a King which could not think upon such a Pressing upon the People But the words in the Article or words to any such intent he did not speak and cannot sufficiently bemoan himself to have been in all his words so ill understood or so untruly Reported as he hath been To the 27th he saith He perswaded the Gentry of that Country to allow the Trained-Band a months Pay which they yielded and His Majesty graciously accepted It was by Council of War His Majesty being present thought fit the Trained-Bands should return save the two Regiments under the Command of Sir William Pennyman and Sir Thomas Danby It was assented unto by His Majesty and the great Councel of the Peers then Assembled That those spared should Contribute and the said Earl was Commanded by them to see it done which was done accordingly by Warrants from him and from his Deputy-Lieutenants which was much less Charge to the Countries than otherwise and denies the other particular in the Article mentioned To the 28th he saith He was Lieutenant-General to the Earl of Northumberland about the 24th of August of 10 or 12000 Foot and 2000 Horse being at New-Castle under the Command of the Lord Conway and Sir Jacob Ashley and the rest of the Army at York the said Earl went from London and the 26th of August notwithstanding his extream weakness and came to York and having received a Letter from Sir Jacob Ashley that New-Castle was Fortified and that they must be Infamous Beasts to lose it and that it was fully Secured and being acquainted with several Dispatches sent by Mr. Secretary Vane by His Majesties Directions to the Lord Conway General of the Horse to oppose the Passage of the Scots over the River of Tyne the one dated 22. Augusti the other 23. Augusti another 24. Augusti another 26. Augusti the substance of which Letters are particularly mentioned in the
Earl came attended from the Tower by 6. Barges wherein were about 100 Souldiers with Partisans for his Guard and 50 pair of Oars came along with him At his Landing in Westminster he was attended by 200 of the Train-Bands who Guarded him into the Hall the Entrances at White-Hall Kings-street and Westminster were Guarded by the Constables and Watchmen from 4. of the Clock in the Morning to prevent the concourse of base idle and inferior Degrees of People who are apt upon such occasions to flock together and produce mischief and disorders The King the Queen and Prince came to the Hall about 9. of the clock but did not appear publiquely only the Prince came out once or twice to the Cloth of Estate so that the King saw and heard all that passed but was seen by none Some give the Reason of this to proceed from the received Practice of England in such Cases Others were of Opinion That the Lords intreated his Majesty either to absent himself or to be there privately lest hereafter it might give occasion to pretensions that his being there was to over-aw or some other ways interrupt the Course of Justice A third That the King was not willing to appear as an Actor in the Process till it came to his part but rather he chose to be present Incognito that he might Observe and vnderstand whether any Violence Rigor or Injustice were used in the Trial. At the Lieutenant's Entrance into the Hall the Porter of the Hall whose Office it is inquired of Mr. Maxwell Whether the Ax should be carried before him or no who answered That the King had Expressly forbidden it Nor was it ever the Custom of England to use that Ceremony but only when the Party accused was to be put upon his Jury At the Trial the Lords of the Upper House sate Covered the Members of the Lower House uncovered The Lords Spiritual were not at all present having on Saturday before absolutely declined appearing in Causa Sanguinis thô withal Entring a Protestation That their Absence should not prejudice them of that or any Priviledg appertaining to them as Lords Spiritual in Parliament The Earl of Arundel who was by His Majesty constituted and appointed Lord High Steward by Commission under the Great Seal of England sate apart by himself and all things being now in a Readiness the Managers of the Evidence standing at the Barr the Noble Prisoner was called for and being brought by Sir William Balfour Lieutenant of the Tower after an Obeysance given he came to the Barr and kneeled and after standing up the Right Honourable Thomas Earl of Arundel and Surrey Lord High Steward of England acquainted him That his Lordship was called before the Lords in Parliament to Answer to and be Tryed upon the Impeachment presented to them by the Commons House in Parliament in the Name of themselves and all the Commons of England And that their Lordships are resolved to hear both the Accusation and Defence with all Equity and therefore thought fit that in the first place his Lordship should hear the Impeachment of High Treason read which was done accordingly the Articles being delivered in by Mr. Pym. While it was reading a Chair was brought for him by the Gentleman Usher and by the Direction of the Lords he was permitted to repose himself After the Charge the Earl's Answer was likewise read which took up the whole time of the First Day The Queen went from the House about 11 of the Clock the King and Prince stayed till the Assembly was Adjourned which was about Two of the Clock and the Earl was remanded to the Tower with his Guard and appointed to appear again upon Tuesday at 9. of the Clock The Confluence of People was neither numerous nor insolent all of them Saluted him both at his Landing and Return which with a Generous Humility he did most courteously receive and return By which it is Evident how false the Rumors were which Malevolent Persons Raised that the Populace was so inraged at him that they would go near to tear him in pieces The Multitude is an Unruly Animal but yet certainly Report does in these cases encrease the Danger and a Tumult is not altogether so insensible of punishment as not to fear it notwithstanding Numbers seem to plead an Exemption from it and to frighten Justice from her Seat But this sluggish Creature the Mobile is then certainly most Dangerous when like the Unstable Element it does Resemble it is raised by the Turbulent breath of Sedition to overflow the Bounds of Duty and outrage all that is called Justice and there wanted not such spirits who by spreading these Rumors of the Discontents of the People taught them to be Discontented and by predicting of Disorders learnt at least their own Faction to know what was Expected from them upon Occasion and how calm soever the People seemed to be yet the Conclusion of this Tragedy will make it appear that some Persons had Tumults at Command and could upon Occasion raise the dangerous Tempest of the Madness of the People not inelegantly coupled with the Raging of the Sea by the Royal Prophet Upon Tuesday in the Morning the Earl came accompanied as before to Westminster The Second Day Tuesday March 23. and having stayed in the Exchequer Chamber till 9. of the Clock the King Queen and Prince being come and that High and Illustrious Court being set he was again brought to the Barr and the Lord High Steward having commanded the Committee of the Commons who were to manage the Evidence to proceed Mr. Pym in a large and studied Oration full of Hyperbolical Figures and Insulting Eloquence opened amplified and inforced the Charge by raveling the Answer of the Earl to his Articles of Impeachment in manner following My Lords WE stand here by the Commandment of the Knights Mr. Pym's Speech at the Trial of the Earl of Strafford March 23. Citizens and Burgesses now Assembled for the Commons in Parliament and we are ready to make good that Impeachment whereby Thomas Earl of Strafford stands charged in their Name and in the Name of all the Commons of England with High Treason This My Lords is a great Cause and we might sink under the weight of it and be astonished with the Lustre of this Noble Assembly if there were not in the Cause Strength and Vigour to support it self and to encourage us It is the Cause of the King it concerns His Majesty in the Honour of His Government in the Safety of His Person in the Stability of His Crown It is the Cause of the Kingdom It concerns not only the Peace and Prosperity but even the Being of the Kingdom We have that piercing Eloquence the Cries and Groans and Tears and Prayers of all the Subjects assisting us We have the Three Kingdoms England and Scotland and Ireland in Travail and Agitation with us bowing themselves like the Hindes spoken of in Job to cast out their Sorrows Truth
and Goodness My Lords they are the Beauty of the Soul they are the Perfection of all created Natures they are the Image and Character of God upon the Creatures This Beauty Evil Spirits and Evil Men have lost but yet there are none so wicked but they desire to march under the shew and shadow of it though they hate the reality of it This unhappy Earl now the Object of your Lordships Justice hath taken as much care hath used as much cunning to set a face and countenance of Honesty and Justice upon his Actions as he hath been negligent to observe the Rules of Honesty in the Performance of all these Actions My Lords it is the greatest baseness of Wickedness that it dares not look in his own Colours nor be seen in its natural Countenance But Virtue as it is amiable in all respects so the least is not this That it puts a Nobleness it puts a Bravery upon the Mind and lifts it above Hopes and Fears above Favour and Displeasure it makes it always uniform and constant to it self The Service Commanded me and my Colleagues here is to take off those Vizards of Truth and Vprightness which hath been sought to be put upon this Cause and to shew you his Actions and his Intentions in their own natural Blackness and Deformity My Lords He hath put on a Vizard of Truth in these words wherein he says That he should be in his Defence more careful to observe Truth than to gain Advantage to himself He says He would endure any thing rather than be saved by Falshood It was a noble and brave Expression if it were really true My Lords He hath likewise put on the Vizard of Goodness on his Actions when he desires to recite his Services in a great many Particulars as if they were Beneficial to the Common-wealth and State whereas we shall prove them Mischievous and Dangerous It is left upon me My Lords to take off these Vizards and Appearances of Truth and Goodness in that part of his Answer which is the Preamble And that I shall do with as much Faithfulness and Brevity as I can 1. The First thing My Lords that I shall observe in the Preamble is this That having recited all those great and honourable Offices which he hath done under his Majesty he is bold to affirm That he hath been Careful and Faithful in the Execution of them all My Lords If he might be his own Witness and his own Judge I doubt not but he would be Acquitted It is said in the Proverbs of the Adulterous Woman That she wipes her mouth and says she had done no Evil. Here is a wiping of the mouth here is a verbal expression of Honesty But My Lords the foulness and unjustness will never be wiped off neither from his Heart nor from his Actions I mean for the time past God may change him for the time to come That is the first thing I observe 2. My Lords In the second place out of his Apologetical Preamble I shall observe this He doth magnifie his own Endeavours in five particulars 1. That he hath Endeavoured the maintenance of Religion I may miss in words I shall not miss in sense 2. That he hath Endeavoured the Honour of the King 3. The Encrease of his Revenue 4. The Peace and Honour and Safety of the Kingdom 5. The Quiet and Peace of the People These are his five particulars and I shall give a short Answer to every one of them 1. For Religion My Lords we say and we shall prove that he hath been diligent indeed to favour Innovations to favour Superstitions to favour the Incroachments and Vsurpations of the Clergy But for Religion it never received any advantage by him nay a great deal of hurt 2. For the Honour of the King My Lords We say it is the Honour of the King that He is the Father of His People that He is the Fountain of Justice and it cannot stand with His Honour and Justice to have His Government Stain'd and Polluted with Tyranny and Oppression 3. For the Encrease of His Revenue It is true there may be some Addition of Sums but we say There is no Addition of Strength nor Wealth because in those parts where it hath been increased this Earl hath taken the greatest share himself And when he hath spoiled and ravined on the People he hath been content to yield up some part to the King that he might with more security enjoy the rest 4. For the Strength and Honour and Safety of the Kingdom My Lords In a time of Peace he hath let in upon us the Calamities of War Weakness Shame and Confusion 5. And for the Quiet of the Subjects he hath been an Incendiary he hath Armed us amongst our selves and made us weak and naked to all the World besides This is that I shall answer to the second Head of his Apology 3. The Third is this My Lords That by his means many good and wholesome Laws have been made since his Government in Ireland Truly My Lords if we should consider the particulars of these Laws some of them will not be found without great Exception But I shall make another Answer good Laws nay the best Laws are no advantage when Will is set above Law when the Laws have force to bind and restrain the Subject but no force to Relieve and Comfort him 4. He says in the Fourth place He was a means of calling a Parliament not long after he came to his Government My Lords Parliaments without Parliamentary Liberties are but a fair and plausible way into Bondage That Parliament had not the Liberties of a Parliament Sir Pierce Crosby for speaking against a Bill in the Commons House was sequestred from the Council-Table and Committed to Prison Sir John Clotworthy for the same Cause was threatned that he should lose a Lease that he had Mr. Barnewell and two other Gentlemen were threatned they should have Troops of Horse put upon them for speaking in the House Proxies by dozens were given by some of his Favourites And My Lords Parliaments coming in with these Circumstances they be Grievances Mischiefs and Miseries no works of Thanks or Honour 5. The Fifth is That he hath been a means to put off Monopolies and other Projects that would have been Grievous and Burdensome to the Subjects if he had hated the Injustice of a Monopoly or the Mischief of a Monopoly he would have hated it in himself he himself would have been no Monopolist Certainly My Lords It was not the love of Justice nor the Common Good that moved him And if he were moved by any thing else he had his Reward It may be it was because he would have no man gripe them in the Kingdom but himself his own Harvest-Crop would have been less if he had had sharers It may be it was because Monopolies hinder Trade he had the Customs and the benefit of the Customs would have been less when we know the
particulars we shall make a fit and proper Answer to them But in the mean time we are sure whatsoever was the reason it was not Justice nor love of Truth that was the reason 6. He saith in the Sixth place He had no other Commission but what his Predecessors had And that he hath Executed that Commission with all Moderation For the Commission it was no Virtue of his if it were a good Commission I shall say nothing of that But for the second part his Moderation when you find so many Imprisoned of the Nobility so many men some adjudged to Death some Executed without Law when you find so many publick Rapines on the State Soldiers sent to make good his Decrees so many Whippings in defence of Monopolies so many Gentlemen that were Jurors because they would not apply themselves to give Verdicts on his side to be Fined in the Star-Chamber Men of Quality to be disgraced set on the Pillory and wearing Papers and such things as it will appear through our Evidence can you think there was any Moderation And yet truly My Lords I can believe That if you compare his Courses with other Parts of the World ungoverned he will be found beyond all in Tyranny and Harshness but if you compare them with his Mind and Disposition perhaps there was Moderation Habits we say are more perfect than Acts because they be nearest the principle of Actions The Habit of Cruelty in himself no doubt is more perfect than any Act of Cruelty he hath Committed but if this be his Moderation I think all men will pray to be delivered from it And I may truly say that is verified in him The Mercies of the Wicked are Cruel 7. I come to the Seventh and that is concerning the King's Revenue That he hath improved it from 57000 l. to 10000 l. and that he hath done it by Honourable and Just ways That he hath made the Kingdom able to Support it self That he hath improved the King's Revenue by many rich and great Purchases That he hath saved the Charge of the Navy by bearing 7000 l. a Year in Ireland which was born here before And then he saye for a Conclusion That he never took Money out of the King's Exchequer My Lords I must run over all these For the Enlargement or Increase of the Revenue of that Kingdom I think there is a little fault in his Arithmetick but I will not charge him with that now But for his Honourable wayes of Increasing it if Monopolies if Vexation of the Subject be Honourable ways we shall leave that to your Lordships to judge But most of his increases are made upon Monopolies It is true there is another way of bargaining but it hath been mixed with Rigour and Rapine and Injustice Men have been driven out of their Estates Offices have been found by force Men have been driven to resign their Estates And is this a Just way of improving a King's Revenue that I shall submit to your Lordships Then he says He hath made the Kingdom able to Support it self My Lords He that hath no Harvest of his own must Glean after another man's Reapers Truly this was none of his work The Kingdom was able to subsist of it self before he came thither For that we shall Appeal to the Records of the Exchequer betwixt the Year 1622 and the time of his Government which was Nine years at least during which nothing went out of this Kingdom to the support of that Island The 7000 l. for the Navy was born in Ireland before his time a year or two so he comes near the truth of that yet misses a year of the truth But if it were true hath it been only by the ordinary Revenue that it hath supported it self He hath had Six Subsidies a year or two of Contribution which the Irish gave towards the supporting of the Charge of Ireland It was not his Husbanding nor his Managing of the Revenue And truly if the Kingdom were able to support it self as it was before he came thither by the Revenue of the Kingdom and by the help of that Contribution it would be very fit since there may be many Increases since to know what is become of 300000 l. for six Subsidies and of the Contribution Money and indeed there is a great suspition that that went another way But that you may the better observe his Husbandry I shall speak of his last Years Accompt the 20th of March now something more than a Year since the Vnder-Treasurer delivered an Account on which there was 101000 l. remaining in the King's Coffers Since that time there hath been received 112000 l. for the King I speak of round Sums My Lords I leave out pounds and pence and such things This is 213000 l. He hath received out of the Exchequer in England 50000 l. There are Debts in Ireland 60000 l. and what other Debts we know not Here is above 320000 l. consumed in a Year which is almost as much as Queen Elizabeth consumed in any Year when Tyrone was in Rebellion and an Army of Spaniards was there My Lords He saith he never took Money out of the Exchequer if he rests in that Affirmation it will be very near truth yet serves but to shadow a falshood which is worse to cover and to glaze under such a Colour of Truth as that is a notable Falshood My Lords It is true he hath taken no Money out of the Exchequer but he could be content to take from the Vnder-Treasurer of the Exchequer 24000 l. about two years since and to keep it for his own occasions when the King's Army was in want And he paid it in but lately And before I pass from this matter of the Revenue give me leave to speak something of the Increase that comes in by the Customs It is true there is a great increase but if your Lordships look to the beginning of that bargain you shall find the notablest Cozenage that ever was offered to a Prince in one that was a sworn Servant and intrusted with so great a Charge It will be more fully opened in the Article that concerns the Customs but I shall speak of it a little He made a bargain and under pretence of getting of 1350 l. gain to the King he gave cause of Allowances and Defalcations whereby he took forth of the King's Purse 6000 l. a year or very near which the King had before He laid new Additions of charge on the Customs which came to 12000 l. So that on a bargain of giving 1350 l. more than was reserved on the former Lease he was sure that when he made the bargain of gaining 18 or 20000 l. 8. But I shall pass from the Revenue of the Crown to the Revenue of the Church which is in the 8th place He saith he hath been a great Husband for the Church and truly hath brought in many Lands to the Church but he hath brought them in by wayes without Law without
the ordinary Course and Courts of Justice declined 3. The proceedings in Civil Causes at Council-Board contrary to the Law and great Charter not limited to any certain time or season 4. That the Subject is in all the material parts thereof denied the benefit of the Princely Graces and more especially of the Statute of Limitations of 21 of Jac. granted by his Majesty in the Fourth Year of His Reign upon great Advice of the Councils of England and Ireland and for great Consideration and then published in all the Courts of Dublin and in all the Counties of this Kingdom in open Assizes whereby all Persons do take notice That contrary to His Majesties Pious Intentions His Subjects of this Land have not enjoyed the benefit of His Majesties Princely Promise thereby made 5. The extrajudicial avoiding of Letters Patents of Estates of a very great part of His Majesties Subjects under the Great Seal the Publick Faith of the King dom by private Opinions delivered at the Council-Board without Legal Evictions of their Estates contrary to Law and without President or Example of any former Age. 6. The Proclamation for the sole emption and uttering of Tobacco which is bought at very low Rates and uttered at high and excessive Rates by means whereof thousands of Families within this Kingdom and of His Majesties Subjects in several Islands and other parts of the West-Indies as your Petitioners are informed are destroyed and the most part of the Coin of this Kingdom is ingrossed into particular Hands insomuch that your Petitioners do conceive that the Profit arising and ingrossed thereby doth surmount His Majesties Revenue certain or casual within this Kingdom and yet his Majesty receiveth but very little profit by the same 7. The universal and unlawful encreasing of Monopolies to the advantage of a few the disprofit of His Majesty and impoverishment of His people 8. And the extream cruel Vsage of certain late Commissioners and other Stewards of the British Farmers and Inhabitants of the City and County of London-Derry by means whereof the worthy Plantation of that Country is almost destroyed and the Inhabitants are reduced to great Poverty and many of them forced to forsake the Country the same being the first and most useful Plantation in the large Province of Ulster to the great weakning of the Kingdom in this time of danger the said Plantation being the Principal Strength of those parts 9. The late Erection of the Court of High Commission for Causes Ecclesiastical in these necessitous Times the Proceedings of the said Court in many Causes without legal Warrant and yet so supported as Prohibitions have not been obtained though legally sought for And the excessive Fees exacted by the Ministers thereof and the encroaching of the same upon the Jurisdiction of other Ecclesiastical Courts of this Kingdom 10. The exorbitant Fees and pretended Customs exacted by the Clergy against the Law some of which have been formerly represented to your Lordship 11. The Petitioners do most heartily bemoan that His Majesties Service and Profit are much more impaired than advanced by the Grievances aforesaid and the Subsidies granted in the last Parliament having much encreased His Majesties Revenue by the buying of Grants and otherwise And that all His Majesties Debts then due in this Kingdom were satisfied out of the said Subsidies and yet his Majesty is of late as the Petitioners have been informed in the House of Commons become indebted in this Kingdom in great Sums And they do therefore humbly beseech That an exact Account may be sent to His Majesty how and in what manner His Treasure is issued 12. The Petitioners do humbly conceive just and great fears at a Proclamation published in this Kingdom in Anno Domini 1635. prohibiting men of Quality or Estates to depart this Kingdom into England without the Lord-Deputie's Licence whereby the Subjects of this Kingdom are hindred and interrupted from free access to address to His Sacred Majesty and Privy-Council of England to declare their just Grievances or to obtain Remedies for them in such sort as their Ancestors have done in all Ages since the Reign of King Henry the Second and great Fees exacted for every of the said Licences 13. That of late His Majesties Attorney-General hath exhibited Informations against many ancient Burroughs of this Kingdom into His Majesties Court of Exchequer to shew cause by what Warrant the said Burgesses who heretofore sent Burgesses to Parliament should send the Burgesses to the Parliament and thereupon for want of an Answer the said Priviledges of sending Burgesses was seized by the said Court which Proceedings were altogether Coram non Judice and contrary to the Laws and Priviledges of the House of Parliament and if way should be given thereunto would tend to the Subversion of Parliaments and by Consequence to the Ruin and Destruction of the Common-wealth And that the House of Commons hath hitherto in this present Parliament been deprived of the Advice and Counsel of many profitable and good Members by means thereof 14. By the Powerfulness of some Ministers of State in this Kingdom the Parliament in its Members and Actions hath not its natural Freedom 15. And lastly That the Gentry and Merchants and other His Majesties Subjects of this Kingdom are of late by the Grievances and Pressures before said and other the like brought very near to Ruin and Destruction And the Farmers of Customs Customers Waiters Searchers Clerks of Vnwarrantable Proceedings Pursevants and Goalers and sundry others very much enriched whereby and by the slow Redress of the Petitioners Grievances His Majesties most Faithful and Dutiful People of this Kingdom do conceive great fears that their readiness approved upon all occasions hath not been of late rightly represented to his Sacred Majesty For Remedy whereof the said Petitioners do humbly and of right beseech your Lordships That the said Grievances and Pressures may be speedily Redressed and if your Lordship shall not think fit to afford present Relief that your Lordship might admit a Select Committee of this House of Persons uninteressed in the benefit arising of the aforesaid Grievances to be licensed by your Lordship to repair to His Sacred Majesty in England for to pursue the same and to obtain fitting remedy for their aforesaid and other just Grievances and Oppressions and upon all just and Honourable Occasions they will without respect of particular Interest or Profit to be raised thereby most humbly and readily in Parliament extend their utmost endeavour to serve His Majesty and comply with His Royal and Princely Occasions and shall pray c. To this the Earl replyed that their Lordships might observe that it bore Date Feb. 22 1640. which was since his Impeachment and that it is followed by Faction and Confederacy and a strong Conspiracy against him as if he had time and opportunity he could make it appear And indeed the Complaints of the Irish Nation against him who had in all things endeavoured to promote and
and old Entayles would be set on Foot and by that means the later Purchaser avoided by which means there was a great loss and prejudice to the King in his Wards which by these Laws are setled and the Laws of Ireland brought much nearer the Laws of England than before And in this point I conceive I am not absolutely gainsayed but only conditionally that is that notwithstanding this I have set up another Government Arbitrary and Tyrannical To which I shall not now trouble your Lordships with an Answer that being in the particulars of my Charge And thus I think the first to be fairly and clearly Answered Then that there were more Parliaments in the time of my Government than in 50 years before There were two in my time and if I might call Witnesses it would appear that there were not so many within that time before but being not material to my Defence or Condemnation I will not trouble your Lordships with proof unless you will require it I having them here that I think can make it good And whereas in my Answer I deny that I ever had hand in any Project or Monopoly and that I did prevent divers that otherwise would have passed I said that under favour with all duty and confidence I must still affirm it That I never had hand or share in any manner of Monopoly or Project whatsoever unless the Tobacco-business were a Monopoly which under favour I shall clear not to be but that being part of my Charge I think it impertinent now to give Answer unto it but will satisfie your Lordships in that behalf in proper time and place But more then that of Tobacco I say absolutely and directly I never had my hand or share in any Monopoly or Project nay I did as much as I could Oppose all of them particularly the Monopoly of Iron-Pots for which I reserve my self to Answer as part of my Charge And a new Book of Rates whereby it was proposed That the Rates of the King's Customs might be encreased And this I did Oppose and Disavow albeit I was a sharer in the Farm and consequently should have had the Benefit and Advantage of it for my proportion and by the King 's Gracious Goodness when His Majesty came to be more fully and clearly informed of it it was stopped and never went on And this I will make appear in that point of the Articles that concern the Customs The Fourth is That I have not had any greater Power or larger Commission than my Predecessors in that Government have had which I conceive under favour is not controverted but granted and therefore stands good to me or if it wer econtroverted I am able to make it appear that I have brought in nothing more than was formerly accustomed in the point of the Deputies Commission The next thing in my Answer is That the Revenue of Ireland was never able to Support it self before my coming thither and that I say still with all Humility and Duty is most true And I trust to make it apparently true presently if Your Lordships will give me leave to call for and examine my Witnesses It being the Proofs Your Lordships will look to and not to what was only alledged by that Worthy Gentleman And further than Your Lordships shall find proved I desire not to be believed The proof offered against me is by Sir Edward Warder and Sir Robert Pye who testified That from the Year 1621. nothing went out of the King's Exchequer to supply the Irish Affairs saving only for the Maritime occasions And this I believe to be true for they be Gentlemen of Credit that speak it and I will believe them on their Words much more on their Oaths But under favour there was for Eight Years together before my coming a Contribution of 20000 l. a Year paid by the Country which was no part of the King's Revenue nor as I conceive ever came into Accompt nor was paid into the Exchequer as will appear on the Fifteenth Article but was a Gift of the Country and applyed to the King's Occasions and that determined the Revenue fell short 20000 l. of the Charge Besides when I came into Ireland the Crown was extreamly indebted above as I think not to stand on particular Sums and Pence 100000 l. Sterling And by the Gentleman 's own saying when I came out of Ireland I left 100000 l. in the King's Coffers And if any ask where the Accompt for the Subsidies is There is 100000 l. Debt paid 100000 l. left in the King's Coffers For it appears by Sir Adam Loftus that there was 100000 l. in the Exchequer when I came from thence There was 15000 l. employed for buying Land that yields the King 2000 l. a Year And so much of my Lord of Ormond as yields 2500 l. a Year So that the Accompts will shew the bestowing of the Subsidies with as much Advantage as might be for the King's Service That the Revenue was short I could make appear clearly The occasion that no Money came out of the Exchequer was accidental by a Contribution of the Country no Revenue of the Kings And if that had not been supplyed there had been no possibility of defraying the Ordinary Charges of the Crown out of the Revenue and that is the Point wherein I differ from the Gentleman his meaning being That the ordinary Revenue of the Kingdom could not bear the ordinary Charge of the Kingdom And I desire that Sir Adam Loftus and Sir Robert Dillom may be examined upon such questions as shall be propounded in this point And whereas it is said I was short in the Shipping I affirm that under favour I was not It is true that in the time of the late Justices my Lord of Corke and my Lord Loftus the last years Charge of the Shipping was paid forth of Ireland But it is as true that when the Kingdom underwent the Charge they lessened the Charge of the King's Army by striking 500 off from the Army and transferred the Charge of their pay to the easing of the King's Revenue on the Navy But that Charge being now increased again and brought to the former certainty I conceive I might truly say There was in my time an ease to the Crown of England all things considered which formerly it had not It being not with the prejudice of the King's Service elsewhere or lessening the standing Army which in all times hath been the strongest support of the King's Justice and Ministers there and which it deeply concerns the Crown of England to keep in such a Condition that they may be responsible to the King for the Services he shall Command So that though the Shipping Charge was paid the last year yet so paid that the King's Army was weakened 500 Foot whereas now it is paid and the King's Army raised to a certainty again and a Change is made to the better for instead of 500 Foot there is 600 Horse And that I say
accordingly yea their Houses broke open and their Goods taken away and brought to my Lord of Strafford 's House where they were employed in his works The like we shall instance in Tobacco 15. Next we shall shew to Your Lordships how he hath levied War upon the King's Subjects We opened in the beginning what an Arbitrary Jurisdiction he set up here we shall shew how he used it by a meer course of Enmity and Hostility For My Lords this was the course If a Decree or Order were made by him and not obeyed he issues a Warrant to the Serjeant at Arms to go to the next Garrison and take Soldiers with an Officer and carry them to the House of the party in question it is no matter where it was but to the House of them that were pretended to be disobedient they were to go If the Decree had been to raise so much money or to put parties in possession In plain terms the Soldiers were to lye like Free-booters and Enemies on the King's People to eat them up They have killed their Sheep their Oxen and they have lain not on the parties only but on their Tenants till the party comes in and renders himself They have burnt their Houses taken their Wives and Friends and carried them away till Obedience was rendered and this is a levying of War upon the King For the King and the People are both so united in Affection and Right of Law that there cannot be Violence offered to the King but it redounds to the People nor can any Oppress the People in this sort but it redounds to His Majesty Besides it is contrary to a Law of that Kingdom whereby it is Enacted That if any person shall assess Horse or Foot on any of the King's People without their consent it is High Treason The next thing we shall go to is the Favour he shewed to the Papists in their Compositions and Exemptions from all penalties of Law for they were expresly not to be proceeded against nor to be Convicted and so that which hath influence into Religion and Reformation is quite taken away and nothing but matter of Profit is left The next Article is that that concerns the Kingdom of Scotland First he begins with them in Ireland contrives an Oath which is set forth in the Articles That they shall obey the King's Royal Commands without exception This he enforceth by Fining and Imprisoning them that disobeyed him And so in all the other particulars when his Proclamations were broken his course was by Fine and Imprisonment to enforce an Obedience My Lords He doth not only press them in their Estates but strives to infuse into His Majesty an ill Opinion of them he provokes and incites Him by all his Arguments to lay down his Mercy and Goodness and Justice and to fall into an offensive War against that Kingdom He gives out that the Nation of them not this or that man are Rebels and Traytors And if it please the King to bring him back to the Sword indeed he is fit for that it is a violent weapon he will root out the Scottish Nation Branch and Root some few excepted of those that had taken the Oath When he comes into England he finds that His Majesty with great Wisdom had pacified those Storms and Troubles that threatned us there Yet he doth incense the King still to follow this to an Offensive War and prevails He plots to call a Parliament but with an intention if it furnished not his design it should be broken and he would set up other ways of force to raise Moneys of the Kingdom and this fell out unhappily For thus far his project took the Parliament was broken and broken at the very time when the Subject was in debate and consideration how to have yielded Supply to His Majesty But that he might break it he falsly informs the King That the Parliament had denied to Supply him there is his Counsel that the Parliament had forsaken the King and now the King having tryed his People might use all other ways for the procuring and raising of moneys and the same day wherein that Parliament was unhappily Dissolved he gives his further Counsel to His Majesty which because no man can put such a Spirit of Malice into the words besides himself I shall take the boldness to read That having tryed the Affections of his People he was loose and absolved from all Rules of Government and he was to do every thing that Power would admit And that His Majesty had tryed all ways and was refused and should be acquitted both of God and Man And that His Majesty had an Army in Ireland which he might employ to reduce this Kingdom It is added in the printed Book to reduce them to Obedience I know not who Printed it but the Charge is only to reduce this Kingdom And My Lords you may please to consider what a sad time this man took to reflect upon these bad Councels when our Hearts were swoln with Sorrow for that unhappy breach of the last Parliament And what doth he advise the King what positions offers he That he was absolved from all Rules of Government If there be no Rule of Government My Lords where is the Rule of Obedience for how shall the People know to obey when there is no Rule to direct them what to obey He tells the King he was refused which was untrue for he was not refused to the last breath we had in Parliament but we spake in that point how to supply the King and to prefer it at that time before the Complaints of our just Grievances But what doth he fall into that which in another Article we charge him with a Plot and Conspiracy betwixt him and Sir George Ratcliffe to bring in the Irish Army for our Confusion to root out our Laws and Government a pernicious Counsel He says not you shall do it but he that perswades it doth as much as if in express terms he had counselled the acting of it Doth he mean that we should be to his Irish Pattern for speaking of the Irish Army consisting of Papists and his Adherents he said that he would make it a Pattern for all the Kingdoms did he mean to reduce us to the Pattern that he hath placed in Ireland Surely he meant to reduce us to a Chaos and Confusion He would have us without all Rules of Government and these be the means wicked and cruel Councels and the Cruelty of an Army inspired with his Spirit and consisting of Papists Enemies of our Religion And what Mercy could we of this Religion expect from Popish Enemies with Swords in their hands That cannot but strike all English Hearts with Horrour and Dread that an Irish Army should be brought into England to reduce the Subjects of England I hope we never were so far gone in any thing as that we should need an Army to reduce us I cannot but say here is the Counsel of
it those for the King's Debts and by consent these not so that the Proclamation his Lordship mentions was an Offence in it self and Treason is no justification of Treason that for Bern 's Case if my Lord was in England yet if done by his Warrant it was the same thing To the Plea of the Deputies Power a Deputy in case of Rebellion may make a Defensive War but this was in a time of Peace and on the King's People under his Laws and Protection his Plea that because the King unless named is not concluded in any Statute is to apply Soveraignty to himself and that a Subject should not be comprehended more than the King himself as to the Repeal of 18 H. 6. the introducing of our Laws was not to Repeal theirs but to make a Consistance of both Laws so far as they both may stand together but this being matter of Law he leaves to those who are to give satisfaction to their Lordships hereofter That the Statute 11 Eliz. does not at all justifie the Earl that being made for Defence against Rebels not as the Charge was for things done in full Peace That the 2 Clauses of 25 E. 3. are to be considered separately for a man may levy War and not adhere to the King's Enemies And so he concluded that they had proved the Charge Upon the Earl's Motion not without some difficulty a day was granted for his refreshment and indeed it was no more then reasonable after such Expence of spirits in making and speaking his Defence against so many reputed the ablest men in England Upon Saturday the 16th Article was read Saturday April 3. Artic. 16. concerning his procuring from the King an Order That no complaints should be received in England unless Address were first made to the Deputy Mr. Palmer managed the Charge and first the Propositions concerning the Government of Ireland offered to his Majesty were read and the Order upon them That no particular complaint of Justice or Oppression be admitted here against any unless it appear the party first made his Address to the Deputy Then a Proclamation importing That all the Nobility undertakers and others that hold Estates and Offices in Ireland such only excepted as are imployed in his Majesties service in England should personally reside in Ireland and not to depart to England or any other place without Licence from the Lord Deputy any former Letter to the contrary notwithstanding c. so that all complaints were prevented and restrained from coming over into England To this Richard Wade deposed on Oath That my Lord Esmond sent him August 1638. Witness Richard Wade to Petition for Licence to go over to make an end of the Cause wherein my Lord Strafford was Plaintiff but was denyed that the Lord Esmond procured the King's Letter but could not yet get Licence Lorky deposed the same Lorky L. Roche The Lord Roche deposed That he was denied Licence intending to come over to justifie himself against an Information in the Star-Chamber James Nash deposed James Nash That in the Case of Mac-Carty my Lord after obtaining two dismissions of the Suit Decreed for Sir James Craig 5496 l. against Mac-Carty and on this Decree an Order to dispossess him of all his Fathers Estate That Mac Carty Petitioned for Licence to come into England but was denied both by the Lord Deputy and Sir Christopher Wainsford Henry Parry deposed Henry Parry That his Lord and Master the Lord Chancellor Ely being committed to the Castle of Dublin the Earl sent for him and commanded him to attend the Judges to be Examined about some Papers seized that he attended 6. dayes but his Lord having occasion to make use of his Friends interest sent him over into England to Sollicit HIs Majesty for Relief that here he was attached by Mr. Secretary Cook 's Warrant that he entred into Bond before he could be discharged of the Messenger to return into Ireland That after his Return he was Fined 500 l. and ordered to acknowledg his Offence at the Board and that he was imprisoned and utterly ruined that his Fine was reduced to 250 l. that he paid 184 l. Sir Robert Smith deposed Sir Robert Smith That having a Command from the House of Commons in Ireland to come over hither he was denyed Licence and a Restraint was laid upon Shipping upon that account Fitz-Garret Mr. Fitzgarret deposed to the same Effect Then the Irish Remonstrance was read importing the Fears they had of the Proclamation prohibiting their coming to England to obtain Redress of their Grievances from His Majesty After some Recollection The Earl's Defence the Earl made his Defence That he might very justifiably say that he had never in his life any thoughts or intentions before his going into Ireland or during his abode there but Justly and Faithfully to serve His Majesty and the Kingdom That as to the Order obtained from His Majesty the Reason annexed which was read would justifie it importing That it was not only a Justice to the Deputy but to the Government it self to prevent Clamors and unjust Complaints and that they might be redressed nearer home and no way to hinder any man's just complaint That for the Proclamation that it was warranted by the Laws of Ireland 25 H. 6. cap. 9. 26 H. 6. c. 2. whereby Subjects are restrained from going out of the Land upon forfeiture of their Estates without Licence from the King or his Deputy That by an Article preferred by the Irish Agents 1628. His Majesty was Petitioned to order the Residence of Vndertakers at least half the Year upon which His Majesty answered in these words ALL the Nobility Vndertakers and others who hold Estates and Offices within that Kingdom are to make their personal Residence there and not to leave it without Licence such persons Excepted only as are imployed in Our Service in England or attend here by Our Command Pursuant to which my Lord Faulkland's Instruction were in that particular verbatim the same being read Then he produced his Majestie 's Letter commanding the Proclamation Jan. 20. 1634. which was read and was in these words C. R. To the Lord Deputy of Ireland WHEREAS amongst other things in the Graces vouchsafed to Our Subjects 1628. We signified Our Pleasure That the Nobility His Majesties Letter to the Lord Deputy Jan. 20. 1634. Vndertakers and Others holding Estates in Ireland should be resident there and not to depart without Licence And being now given to understand That notwithstanding those Directions divers persons not of the meaner sort take liberty to pass into this Kingdom or Foreign Parts as if they understood not what they owed to Vs in their Duty or themselves in their evil Carriage which presumption we may not long suffer c. We do therefore hereby Will and Require you by Act of State or Proclamation to make known Our Pleasure That all Nobility Vndertakers and others that hold Estates and Offices
greater for drawing others to joyn with him in it That the Oath injoyned in England seems to have followed the Precedent of Ireland that though Salmon mistakes the time he does not mistake the substance and that though my Lord Strafford 's Witnesses do not remember the Words about the Scots it is no impeachment of the Witnesses against him that do Concluding That this administring an Oath was assuming a Power above Regal for this is not penes Potestatem Ministri Mr. Maynard added That though the King injoyned him to administer an Oath yet not to punish the Refusers Upon Monday April 5. the Commons proceeded to the 20 21 22 Munday April 5. Artic. 20 21 22 23 24. 23 and 24 Articles but before they began the Lord High Steward informed them That upon my Lord's Petition the Earl of Northumberland had been Examined but being late could not be Cross Examined by the Commons Mr. Whitlock desired he might be reserved and some other Witnesses My Lord opposed Supplemental Evidence and desired he might Cross Examine my Lord of Canterbury They answered My Lord of Canterbury was Impeached but they did not intend to make use of his Evidence and the other Witnesses were such as were to speak vivâ voce instancing in Serjeant Glanvil Mr. Whitlock then begun to open the foresaid Articles in gross which the Earl desired the Lords might not be acquainting them his Memory could not serve him to make replyes if they inverted the Method That any other person in his Circumstances would think as long time as he had been favoured with to recollect and put his Notes in Order no more than necessary though a far abler man than himself Mr. Glyn said he never knew a Prisoner prescribe a Method especially in case of High Treason My Lord then desired he might have time till to morrow for his Answer which being offered with all humility for his Defence he hoped their Lordships might grant without Offence But he was over-ruled and they proceeded Mr. Whitlock proceeded in the Charge That he advised the King that the Scots Demands were a sufficient ground of War that they struck at the Root of Monarchy and were not only matters of Religion That he seized their Ships in Ireland procured the Parliament in Ireland to give assistance and supply for a War against Scotland That his design was the same against England That Sir George Ratcliff told Sir Robert King The King had 30000 men and 400000 l. in his Purse and his Sword by side and if he wants money who will pity him he may make peace when he will though that be the worst of Evils that if the Parliament did not supply him he might use his Prerogative and would be acquitted before God and Man if he took other Courses to supply himself and he would be ready to serve him in any other way that he advised the Dissolving of the Parliament and said that they having denied the King Supplies he might provide for the Kingdom by such wayes as he thought fit and not suffer himself to be mastered by the wilfulness or frowardness of his People That having tried all wayes he was to do all that Power would admit being absolved from all Rules of Government and acquitted before God and Man that he had an Army in Ireland which he might Employ to reduce his Kingdoms For proof Earl of Traquair the Earl of Traquair deposed That the Earl said that the Vnreasonable demands of Subjects in Parliament was a ground for the King to put himself into a posture of War and that at the Council-Board the Earl with the rest concluded That if the Commissioners from Scotland to whom the King had given leave to come up to represent their demands did not give good satisfaction touching them the Council would be assistant to his Majesty to put him into a posture of War to reduce them to their Obedience but who spoke first at the Board he remembers not After some debate about reading the Examinations of Witnesses not present Earl of Morton the Lord High Steward ruling it the Examination of the Earl of Morton was read he being sick That the Earl had said as before for the Ground of War and that the Examinate told his Majesty he had given the Scots leave to Petition in Parliament for Redress and without hearing their Reasons there was not sufficient Ground for War to which his Majesty said he spoke reason howbeit the Lord Strafford said there was ground enough for War Whence Mr. Whitlock observed That though he knew not the Reasons nor was versed in Republica aliena yet he repeats his advice That these Demands c. That the Scots Commissioners by his Majestie 's leave being on their way to give Reasons yet the Earl of Strafford said the demands were not matters of Religion but strook at the Root of Government and such as he thought were fit for his Majesty to punnish Sir Henry Vane deposes Sir Hen. Vane That after the breaking up of the Parliament some thing was proposed and he himself proposed a Defensive War the Earl of Strafford an Offensive The Earl of Northumberland's Examination read Earl of Northumberland was to the same Effect The Bishop of London Lord Treasurer of England Bishop of London deposed That among others my Lord Strafford gave advice That his Majesty should prepare himself to reduce them by Force his Majesty having acquainted them upon the Earl of Traquair 's Relation That some of their Demands were prejudicial to the Crown and which he could not grant That the War being at ancther meeting resolved upon whether Offensive or Defensive there were divers opinions but believes my Lord Strafford inclined to an Offensive War Nicholas Barnwell deposed Mr. Nicholas Barnwell That Sir Robert Loftus seized several Scotch Ships and Boats and that others hearing fled away and that Sir George Ratcliff was displeased with Sir Robert for making it publick by which means they Escaped Then the Lord Primate of Ireland's Examination was read Archbishop of Armagh That discoursing about levying of money the Earl of Strafford declared that he agreed with those of England who thought in Case of imminent necessity the King might make use of his Prerogative to Levy what he pleased adding That His Majesty was first to try his Parliament and if they supplied him not then he might make use of his Prerogative as he pleased himself The Lord Conway deposed Lord Conway That in private discourse about the 12 Subsidies the Lord Strafford said words to this Effect That the King had need and if the Parliament would not supply the King though he hoped they would the cause being just and lawful the King was justified before God and man if he sought means to help himself though it were against their Wills Sir Henry Vane deposed that the Lord Strafford said Sir Hen. Vane In case the Parliament did not succeed he would be
ready to assist His Majesty in any other way Sir Robert King deposed to Sir George Ratcliff's words about 30000 men and 400000 l and that the King could not want Money Sir Rob. King he had an Army The Lord Ranulagh deposed to the same Effect concerning Sir George Radcliff Lord Ranulagh Sir Tho. Barrington deposed Sir Thomas Barrington That on private discourse about the Parliament Sir George Wentworth said The Commonwealth was sick of Peace and will not be well till it be Conquered again Sir Robert King further said That the Lord Ranulagh was displeased at Sir George Ratcliff 's words conceiving it was an intention to raise Money forcibly in England and that they must turn their Swords upon them from whom they were descended and cut their Throats for their own Safety which the Earl confirmed by offering to sell the said Lord his Estate in Ireland though he thought they would be quieter there than in England From whence the Managers inferred his Design was against England To prove this Design Sir Tho. Jermin deposed Sir Thomas Jermin That he heard my Lord Strafford say something of the Parliaments forsaking the King The Earl of Bristol deposed The Earl of Bristol That discoursing of the Distractions of the Times the Mutiny of the Soldiers and Danger of a War with Scotland he proposed the Summoning a new Parliament as the best way to prevent those Desperate Vndertakings which discourse and his Reasons my Lord Strafford seemed not to dislike but said He thought it not counselable at that time in regard of the slow Proceedings of Parliaments and the real and pressing Dangers and that the Parliament had refused Supplies and therefore the King was to provide for the Safety of the Kingdom Salus Reipublicae being Suprema Lex and that the King must not suffer himself to be mastered by the stubborness and undutifulness of his people or rather Stubberness and disaffection of some particular men meaning some Members of Parliament as he conceives being discoursing of the Parliament The Lord Newborough deposed That he heard words to this Effect Lord Newborough That seeing the Parliament had not supplyed the King His Majesty might take other courses for Defence of the Kingdom But thô he cannot swear the Earl spake these words Earl of Holland he verily believes he heard him speak something to that purpose The Earl of Holland deposed much to the same Purport Then they proceeded to the 23. Article and the Examination of the Earl of Northumberland was read That in case of Necessity for Defence of the Kingdom if the People refuse to Supply the King the King is absolved from Rules of Government and that every thing is to be done for the Preservation of the King and his People and that by some discourses to His Majesty he believes if the King was not supplyed by Parliament some Course was intended to raise Money by Extraordinary wayes but that the Irish Army was to land in the West of Scotland and he hath not heard that these Forces were to be imployed in England to compel or awe the Subjects to pay Taxes imposed Sir Henry Vane deposed Sir Hen. Vane That upon debate of the Question Whether Offensive or Defensive War the Earl said Your Majesty having tryed all wayes and being refused in case of Extream Necessity for the Safety of the Kingdom you are loose and absolved from all Rules of Government you are acquitted before God and Man You have an Army in Ireland you may imploy it to reduce this Kingdom But he will not interpret whether my Lord meant England or Scotland but afterwards he said positively to reduce this Kingdom applying it to England Mr. Whitlock summed up the Evidence That it was clear my Lord of Strafford had a strong Design and Endeavour to Subvert the Fundamental Laws and Government of England and to bring in an Army upon us to force this Kingdom to submit to an Arbitrary Power That he would not aggravate these words which were to allay them having in them more Bitterness and Horror than he is able to Express After some little pause The Earl's Defence the Earl made his Defence And first to the Earl of Traquair's Deposition the said Earl sayes That it was the Resolution of the Council-Board and that he gave his Vote among the other Lords That if the Commissioners of Scotland gave not Satisfaction the King might put himself into a posture of War So that his Opinion was the same with the rest and he thinks himself in great Safety having the Concomitant Opinion of so many wiser Persons than himself And for the Earl of Moreton 's Deposition he hopes when the Council of England had resolved it it was no great Crime for him to say That the unreasonable Demands of Subjects in Parliament was a good ground for the King to put himself into a posture of Defence and for his saying it was not Religion but the Root of Government they strook at that he thinks he and every man that thought so had reason to say as he did As to Sir H. Vane the War being resolved and whether Offensive or Defensive the Question he hopes it is not Treasonable for a Privy Councellor to give his Opinion according to his Conscience to do so being their Duty and according to their Oaths and that he was as free to give his Reasons one way as any other person another As to the seizing the Ships Barnwell 's Testimony is only by hearsay but he will inform their Lordships by proof that the Scots Ships were stayed by the Lord Admiral 's Warrant which Mr. Slingsby attested so that the Earl said it might appear he was no such Stirrer or Incendiary between the King and his Subjects as he was represented To the 21 Article and the Lord Primate's Examination about the King 's using his Prerogative it is but singularis testis and only in way of Argument but that the words fairly construed and clearly understood have no ill sence for the King may use his Prerogative as he pleases because the King's Pleasure is always just and to think the King will use his Prerogative otherwise were a high Offence or to think he will use his Prerogative otherwise then as befits a Christian and Pious King To my Lord Conway 's Testimony That the King might help himself though it were against their Will He answered That to help a man's self is Natural for Self is the last Creature that leaves any person and what is natural to every man is so to the King who is accountable not only for Himself but his People To Mr. Secretary Vane 's Testimony That if the Parliament should not succeed he would be ready to assist His Majesty any other way He sees not where the heynousness or venom of the words is to endanger his Life and Honor and he conceives Mr. Treasurer said as much and the Wayes the King could command
or he serve him in he took to be lawful wayes and that in all Debates he concluded That the safest and surest Expedient was a Parliament to make both the King and People Happy As to his procuring the Parliament of Ireland to declare their Assistance in a War against the Scots he desired the Remonstrance of the Parliament before the 4. Subsidies might be read which was THat whereas they have with one Consent cleerly given to His Majesty Part of the Remonstrance of Parliament in Ireland about War with the Scots Four entire Subsidies towards His present Preparations to reduce His Disaffected Subjects the Covenanters in Scotland to their due Obedience They still hope that His Majesties great Wisdom and unexampled Clemency may yet prevail with the worse affected of those His Subjects to bring them to that conformity and submission which by the Laws of God and Nature they owe to him But if His Majesty shall be enforced to use His Power to vindicate His just Authority This House for Themselves and the Commons of this Kingdom do profess That their Zeal and Duty shall not stay here at these Four Subsidies but humbly promise That they will be ready with their Persons and Estates to their uttermost ability for His Majesties future Supply in Parliament as His great Occasions by the continuance of His Forces against that distemper shall require This they pray that it may be represented to His Majesty by the Lord Lieutenant and Recorded as an Ordinance of Parliament and published in Print as a Testimony to all the World and succeeding Ages That as this Kingdom hath the happiness to be Governed by the best of Kings so they desire to give cause That he shall account this People among the best of His Subjects If he had procured this Declaration it had been no Crime but he had no part in it but it was their own voluntary free and chearful Action For the Confederacy charged between him and Sir George Radcliff to bring over the Irish Army to destroy England if it be made appear that he had so much as a thought of it he would give Judgment against himself as unworthy to live who would enslave himself and his Posterity That he hath a Heart that loves Freedom as well as another man and values it as highly and in a modest and dutiful way will go as far to defend it it is an Opinion he learnt in the Honourable House of Commons That to stand for Property and Liberty renders a man the best Subject That this Opinion hath gone along with him ever since and he hopes he shall carry it to his Grave That what is deposed by Sir Robert King and Lord Ranulagh as to Sir George Ratcliff cannot affect him since the meanest Subject in the Kingdom cannot commit Treason by Letter of Attorney And it is a priviledg which though he hath the honour to be a Peer he never desires to do it by Proxy and that the Army was never intended to set foot on English Ground Earl of Northumberland he desires my Lord Northumberland 's Examination may witness for him by which it appeared they were designed for the West of Scotland nor did he ever hear of any Design of reducing the Subjects of England by that Army Marquess Hamilton Sir Tho. Lucas Mr. Slingsby The Lord Marquess Hamilton also attested the same Sir Tho. Lucas Serjeant Major General of the King's Horse attested the same Mr. Slingsby who was of the Councel of War affirmed the design was to land them at Ayre in Scotland and that he had order to provide a Magazine Shipping and Flat-Bottom Boats for that Design and that he had a Coast Map drawn of that Place for that purpose Sir William Pennyman also attested Sir William Pennyman That some of the Lords Petitioning the Irish Army might not land in England my Lord Strafford told him He wondred at it for there never was any such intention As to the Testimony of his Brother deposed by Sir Tho. Barrington That England would never be well till it was conquered again he observed That his Brother his Friends his Table his House his Bed every place is searched to convince him of that which he thanked God he was never guilty of That what his Brother sayes is nothing to him and he desired he might be Examined but Mr. Maynard opposed it as tending to clear himself and so he was not heard The discourse between my Lord Bristol and himself he confesses but that what he said was in case of Extream Necessity as Invasion when there is not time to call a Parliament he conceives the King being accountable to God Almighty for Himself and People he may Use his Power And for the other words That the King is not to be Mastered by the frowardness c. he does not remember it but relyes so on the Honour of my Lord Bristol that he affirming it he will not deny it but reserves to himself in this case the Benefit of the Law that it is but a single Testimony He owns what my Lord Newborough deposed and thinks the King is not secluded more then another person from doing the best for himself in a fair and just and honourable way The same he sayes to my Lord of Holland 's Deposition That it is grounded upon Salus Populi Suprema Lex and speaking it as he did with these Limitations doth quite alter the Case besides that these discourses were private and rather argumentative and problematical then positive and to make these Treason were to debar men the joy and comfort of human society But all this while these were but words which by Act of Parliament though much higher are not Treason citing a Clause of 1 Ed. 6. c. 12. Be it Enacted by c. if any Person or Persons do compass and imagine by open Preaching Express words or Saying to depose or deprive the King his Heirs or Successors from his or their Royal Estate or Title or openly publish or say by Express words or saying That any other Person or Persons other then the King his Heirs or Successors of Right ought to be c. yet the first and second offences are not made Treason but only the third That it was the wisdom of their Lordships Noble Ancestors to chain up this Lion by concluding what is Treason and not to suffer him to tear us all in pieces by Arbitrary Treason which would make actions of Treason more common than Actions of Trespass To the words charged in the 23d Article spoken at Council Board or Committee of Scotch affairs of the King 's being absolved from all Rules of Government c. Mr. Treasurer who deposed them hath reversed his Testimony saying first Your Majesty hath an Army in Ireland which you may employ there Afterwards upon being Ordered to repeat his Testimony he said which you may employ in England and whereas he calls in aid of my Lord of Northumberland his Lordship
in his Examination denies absolutely his hearing any such words he sayes indeed he conceives there was intended some Extraordinary wayes of raising money which my Lord Strafford sayes was meant of borrowing 3 or 400000 l. my Lord Marquess Hamilton remembers no such words Then he desired the Lord Treasurer might be examined who averred he never heard my Lord Strafford speak any such words The Lord Cottington averred the same only he heard my Lord Strafford say The Parliament had not provided for the King or had left the King without money which was no more then truth And to the extraordinary wayes That my Lord said the King ought to seek all due and legal wayes and use his Prerogative Castè Candidè and so my Lord concluded That Mr. Secretarie's at most was but a single Testimony of Words which by the before recited Statute requires two sufficient Lawful Witnesses or the voluntary confession of the Party He desired that the Antecedents and Consequents of his words might be taken together and that being spoken of a Case of extreme necessity and the King 's using his Power candidè caste and they would not with those restrictions and limitations with which he spake them he hoped appear so criminal And forthis purpose he desired the Earl of Northumberland's Examination might be read which was That he heard the Earl of Strafford often say That that Power was to be used Candidè Castè and an account thereof should be given to the Parliament that they might see it was only so used That further the Earl of Strafford said That the Kingdom could not be happy but by good agreement between the King and his People in Parliament The Marquess of Hamilton also being Examined attested the same and that heard him speak those words both before and after the Parliament and that it was upon the Occasion of his informing the King that the Scottish Army would certainly invade England Lord Goring and Sir Thomas German attested to the same Effect Lord Treasurer said he remembered the words but not the particular occasion He then added That as this was his meaning so it was cleared to be so by the subsequent Actions for nothing had been done upon it against the Laws and Customs of the Realm that these words were spoken in full Council where he was upon Oath to speak his Conscience and had he not done so he must have been perjured and if he must be either perjured to God or a Traytor to man he had learnt to fear him who can destroy both Soul and Body and not Man who can only kill the Body That it was but his Opinion if held pertinaciously may make a man a Heretick not a Traytor yet he was not pertinacious he pressed it no further nor was any thing done upon it He further desired their Lordships to consider the great Trusts and Thoughts they were born and bred to for the weighty imployments of the Kingdom but this would disable and discourage men from that service if a Councellor delivering his Opinion shall upon mistaking or not knowing the Law be brought into Question for his Life and Honour and Posterity and that few Wise and Noble Persons would upon such unsafe terms adventure to be Counsellors to the King humbly beseeching their Lordships to think of him so as not to bring an inconvenience upon themselves and Posterity To this Mr. Whitlock replyed That whereas my Lord Excuses his words as being only concurrent with the Vote of Council it is evident some were of another Opinion Managers reply That whereas he sayes he therefore gave advice conceiving the Scots Demands strook at the Root of Government it is plain they did not being since by Royal Assent made Acts of Parliament in Scotland it was his Resolution his Advice there should be an Offensive War For staying the Ships they will not insist upon it For his saying The King 's helping himself was a Natural Motion to do it against the Will of the Subjects was a Violent Motion and his Lordships Design and for helping the King in other wayes if the Parliament were Dissolved he was willing it should be so by proposing Supplies before Redress of Grievances and before a Resolution Whether they would give to inform against the Parliament by mis-information and for the Parliament of Irelands Resolution and Declaration it was by his procurement being Chief Governor there And for Vsing the Army against England admitting the primary Intention were to land them in Scotland but when the Army was landed his Intentions might change and it seems it was by his labouring to perswade the King to make Vse of it to reduce this Kingdom That no Answer was given by my Lord to those words That the King was not to be Mastered by the frowardness of his People c. That notwithstanding the Stat. of Ed. 6. it is High Treason to advise the Destruction of the King and though the words in themselves are not Treason yet as they declare an Intention of Subverting the Laws and Government of the Kingdom they are That Mr. Treasurer swears the words affirmatively and that others did not hear disproves not his Testimony but comparing all together it appears his Intention was to bring in that Army to reduce this Kingdom That His Majesty must not be mastered implyes he must master them and that by the force of others and to compel the Subjects to submit to an Arbitrary Power That nothing was done upon those Councels is no Excuse to him it is an Obligation to the Subjects to Love and Honour the King for rejecting them but yet some things were done which my Lord will never be able to justifie concluding That this was not only Crimen laesae Majestatis but also Reipublicae Mr. Maynard seconded Mr. Whitlock observing That my Lord had taken such a course to weaken the Testimonies that allowing it nothing will be so strong but he will take off the strength of it and that is by taking them in pieces and then saying they are but single Evidence whereas it is Evident that upon all occasions he spoke such words if his Adverbs Candidè Castè must be applyed to what is lawful they were needless and truly he may say it was done Cautè thô not Castè The Case comes to this There was a Parliament Sitting a little before he casts out words about raising Money which must be made good by Adverbs Money must be raised in an Extraordinary way the Parliament is broken a Necessity made and Soldiers must be brought in to make good these wayes take these asunder and my Lord will make it a good Action but taken together they make good the Charge and that though Treason is not in his words but in his wicked Counsels Mr. Glyn took up the Bucklers and added That he had ascended the Throne and by ill Counsels endeavoured to infuse his Venom into the King's Person and to Corrupt the Fountain but
and read it in English That the French King had appointed Officers to view mens books and accompts to know what the King might demand of them and force them to pay and something to this purpose That it was an Example or might be an Example to do the like in England Lord Cottington Henry Gogan Sir William Parkhurst and Mr. Gogan being Present Mr. Gogan sworn deposed to the same Effect and that he said to my Lord Cottington My Lord this is worthy your Consideration or hearing or to that purpose Sir William Parkhurst sworn deposed That they were discoursed about the Copper money made for Ireland in Queen Elizabeth 's time Sir William Parkhurst and shewed them such a Letter and read the contents in English as before expressed but further he heard him not say nor any thing as expressed to the Lord Cottington or that if the King should do so he should follow the Example of other Princes Sir Ralph Freeman sworn deposed Sir Ralph Freeman That in a Debate about Copper-money he saying the workmen would not work if paid in that money my Lord replyed You know what course to take with them you may send them to the House of Correction The Examination of Mr. Thomas Skinner was read he being not present and my Lord having a Liberty reserved to Cross-Examine him he in his Examination about the seisure of the Bullion applying with others to my Lord he told them he knew not of it till that morning and that it was no news in other Countries where Princes made use of such wayes to serve their Occasions and in Effect about the Cities ingratitude c. as the other Witnesses To this he answered after some Recollection The Earl's Answer That for that part which would have been the principal part of the Charge concerning his Approving Counselling or Devising these Projects there was no proof offered and that the Testimony of the Witnesses acquits him for the undutifulness of the City the proofs are full and fuller then any thing of the Charge since his Tryal began that at that time he thought so but since he is of another Opinion and expressed himself so at the Council of Peers at York upon the Cities lending the King 200000 l. and that he would serve them with his Life For the French Letter and what was said to the Lord Cottington Mr. Gogan is singular in his Testimony this Letter he received from the Lord of Leicester which mentioned how the Cardinal had given directions to go into the Houses of diverse Merchants in Paris c. and having read it said You see what is done in other places but God be thanked you have so Pious and Gracious a King that he thinks on none of these things My Lord Cottington being interrogated said he knew nothing of the Letter nor ever heard of it but because he would recall it he spake with Sir William Parkhurst and Mr. Palmer they told him that while my Lord was reading the Letter he was in another Room writing From whence my Lord concluded That having told their Lordships the truth clearly under Favour of these Gentlemen he thought nothing can incline one way or other to be an Accusation of High Treason Mr. Maynard replyed Managers Reply That his words concerning the Great City of the Kingdom was no such slight thing Mr. Stroud added That whereas my Lord sayes Words only are laid to his Charge words may be Treason and more dangerous than some Actions such were his Counselling the King and Provoking him to Tyrannical Actions to his Subjects but my Lord stayes not here for Four Aldermen were Committed that day he gave the Counsel concluding That his words and Actions agree in this Kingdom and the miseries of this Kingdom do agree with his words and Actions Mr. Maynard proceeded to the 27th Article Artic. 27. of the Earl's Levying Money in Yorkshire and threatning the Refusers to take satisfaction out of their Goods and that to refuse was little short of High Treason First the Petition of the Gentlemen of the County of Tork was read in these words WHereas Your Majesty imparted to us the danger The Petition of the Yorkshire Gentlemen by the incursions of the Scots and the necessity of continuing the Trained-Bands of this County in entertainment for two Months raising Money so long and did Royally assure us That the Wardships of such as dyed in this Imployment should be freed and one third part of the Trained-Bands should be abated for which we acknowledge our bounden thankfulness in ready obedience of Your Majesties Command we have represented to Your Majesty our present Condition and in the entrance of the business we found a great impediment and discouragement by certain Warrants produced for levying Money towards this new service wherein in the first place we cannot omit to let your Majesty know the great grief we have in that the County is there charged with disaffection and backwardness therein which as we are confident we never were guilty of so we were in good hope your Majesty had received no such Impression of us And in the next place we find our selves much grieved that the execution of such Warrants which we conceive illegal should be concluded and urged on peril of life notwithstanding the strictness of which Warrants we find divers parts of the County have not been able to pay the Money demanded and from thence and the attestation of divers Gentlemen we are assured the scarcity of Money is such that it is disabled from satisfying your expectation therein And that Your Majesty may know it is no pretence but a real poverty we are bold to represent the Charges viz of Ship-Money Vast expences the last year in Military affairs The Billeting and Insolency of Soldiers this Summer part of the time on the credit of the County Decay of Trade Stop of Markets Charge of Carriages especially in Harvest by which means not only the common people but most of the Gentry by the failing of Rents are much impoverished And therefore we petition Your Majesty You will accept our endeavour to prevail with the Country to raise so much Money as will pay the County one whole month from their first rising within which time as is generally reported Your Majesty hath Commanded the attendance of the Peers to consult for the safety of the Kingdom and pray the Trained-Bands may be continued in the Villages where they are Quartered except Your occasions otherwise require it and in the interim for the redress of these Grievances and security of Your Kingdom Your Majesty will please to Declare Your Pleasure for summoning the High Court of Parliament c. This Petition Sir Philip Stapleton deposed upon Oath Sir Philip Stapletan Sir Hugh Cholmley to be the true Petition Then Sir Hugh Cholmley deposed That according to the desire of the Gentlemen this Petition was by the Lord Wharton delivered to the Earl who
me would be content to have every word that falls in discourse betwixt man and man to be so severely interpreted I leave to every man's Breast what he finds in the closet of his own Heart and desire to be judged according to that My Lord went further and says I should say that the King was not to be mastered by the frowardness or disaffection of some particular men and conceives it be meant of the Parliament My Lords I say under favour these words are not within the Charge and therefore I am not to be accountable for them besides it is a single Testimony and by the proviso of that Statute cannot be made use of to the end and purpose for which they bring them My Lords the next Testimony offered for proving this Charge is the Testimony of my Lord of Newburg and he sayes That at the Council-Board or in the Gallery I did say that seeing the Parliament had not supplied the King His Majesty might take other courses for the defence of the Kingdom Truly My Lords under favour who doubts but he might for my part I see not where the offence is for another man to have said thus for if another man will not help me may not I therefore help my self under favour I conceive there is no great weight nor crime in these words but in these likewise he stands a single Testimony there is no man that joyns with him in it and there is this in the whole Cause concerning the words that I think there is not any one thing wherein two concurr The next Testimony is that of the Earl of Holland and he sayes That at the Council-Board I said The Parliament having denyed the King he had advantage to supply himself other wayes Truly My Lords I say still other wayes being lawful wayes and just wayes and such wayes as the goodness of the King can only walk in and in no other can he walk And therefore I conceive they be far from bringing it to sigh high a guilt as Treason and this likewise his Lordship expresses as the rest do singly on his own word as he conceives them and not on the particular word of any other person which is I say the case of every one that speaks in the business and therefore there being so great a difference in the Report and Conceiving of things it is very hard my words should be taken to my destruction when no Man agrees what they were My Lord of Northumberland is the next and he sayes I should say at a Committee for the Scotish affairs That in case of necessity and for Defence and Safety of the Kingdom every thing must be done for the Preservation of the King and his People And this is the Testimony of my Lord in that point if I take any thing short it is against my Will I give you my Notes as far as I have them and further I cannot remember them But my Lords I say this brings it to that which is indeed the great part of my Defence in this case There is another agreed in this too and it is Mr. Treasurer who sayes that in Argument for Offensive or Defensive War I should say That having tryed all ways and being refused the King might in extream necessity provide for the safety of himself and his People I say this brings it to that which is principally for my Defence that must qualifie if not absolutely free me from any blame and that is that which did proceed and follow after My Lords under favour I have heard some discourse of great weight and of great Authority and that is certain the Arguments that were used in the case of Ship-Money by those that Argued against the King in that Case say as much and will undertake if any man read those Arguments he shall find as much said there as I said at Council-Board for there you shall hear that there be certain Times and Seasons when Propriety ceases as in the case of Burning where a Man pulls down the next House to preserve the whole street from being set on fire In the case of building Forts on any man's Land where it is for the publique defence of the Kingdom in both these Cases Propriety doth cease nay he says that in War Inter Arma silent Leges Now my Lords these are as highly said as any thing you have heard by me and yet certainly is no subverting of the Fundamental Laws for all that and therefore if a man must be judged he must not be judged by pieces but by all together My Lords Whatsoever I said at Council-Board was led in by this Case what a King should do in case of a Forreign Invasion of an Enemy when the ordinary wayes and means of levying Money would not come in seasonably to prevent mischief for what a King may do in case of absolute necessity certainly in these cases the ordinary Rules do not take place as this was the Case that let in the Discourse so I most humbly beseech your Lordships for it is fully proved to remember what was the conclusion of that Discourse which was That after the present occasion provided for the King was obliged in Honour and Justice to vindicate and free the Liberty of the Subject from all prejudice and harm it might sustain in that extraordinary occasion and that this was to be done by a Parliament and no other way but a Parliament and the King and his People could never be happy till the Prerogative of the Crown and the Liberty of the Subject were so bounded and known that they might go hand in hand together mutually to the assistance of one another My Lords give me that which precedes and that which follows both being proved to be the Case in these words in the Charge I think considering these two I should be far from having committed any great crime or offence in saying these words But I say as I said before I shall be more wary for the time hereafter if it please God to give me that Grace and Life which I submit to him and shall readily and willingly resign to his good Will and pleasure I conceive therefore that as these words are accompanied they be not words that do amount to Treason and are so qualifiyed and so weakly proved that I trust they shall not stick with your Lordships The next words that I am charged withal in England be on the 25th Article and that is that I should say that the Aldermen that would not give in the names of the able men of the City deserved to be put to Fine and Ransome and that no good would be done with them till an example were made of them and they were laid by the heels and some of the Aldermen hanged up In the first part of the Article there is something concerning my advice for raising the Money but it is not proved that I did any thing therein but as others did and as in former years
who am this day to Answer before you For if you take away the Power of the Deputy you shall not have that Kingdom long depend upon this Crown for it rests under God and His Majesty and must principally rest upon the care of him that is intrusted with that Charge And therefore give me leave on the behalf of the Crown of England to beseech you to be wary of lessening the Deputie's Power too much for if you do I fear you will find it a great Disservice to the Crown My Lords the next thing I am Charged with is the 9th Article That is a Warrant of Assistance to the Bishop of Down and Connor and for that your Lordships see there was but one of them and have heard it proved that before my time such Warrants were frequent indeed no man was denyed them But my Lords it must likewise be remembred that of my own accord I did recall it before I was ever questioned for it and it is very hard if he that mends his Faults should be afterward punished for it for it is a degree of Repentance and it is hard that a man should be finally Condemned after Repentance and therefore my Lords I trust seeing there was but one of them seeing I did my self recall it so willingly as soon as I found the Inconvenience I hope that will be easier remitted to me The next is the 10th Article that concerns the Customes and that is rather to be looked on as a Fraud then as a Treason as I conceive it there is no Treason in the Business sure But I have proved the Bargain was honestly made That there was more offered for it by me then any other That I had it upon no other Terms then it was formerly let to others That I was constrain'd to it whether I would or no And then My Lords if the Bargain by the Increase of that Kingdom prove a good and profitable Bargain it is a very hard Case that if it be increased through the King's Wisdom and Goodness and the Kingdoms Growth Trade and Traffick that this should be turned upon me as an Argument to make me Guilty of Treason I never found a good Bargain should be so charged so long as it was honest and fair But whereas they press That I have gained Three Hundred Thousand Pounds Estate by it it is a very strange mistake For the King has out of it his Rent of 15 or 16 Thousand Pounds a year and Five entire parts of Eight clear to Himself and therefore it was a strange Calculation and much mistaken by them that that gave the Information of it to the Gentlemen For the book of Rates it was none of mine but was agreed on before my time I had nothing to do with it and therefore have nothing to Answer for it And when it shall come to be proved it will appear that the Rates were set fairly and justly and equal betwixt King and People according to the Law whatsoever hath been said to the contrary The next is the 11th Article concerning Pipe-Staves and that is by them waved and well they may for the plain truth is if it had been proceeded in it would have appeared that there is come Fifteen hundred pounds gain to the King and Four hundred pounds loss to my self and preserving of Woods and that is all that would be made from that Article The next is the business of the Tobacco which is not applyable to Treason in any kind but because I would be clear in every Man's Judgment that hears me I beseech your Lordships to call to mind it was the Petition of the Commons-House of Ireland That the Grant of Impost on the Tobacco should be taken in and converted to the King's use so that whatsoever was done was pursuing their intention and desire That there was no way but this to make benefit and profit of it is most manifestly shewed that there was a Proclamation in England of the like nature and a Command of the King to proceed in it accordingly and an Act of Parliament Transmitted here for passing it to the Crown according to the intention of the Commons-House and for the greatness of the Bargain no Proof hath been offered to your Lordships but only the Estimate of a Merchant and how far your Lordships would be guided by the Estimate of a Merchant I know not but I have had Trial of some of them and their Estimates never hold for they have alwayes told me I shall gain much and when I came to the point I gained nothing and if Sir George Ratcliff should be sworn to the Point he should say confidently that we are Fourscore and six thousand out of Pursâ— and when he came out of Ireland but Fourscore thousand pounds received and this is the Profit Estimated by the great Merchants at a Hundred and Forty Thousand Pounds a year But at the worst it is but a Monopoly and a Monopoly of the best condition because it was begun by a Parliament I have seen many Monopolies question'd in Parliament and many overthrown in Parliament but I never heard a Monopoly charged for a Treason My Lords The next is the 13th Article and that is concerning the Flax business For that my Lords if I had thought it any way concerning me I could have cleared it in a very great measure But I had no private Interest in the business much less of private profit but only an endeavour and desire to bring in the Trade of Linnen-Cloth to that Kingdom which would be much advantage to both Kingdoms and no prejudice to this Kingdom which a Woollen Trade would have been if set up there And the Proclamation when it was found not so well liking to the People was called in of our own accord before it was question'd and so laid aside given over For any matter of private Benefit you have no Witness but Crokay a Fellow brought out of Prison Here is but a single Witness and a sorry one a Fellow who by mis-behaving and mis-using the trust committed to him was turned out and upon the turning of him out the Proclamation was absolutely called in and now he comes to be a Witness being himself the only offender in the Cause But I beseech your Lordships to think I have not lived with so mean a heart in the World that I should look to gain Four Nobles more or less upon a Cart Load of Flax It is very well known my thoughts have carried me free enough from gaining so poor and petty a matter as that is I know nothing in the World of it no more than the man in the Moon but when it comes to be heard your Lordships will find me extreme pure in that for I thank God I have clear hands I assure you The 14th is waved by them concerning an unlawful Oath given to Masters and Officers or Ships and it might very well be waved for I conceive it to be Warranted by the Law
are nothing at all on the matter Sir James Montgomery tells you a Tale not much Material nor Mr. Maxwell nor Sir John Clotworthy there is nothing at all in it concerning Treason Stewart's Sentence remains only to be answered in this Article for that I conceive it was justly and fairly given as I then conceived I was one of the rest and nothing was intended by that Decree but his Reformation and when he had pleased to have taken the Oath he might have been released of the Sentence and sent home again quietly The next is the 20th Article Wherein I am Charged to be a Provoker and Incendiary of a War against his Majesties Subjects of the Scotch Nation and that I should say of them They were Rebels and Traytors and being about to come into England that I should say I would root out of the Kingdom the Scotish Nation Root and Branch My Lords I shall need no more to say in this for my being an Incendiary I think by the Proof it hath been clearly made appear to your Lordships that I gave no Opinion but such as others did in the like Case It is proved by Lord Traquair and my Lord Treasurer and might have been proved by many more if it had been needful For the Words that I should say The Rooting out the Scots Root and Branch They are only testifi'd by one single Witness Salmon the School-Master swears it and no man else but he and I hope my Lords that when your Lordships do call to mind how he is Crost by his Fellow Witness John Loftus your Lordships will be satisfied he Swears I will persecute them to the Blood and root them out Root and Branch and I cannot tell what But John Loftus said indeed that I said I hope that such of the Scottish Nation as would not submit to the Ecclesiastical Government I would root out stock and branch a wonderful difference between these two But my Lords it was testified by Mr. Secretary Manwaring then present that I never spoke the one nor the other but as in my Answer I did truely and faithfully deliver it I said that unless they would take that Oath of Allegiance and secure the King of their Allegiance in that point I hope I should not see any of them stay in that Kingdom that refused it and there is no proof in the World but the School-Master and I hope your Lordships will not take him to be a good and valid proof to convince me in this Case being a person of no greater Quality and crossed by his fellow Witness For my self I do absolutely say I was so far from wishing ill to that Nation or any Dissension or Division between them that I never desired other in my heart and soul but a firm Peace through the King's Dominions My Counsels tended to that and if I might seem to begin in a contrary way yet the last resort was to bring all to quietness and so that it should be without Blood And I dare say there be them that heard me say it many a time in the King's Council That the King should be in nothing so much sparing and tender as to draw any Blood in that Quarrel I dare say many that heard it will justifie me in it And if your Lordships will give me leave I do think I have something that might procure your Lordships belief that it was so for at that time my Fortune though now by Misfortune it be mean enough was such as I needed not desire to shuffle the Cards and deal anew and especially when nothing was to be got but Blows and that I trust will be an Argument to your Lordships that nothing was desired by me so much as Peace and that under God's goodness and the protection and Benefit of His Majestie 's Scepter I might enjoy the little Estate my Ancestors left me for it is certainly true whatever the World may think to the contrary it is very little better from what my Father left me something it is and the most part of the Improvement of it was before I came to serve the King and yet I have had more from the King then I deserved in all kinds and all the whole service of my Life were it never so many years could not Merit nor deserve from him the Hundred part of what I had from His Favour My Lords Mr. Treasurer Vane says I was in the Argument for an Offensive and he for a Defensive War for a War both of us And I beseech your Lordships How should it be more Treasonable for me to be for an Offensive then for him to be for a Defensive War for a War there must be and the difference was not great and for a Councellor to deliver his Opinion and have that turned upon him as Capital to sweep from the World himself and his Posterity is a very hard Case to say no more of it The next Article is the 21th wherein I am Charged to be an Enemy to Parliaments a Breaker of Parliaments and did by that means sow ill Affections betwixt the King and His People My Lords This is more fully Charged in a Subsequent Article then this for this is but only for breaking of the last Parliament that I should advise it to be called with an intent to break it which is very unlikely for that nothing in the World could be of so happy effect to me as the success of that Meeting and yet I must destroy and disadvantage my self in that then which nothing could be of more advantage then the success of that Parliament The 22th Article is Answered already and the 23th likewise In the 24th Article comes in that of the Parliament more fully and there I am Charged Falsly and Treacherously and Malitiously to have declared before His Majesties Privy-Council That the Parliament of England had forsaken the King and given Him the Advantage to Supply Himself otherwayes and having so Malitrously Slandered the said House of Commons that I did with the Advice of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lord Finch Publish a False and Trayterous Book called His Majestie 's Declaration of the Causes of Dissolving the last Parliament c. This goes very heavy upon me in the World that I should be a breaker of Parliaments a Counsellor against Parliaments My Lords there is nothing proved of it and I hope I shall be cleared by your Lordships and these noble Gentlemen and all the World that I had no such thing in my heart For the Point of the Declaration I was at that time Sick in my Bed and could do nothing in it and therefore I trust I shall be acquitted as to that As to the Breaking of the Parliament or any ill-will to Parliaments I have ever honour'd them and far be it from me to wish that they may not be frequent for the good of the King and Kingdom but as oft as you shall have it urged and prest against me that I should
be an endeavourer to Subvert the Fundamental Lawes of the Land in this kind I beseech your Lordships call to mind what hath been proved that at all Publick Debates at Council and Privately apart I have humbly represented to His Majesty from time to time That Parliaments are the Only Way to Settle Himself in Quietness in the Kingdom and to acquire Prosperity and Happiness to Himself and His People And when you shall hear them press upon me that I have endeavoured to Subvert the Fundamental Laws of the Land I beseech your Lordships to call to mind how frequently and fervently I have advised the King to call for Parliaments which under God is the great Protection and Defence of the Fundamental Laws of the Kingdom To the 25th I have Answered already and to the 26th likewise The next is the 27th and for that I can say no more then that your Lordships have heard the Proofs for the Levying of Money it hath been cleared to your Lordships that nothing was done by me but by Consent of the Country with their Unanimous good liking and for their benefit and advantage Being done so and for so good ends as I trust that shall not be enforced against me and it is very strange to me why it should be expected that if two Armies be in the Field one against the other as there was at York that they should be Govern'd with as much quietness as an Atturney walking with his Writs at his Girdle betwixt the King's Bench and the Common-pleas For Armies cannot be Govern'd without some Latitude in this kind Inter arma Silent Leges rightly applyed there is truth in that But I did nothing in the Business I did nothing by Compulsion but by the voluntary liking of the Parties themselves and therefore I conceive that shall not be Charged upon me as Treason There remains now the 28th Article and that is the onely Bloody Article if it had been or could be made good that is in the whole Charge for there I am Charged out of ill and wicked purposes and indeed What can be worse than Treason to have Betrayed Newcastle into the power of the Scotch Army and likewise to have betrayed the King's Army at Newburn to a dishonourable Retreat My Lords if either of these had been true I should have saved your Lordships the labour I would have given Judgment against my self that had been certain But my Lords never was any Man more Innocent therefore they may very well wave it Have I been all this while Charged as an Incendiary and Am I now come in the Conclusion to be charged as a Confederate it is wonderful strange certainly your Articles fight one against another in this for How can I be an Incendiary in one part and a Conspirator with them that Charged me to be an Incendiary in the other part In good Faith I have not been very kindly dealt withal by my Confederates if they be Confederates to Charge me as an Incendiary that did them that Service and Help as to deliver into their hands a Town of such Consequence as that is No my Lords I wish all happiness to the Nation but I can never wish so to it as that they should take one of the King's Towns in England if I could have helped it My Lords it was lost before I had the Charge of the Army I had nothing to do in the business nor am I to give any Accompt of it nor is any thing proved And as to the Defeat at Newburn you yet fight one Article with another methinks in that too for I am charged to be the Man that delivered up Newcastle and yet all the World knows that nothing could save it from being lost but taking away from the Scots the Passages at that time So that I should use all means to prevent Men from doing that which I meant to do for them is verye all strange to me Here is no Probability and certainly little truth in the whole business as concerning my Confederating with the Scots either for the one or the other And so my Lords I am come to the end of these 28 Articles that were for my further Impeachment I have gone over them all and out of these now there remains that other Second Treason that I should be guilty of endeavouring to Subvert the Fundamental Laws of the Land in the first of those Seven Articles My Lords That those should now be Treason together that are not Treason in any one part and Accumulatively to come upon me in that kind and where one will not do it of it self yet woven up with others it shall do it Under favour my Lords I do not conceive that there is either Statute-Law or Common-Law that hath declared this endeavouring to Subvert the Fundamental Laws to be High Treason I say neither Statute-Law nor Common-Law Written that I could hear of and I have been as diligent to enquire of it as I could be And your Lordships will believe I had reason so to do And sure it is a very hard thing I should here be question'd for my Life and Honor upon a Law that is not Extant that Cannot be Shewed There is a Rule that I have read out of my Lord Cook Non apparentibus non existentibus eadem est Ratio Jesu My Lords Where hath this Fire lay'n all this while so many hundred years together that no Smoak should appear till it burst out now to consume me and my Children Hard it is and extream hard in my Opinion that a Punishment should Precede the Promulgation of a Law that I should be Punished by a Law Subsequent to the Act done I most humbly beseech your Lordships take that into Consideration for certainly it were better a great deal to live under no Law but the Will of Man and Conform our selves in Humane Wisdom as well as we could and to Comply with that Will then to live under the Protection of a Law as we think and then a Law should be made to punish us for a Crime precedent to the Law then I conceive no Man living could be safe if that should be admitted My Lords it is hard in another respect that there should be no Token set upon this Offence by which we may know it no manner of Token given no Admonition by which we might be aware of it If I pass down the Thames in a Boat and run and Split my self upon an Anchor if there be not a Buoy to give me warning the Party shall give me Damages but if it be Marked out then it is at my own peril Now my Lords Where is the Mark set upon this Crime Where is the Token by which I should discover if it be not Marked if it lie under-Water and not above there is no Humane Providence can prevent the Destruction of a Man Presently and Instantly Let us then lay aside all that is Humane Wisdom let us rely onely upon Divine Revelation for
certainly nothing else can preserve us if you will Condemn us before you tell us where the Fault is that we may avoid it My Lords may your Lordships be pleased to have that regard to the Peerage of England as never to suffer your selves to be put upon those Moot-Points upon such Constructions and Interpretations and Strictness of Law as these are when the Law is not clear nor known If there must be a Tryal of Wits I do most humbly beseech your Lordships to consider that the Subject may be of something else then of your Lives and your Honors My Lords We find that in the Primitive time on the Sound and Plain Doctrine of the blessed Apostles they brought in their Books of Curious Art and burnt them My Lords it will be likewise under favour as I humbly conceive Wisdom and Providence in your Lordships for your felves and posterities for the whole Kingdom to cast from you into the Fire those Bloody and Misterious Volumes of Constructive and Arbitrary Treasons and to betake your selves to the plain Letter of the Statute that tells you where the Crime is that so you may avoid it and let us not my Lords be ambitious to be more Learned in those killing Arts then our Fore-fathers were before us My Lords It is now full Two Hundred and Forty years since any Man ever was Touch'd to this Height upon this Crime before my self We have lived my Lords happily to our selves at Home we have lived Gloriously Abroad to the World let us be content with that which our Fathers left us and let us not awake those Sleepy Lyons to our own Destruction by Ratling up of a Company of Records that have lay'n for so many Ages by the Wall Forgotten or Neglected My Lords There is this that troubles me extreamly lest it should be my Misfortune to all the rest for my other Sins not for my Treasons that my Precedent should be of that Disadvantage as this will be I fear in the Consequence of it upon the Whole KINGDOM My Lords I beseech you therefore that you will be pleased seriously to consider it and let my particular Case be so looked upon as that you do not through me Wound the Interest of the Common-Wealth For howsoever those Gentlemen at the Bar say They Speak for the Common-Wealth and they believe so yet under favour in this particular I believe I Speak for the Common-Wealth too and that the Inconveniencies and Miseries that will follow upon this will be such as it will come within a few Years to that which is exprest in the Statute of Henry the Fourth it will be of such a Condition that no Man shall know what to do or what to say Do not my Lords put greater Difficulty upon the Ministers of State then that with Chearfulness they may Serve the King and the State for if you will Examine them by every Grain or every little Weight it will be so heavy that the Publick Affairs of the Kingdom will be left waste and no man will meddle with them that hath Wisdom and Honor and Fortune to lose My Lords I have now troubled your Lordships a great deal longer then I should have done were it not for the Interest of those PLEDGES that a Saint in Heaven left me I would be loth my Lords here his Weeping stopt him what I forfeit for my self is nothing but I confess that my Indiscretion should Forfeit for them it wounds me very deeply You will be pleased to pardon my Infirmity something I should have said but I see I shall not be able and therefore I will leave it And now my Lords for my Self I thank God I have been by his Good Blessing towards me taught That the Afflictions of this present Life are not to be compared with that Eternal Weight of Glory that shall be Revealed for us hereafter And so my Lords even so with all Humility and with all Tranquility of Mind I do submit my self clearly and freely to your Judgments and whether that Righteous Judgment shall be to Life or to Death Te Deum Laudamus Te Dominum Confitemur And then lifting up his Hands and Eyes he said In te Domine confido ne confundar in Eternum Thus did this Great Mind deliver his Defence with a Grace and Action so unimitable and peculiar to himself as wrought Admiration and Compassion in his very Enemies at least for the present And pitty it is that it cannot be found in the power of Art to rescue that part of Eloquence which consists in Action from oblivion and had it been possible here would have been something besides the Words capable of Obliging Posterity and worthy of their Imitation for certainly as his very Enemies confessed He was one of the greatest Masters of Persuasion that Age or any other have produced My Lord having concluded his Defence Mr. Glyn addressing himself to the Lords spoke as followeth May it please Your Lordships MY Lord of Strafford as your Lordships have observed hath spent a great deal of time in his Evidence and in his course of Answering hath inverted the order of the Articles he hath spent some time likewise in defending the Articles not objected against him wherein he hath made a good Answer if in any We shall presume to withdraw a while and rest upon your Lordships patience and I doubt not but to represent my Lord of Strafford as cunning in his Answer as he is subtil in his Practice The Committee withdrawing for about the space of half an hour and then returning to the Bar Mr. Glyn proceeded as followeth My Lords Your Lordships have observed how the Earl of Strafford hath been accused by the Commons of England of High Treason for a purpose and design to subvert the Fundamental Lawes of both the Kingdoms of England and Ireland and to introduce an Arbitrary and Tyrannical Government The Commons have exhibited Articles in maintenance of that Charge My Lord of Strafford hath thereunto answered in Writing The Commons have proceeded to make good their Charge by proof and thereunto my Lord of Strafford hat made his Defence and this day my Lord of Strafford hath taken upon him to recollect his Evidence and make his observation upon it the most he could to his advantage My Lords We that are intrusted for the House of Commons stand here to recollect the Evidence on our part and to apply it to the general Charge and how far it conduces thereunto My Lord of Strafford in recollecting the Evidence of his Defence as I did mention before hath under favour exprest very much subtilty and that in divers particulars which I shall represent to your Lordships My Lords before I enter upon the recollection of the proofs produced on the behalf of the Commons I shall make some observations and give some answer to that recollection of his though very disorderly to the method I propounded to my self And First in general it will appear to your Lordships
proved by the Testimony of many Witnesses upon consideration of the precedent concurrent and subsequent Acts and Intentions of my Lord of Strafford I shall not now run over my Lord Primate's Testimony or my Lord Conwaye's or Master Treasurer's or my Lord of Bristol's but make use of them in their proper places when I shall put all together to shew his design and to prove his speaking of the words Then he comes to the Five and twentieth Article which I shall not insist on though he pretends it not proved I shall refer that to my recollection that I may not answer to his pieces but bring all together and then the horror of his Fact shall more speciously appear Only this under favour I cannot pass over when he comes to justify an Advice and Counsel of the King 's being loose and absolved from all rules of Government and that he might use his Prerogative as he pleases he is pleased to mention the Argument of the Judges in the Ship-Money and what they should deliver he makes the Warrant of his Counsel Now your Lordships may observe he would Justifie his Actions by Law in some cases where it is to his advantage but in other cases he must be ignorant of the Law But my Lords for him to mention any thing in the Argument of the Judges concerning the Ship-money which is now condemned and to make that a ground of his Counsel and advice to the King and not the Judgment in truth but the Argument of the Counsel at Bar that therefore he is loose and absolved from all rule of Government for him to make the Parliaments deferring to give supply to be that necessity which was insisted upon in the Counsels Argument and to be such an unavoidable necessity as to beget an Invasion upon Propriety and Liberty it rests in your Judgments and the Judgments of all that hear me what Argument this is and what he declares his opinion to be this day In the latter part let me close hands and agree with him he sayes Proofs must be taken by themselves they must not be Judged by pieces but together and now in good time I shall joyn with him and shall desire the same Judgment that things may not be taken asunder but Judged together according to his own words For the twentieth Article he is thereby charged with being an Incendiary between both Nations and an occasion of drawing two Armies into this Kingdom and to incense the War My Lords I remember if I did not mis-conceive and my memory mis-prompt me my Lord said He could have no occasion to incense a War being a man of an Estate and should have no benefit by it having sufficient to live without it but in due time I shall make it appear to my apprehension and I believe to your Lordships when you have heard it that the incensing of this War and provoking of it was the principal instrument of bringing to pass his design of subverting the Laws through the whole work of it My Lords in the passage of this he takes occasion to speak of the Testimony of Mr. Secretary Vane who testifies That my Lord was for an Offensive and himself for a Defensive War Whence my Lord argues here is no great difference for both were for a War But my Lord Is there no difference between an offensive and defensive War in case of Subjects that live under one King is there no difference to bring an Army to offend them and for the King to raise a force to defend himself truly I think there is a great difference and a very material one too but your Lordships see he makes no difference between them My Lords In the four and twentieth Article he mentions That he is charged with being an occasion to break the Parliament and lays hold of that as in the other Articles That it was not proved but declined My Lords when he shall hear the repetition of the Evidence though part of the Article was not particularly insisted upon yet I believe it will appear to your Lordships and the world that he was the occasion of breaking the last Parliament and it is expresly proved by Witnesses enough and though he sayes How should any body think him an occasion of it that did so often advise Parliaments yet I shall shew anon that when he did advise them it was to compass his own Design and Plot without which his ends could not be brought to pass He came from the four and twentieth Article to the Seven and twentieth and he answers â—â—â—iâ—st that Article That when Armies are in the Field men cannot walk so peaceably as an Attorney with his Box and Papers in Westminster Hall I know â—ot wâ—at he means but when two Armies are in the Field they may raise War against the King's People as well as the King for his just defence it is the way to make his people terrified with Armies and to avoid them as a Serpent and therefore it is a dangerous aspersion as I conceive With these he concluded except some things that he took by way of artificial insinuation to perswade your Lordships That it was dangerous to raise a Treason that had lain asleep I know not how many hundred years and create a Treason A strange thing indeed it is That a man shall be charged with a Treason for subverting the Law A strange thing that one should be charged with Treason for killing a Justice sitting in the Seat of Justice and yet it should be no Treason to destroy King and Kingdom and People and all all which are destroyed if the Law be subverted And now having touched upon what he hath spoken with your Lordships good favour I shall crave leave to run the course I have propounded with my self and that very briefly that is upon the whole matter to shew how far the Evidence produced on the Commons part doth prove the Charge My Lords That laid to his Charge is a design and purpose to subvert the fundamental Laws of two Kingdoms and to introduce an Arbitrary and Tyrannical Government not that he did effect it but that he did intend it for if he had done it it had been too late to question it he had left no rule whereby to call him to Tryal but his intention and his endeavour are his Charge My Lords How far this is proved if your Lordships be pleased to call to mind the Articles and the Evidences produced on the Commons part your Lordships will find I believe that his Words his Counsels and his Actions do sufficiently prove his endeavouring to destroy In the first Article where my Lord of Strafford hath the first opportunity offered him to put this endeavour in execution that is the first place of eminency amongst his other Places and Commands which I take it was his being made President of the North he is no sooner there but there be instructions procured to enable him to proceed in that Court almost in all
the proceedings of almost all the Courts of Justice into his own hands and so pre-possesses the King by a colourable proposition and prevents their coming over before they had made their address to himself and then he becomes the wrong doer and issues Proclamations for the hindring of the King's Subjects to seek redress without his leave which is as great a proof of his design and as great an injury to the people governed under a Gracious Prince as a heart can conceive And what his intention was in exhibiting this Proposition it will appear in the sentence of a poor man one David who was censured and most heavily Fined for coming over into England to prosecute complaint against my Lord of Strafford It is true that this was not the cause expressed but this was the truth of the matter Your Lordships remember a clause in the Order at Council-Board whereby is set forth the cause wherefore the party is not Sentenced which I never saw in an Order before nor should now but that my Lord foresaw there was danger in it that he might be charged in this place for the fact and therefore puts in negatively why the party was not censured Clausula inconsulta inducit suspitionem And how defends he this Article he sayes his predecessors issued Proclamations to hinder the King's Subjects from going over lest they should joyn with O-Neal and Tirconnell beyond Sea and so it might be dangerous to the State but because they may joyn with Forraigners shall they therefore not come to the King to make just complaint What this argument is I refer to your Lordships judgments Then he pretends a former precedent affirming that the like instructions were given to my Lord of Faulkland but was there any that none should come to their Soveraign to make their just appeal if injured Surely there was never any such Instruction before and I hope never will be again The next Article is the Nineteenth and now when he had so plentifully exercised his Tyranny over the lives the liberty and the Estates of the King's Subjects A man would think he could go no further But see a Tyranny exercised beyond that and that is over the Consciences of men hitherto he dealt with the outward man and now he offers violence to the inward man and imposes an Oath upon the King's Subjects and so exerciseth a Tyranny over the Consciences of men And setting aside the matter of the Oath if he hath authority and power to impose such an Oath as he shall frame he may by the same power impose any Oath to compel Consciences He pretends a Warrant from his Majesty to do it but the King's Ministers are to serve the King according to Law and I dare be bold to say and we have good reason to thank God for it if any of the King's Ministers tell him that any Command he gives is against Law there is no doubt but in his Goodness and Piety he will withdraw his Command and not enforce execution and therefore if there were an Error the King is free and the Ministers to be justly charged with it But there was no Command from the King to compel and enforce them to take the Oath by the Power of the Star-Chamber to commit them to Prison to impose heavy Fines and tyrannize over them all which he did in the Case of Steward And now one would have thought he had acted his part when he had acted as much as lay in his own Power and yet he goes beyond this he was not content to corrupt all the streams which was not a diverting of the course as he spoke in his Answer for he not only turned the course of the water but changed the nature of it converted it into poyson a legal and just proceeding into a Tyrannical and Arbitrary Government which is not turning but corrupting of the clear and Chrystal streams to bitterness and death But yet the Fountain remains clear and perhaps when his hand is taken off you shall have the streams run as pure and uncorrupt as ever they did This is it troubles him remove but this obstacle and the work is perfect and therefore now he will go about to corrupt the streams if he can but infuse his poyson into the King's heart which is the Fountain then all is done and now he attempts that and approacheth the Throne endeavours to corrupt the King's Goodness with wicked Counsels but God be thanked he finds there too much Piety to prevail And therefore the next Article is that that charges him to be an Incendiary to the War betwixt the Two Kingdoms and now I shall be bold to unfold the mystery and answer his Obiection To what purpose should he be an Incendiary were it not better to enjoy his Estate in peace and quietness than have it under danger of a War Now your Lordships shall have the Riddle discovered The first thing he doth after his coming into England is to incense the King to a War to involve two Nations of one Faith and under one Sovereign to imbrue their hands in each others Blood and to draw Armies into the Field That he was this Incendiary give me leave to revive your Lordships memories with the proofs which will make it plain and first give me leave to note unto your Lordships that His Majesty with much Wisdom did in July 1639. make a pacification with his Subjects and even at the very heels of this pacification when all things were at peace upon the Tenth of September which was the next month but one your Lordships remember the Sentence of Steward in the Star-Chamber of Ireland for not taking the Oath your Lordships may call to mind the Language my Lord of Strafford was pleased to use to the Scots when all was in quietness he then calls them no better than Traytors or Rebels if you will believe what the Witness testifies whom my Lord is pleased to call a Schoolmaster And truly admit he were so because he is a Schoolmaster therefore not to be believed is a non sequitur And another Witness one Loftus speaks to the words though not in the same manner but I say the Tenth of September when things were at peace and rest when the King was pleased to be reconciled to them by that Pacification what boiled in his breast then to the breaking forth of such Expressions I know not unless it were an intention to be an Incendiary My Lords I must say and affirm and he hath not proved it to the contrary That all this while I am confident there was not any breach of the Pacification on either side and it lyes on his part to prove there was But the Parliament of Scotland then Sitting and making preparation for their Demands in pursuance of the Articles of Pacification he coming over into England in September immediately upon the Pacification answers That he found things so distracted here that it was fit the Scots should be reduced by
force if they could not be otherwise yet no breach appears no War was denounced there was no intention of a War but see what harboured in his Breast all the while The Fourth of December following my Lord Traquaire made his relation to the Council of the Scots proceedings and all this while there was no Demands brought by the Scots themselves nor reason of their Demands brought by others though they were not prepared yet you have heard his advice was for an offensive War and that the Demands were a just cause of the War And though he pretends he said no more than what the rest of the Lords of the Council concurred with him in I will joyn in issue with him in that and if some of your Lordships be not satisfied you have many Noble Lords among you from whom you may be satisfied that it is not so I am sure he proves it not It is true in the proposition of the Demands some of the Lords of the Council did say That these Demands hypothetically if the Scots did not give satisfaction by their Reasons were a just cause of War but not any Lord of the Council was of that opinion That the very Demands positively without hearing of the Reasons were a just cause of War but himself and I believe the Noble Lords of the Council their Consciences can tell them and I believe will deliver it to the rest of the Peers that I speak truth For the Offensive War he pretends a concurrence of the rest but it was disapproved many were for it upon these terms If they did not give Reasons and shew just cause for their Demands and many were against an Offensive War upon any terms and therefore herein he fixes that upon the Lords of the Council which he cannot make good All this while his intentions are discovered by a matter precedent but after the breach he discovers his anger further towards the Scottish Nation and makes it his design to incense the King to this War My Lords he is not at end yet for he confesses himself that he advised the King to call a Parliament and now I come to his work of merit but it was to his destruction and serves to prove this Article directly for to what purpose was this Parliament called Exitus acta probat it was no sooner set but within three Weeks a proposition is made for supply towards a War against the Scots who was the cause of calling the Parliament himself and therefore who was the cause of this Proposition but himself and so the calling of the Parliament is a concurring evidence of his being an Incendiary to put on the War and it shall appear anon absolutely that he was the occasion of it though he thinks there be no proof of it Did not he go over into Ireland and by his sollicitation there Subsidies were granted by the Parliament only to maintain this War and to shew their ingagement in it and who was the occasion of drawing them on I refer to your Lordships judgments by the circumstances precedent Your Lordships heard his good opinion of the Scots when he began to discourse with the Citizens touching Money and their affording of the King supply and seizing the Mint by giving them no better expositions than Rebels for saith he you are more forward to help the Rebels here than to pay the King his own I know not who he meant but certainly the Scots were in his thoughts so that from the beginning he incensed the War against them First he exclaimed against them during time of Peace He alledges in his Answer That things were found in such distraction that it was fit the Scots should be reduced by force he gave advice precipitately without hearing the reasons and not concurrent to the Council for an offensive War and putting all together I refer it to your Lordships judgment who is the Incendiary for how can it be proved more clearly unless it should appear under his Hand and Seal proved by two or three Witnesses Now My Lords how comes this to be his design here the Mystery comes to be unfolded Having thus incensed to the War and ingaged the King to the uttermost and having a Parliament now dissolved without supply he sets up an Idol of his own creation as a means to draw on his design and that was necessity necessity is it that must enforce the King what to do to levy Money to use his Prerogative to raise supplies upon His Subjects without their consent against their Will necessity must be his Argument and this War must be the occasion of that necessity and without that he cannot suggest to the King's ear or advise this necessity till this be brought to pass And now he hath brought it to pass he began in the One and twentieth Two and twentieth and Three and twentieth Article to perswade the King that Necessity hath surprized him by the Parliaments deserting of him that the Parliament had for saken the King in denying Supply and having tryed the affections of His People he was loose and absolved from all Rules of Government and had an Army in Ireland which he might employ to reduce this Kingdom That he spake these words to the King part is proved by two concurrent Witnesses that is that having tryed the affections of his People he was now loose and absolved from all Rules of Government which words are proved by two Witnesses of eminent quality that is my Lord of Northumberland and Sir Henry Vane and truly howsoever my Lord in his Speech pretends that the most material words are proved but by one Witness it seeming that he held it not a material charge that he counselled the King that he was absolved from all Rules of Government for my part if your Lordships be satisfied those words were proved I could willingly satisfy my own Conscience in it and make no great matter to quit the rest for I know not how he could express it in higher terms than that the King was absolved from all Rules of Government for then he might do what he would It is true the latter words touching the Irish Army are expresly proved but by one Witness Mr. Secretary Vane but are fortified again with such circumstances as make up more than one yea more than two other witnesses if your Lordships will have the Patience to have it represented as it is proved For howsoever it be slighted by him if your Lordships will call to mind the words of Sir George Ratcliffe his bosome Friend to whom he had contributed without question his advice in all causes the said Sir George Ratcliffe expressed it before and told some of his Friends supposing that he never should be called in question and that the power of my Lord of Strafford had been enough to protect any thing he had done and out of the abundance of the heart his mouth spake the King must now want no Money if he did no body would pity him
beseech you call to mind how he hath attempted to deprive the Subject of all means to discover this danger by insinuating to your Lordships what a dangerous thing it were if Counsellors should be called in question for giving of Counsel for who then saith he would be a Counsellor where is your safeguard where is the King's service Is not this as much as in him lies to deprive the People of the means whereby they must make themselves happy and whereby the King must be happy that is by his having good Counsellors about him and yet he infuses that venom that the questioning of Counsellors is dangerous both to King and Peers if it should be brought into Example My Lords for many years by-past your Lordships know an evil spirit hath moved amongst us which in truth hath been made the Author and ground of all our distractions and that is necessity and danger this was the bulwark and the battery that serves to defend all exorbitant actions the ground and foundation of that great invasion of our Liberties and Estates the judgment in the Ship-money and the ground of the Counsel given of late to do any thing and to perswade the King That he was absolved from all Rules of Government and yet your Lordships have observed in the course of his Defence how often he hath raised this spirit that God be thanked hath been laid to the great Comfort of King and Kingdom by your Lordships and all the Commons in Parliament And when he stands under this question and goes about to justify his exorbitant actions how often hath he created this Idol again and therefore I am afraid he discovers too much his own heart in it My Lords I may not omit some other passages in his Defence How he hath cast Scandals upon three Nations in this place that is in his first day of Defence when the Irish Remonstrance made by all the Commons of Ireland was produced by the Commons of England he expressed in a passion that things were carried against him by Faction and Correspondence and if he had time he would make it appear with a strong Conspiracy Here is a scandal cast upon the Parliament of Ireland with a reflection on the Commons of England howsoever it is true your Lordships may remember the recantation he made that day which I will not omit desiring not to lay any thing to his charge but what is true but it is the reflection of a scandal that I cannot omit to put your Lordships in mind of and the rather because this Remonstrance presented from the Parliament of Ireland did bear date before my Lord of Strafford was charged here which is very remarkable viz. the 7th of November and therefore though he pretends a correspondence certainly there could be none then for he is not charged here till the Tenth And the same day justifying a Sentence in the Castle-Chamber your Lordships remember he affirmed that unless a strict hand were kept upon the Nation there they would find it hard to prevent Perjury one of the most crying Sins in Ireland Now to lay an aspersion upon the Subjects of Ireland being under the Government of the same King with us how fit this is to be done by a man in that condition that my Lord of Strafford is I refer to your consideration Another passage I remember whereby in his Defence he fell upon that Nation in answer of which I may not omit to do the service I owe to the Commons for whom I am trusted and that is that talking of an Arbitrary and Tyrannical Government in reference to some Orders of the Commons-House in Ireland he used words to this purpose You talk of an Arbitrary Government look upon these Orders here is an Arbitrary Government and yet when he produced the Orders they appeared to have so much justice and discretion in them that he can lay nothing to the charge of them though in a passion he is not backward to asperse them My Lords If this Lyon to use his own language now that he is chained and muzled under the restraint and question of High Treason will here take the boldness to vent this Language and express this Malignity How would he do if he were unchained How would he devour How would he destroy c. My Lords Something concerns your Lordships your Lordships remember that he was not backward in his own answer to fix a Charge of High Treason upon the Lords of the Great Council and howsoever he hath affirmed this day I must open it again That the Charge of the Seven and twentieth Article he fixes in his Answer to be by consent of the Lords of the Great Council though he hath since recanted it and yet you have heard him alledge That he will stand and fall by the truth of his answer My Lords I am now at an end You have my Lord of Strafford here questioned for High Treason for going about to Subvert the Fundamental Laws of both Kingdoms in defence whereof your Noble Ancestors spent their Lives and Bloods My Lords You are the Sons of those Fathers and the same Blood runs in your veins that did in theirs and I am confident you will not think him fit to live that goes about to destroy that which protects your Lives and preserves your Estates and Liberties My Lords You have the Complaints of Three Kingdoms presented before you against this Great Person whereby your Lordships perceive that a great storm of Distemper and Distraction hath been raised that threatens the Ruin and Destruction of them all The Commons with much Pain and Diligence and to their great Expence have discovered the Jonas that is the Occasion of this Tempest they have still and will discharge their Consciences as much as in them lies to cast him out of the Ship and allay the Tempest They Expect and are Confident your Lordships will perfect the Work and that with Expedition lest with the Continuance of the Storm both Ship and Tackling and Mariners both Church and Commonwealth be Ruined and Destroyed It was certainly as appeared by the sequel a great mistake in making this Comparison and when by Tumults they threw this Noble Jonas overboard they threw one of the ablest Pilots the Storm being so far from ceasing that from that Unhappy Moment it was changed to a Tempest which did actually Ruin and Destroy both the Ship Tackling and Mariners the Church and Commonwealth When Mr. Glyn had concluded his Replication Mr. Pym stood up and with all the power of studied and malitious Rhetorique endeavoured to aggravate the Earl of Strafford's guilt in a set Oration which he would have made the Audience believe was the Extempore product of his Parts and Abilities as an immediate Reply to the Earl's Defence but it was his Misfortune which gave occasion to some of the Noble Audience to smile to fall into a great Disorder and Confusion insomuch that by pulling out his Paper to recollect
Earl of Strafford had the first rise of his Greatness from this and in his Apology and Defence as your Lordships have heard this hath had a main part The Royal Power and Majesty of Kings is most Glorious in the Prosperity and happiness of the People the perfection of all things consists in the end for which they were ordained God only in his own end all other things have a further end beyond themselves in attaining whereof their own happiness consists if the means and the end be set in opposition to one another it must needs cause an impotency and defect of both The Eighth Consideration is the vanity and absurdity of those excuses and justifications which he made for himself whereof divers particulars have been mentioned in the course of this Defence 1. That he is a Counsellor and might not be questioned for any thing which he advised according to his Conscience The ground is true there is a liberty belongs to Counsellors and nothing corrupts Counsels more than Fear He that will have the priviledg of a Counsellor must keep within the just bounds of a Counsellor those matters are the proper Subjects of Counsel which in their times and occasions may be good or beneficial to the King or Common-wealth But such Treasons as these the subversion of the Laws violation of Liberties they can never be good or justifiable by any circumstance or occasion and therefore his being a Counsellor makes his fault much more hainous as being committed against a greater Trust and in a way of much mischief and danger lest His Majesties Conscience and Judgment upon which the whole course and frame of His Government do much depend should be poysoned and infected with such wicked Principles and Designs and this he hath endeavoured to do which by all Laws and in all Times hath in this Kingdom been reckoned a crime of an high Nature 2. He labours to interest your Lordships in his Cause by alleadging it may be dangerous to your selves and your posterity who by your Birth are fittest to be near His Majesty in places of Trust and Authority if you should be subject to be questioned for matters delivered in Council To this was answered That it was hoped their Lordships would rather labour to secure themselves and their posterity in the exercise of their Virtues than of their Vices that so they might together with their own Honor and Greatness preserve the Honor and Greatness both of the King and Kingdom 3. Another excuse was this That whatsoever he hath spoken was out of good intention Sometimes good and evil truth and falshood lye so near together that they are hardly to be distinguished Matters hurtful and dangerous may be accompanied with such circumstances as may make it appear useful and convenient and in all such cases good intention will justifie evil Counsel But where the matters propounded are evil in their own nature such as the matters are wherewith the Earl of Strafford is charged to break a publique Faith to subvert Laws and Government they can never be justified by any intentions how good soever they be pretended 4. He alleadgeth it was a time of great necessity and danger when such Counsels were necessary for preservation of the State Necessity hath been spoken of before as it relates to the Cause now it is considered as it relates to the Person if there were any necessity it was of his own making he by his evil Counsel had brought the King into a necessity and by no rules of Justice can be allowed to gain this advantage by his own fault as to make that a ground of his justification which is a great part of his offence 5. He hath often insinuated this That it was for His Majesties service in maintainance of that Soveraign Power with which he is intrusted by God for the good of his People The Answer is this No doubt but that Soveraign Power wherewith his Majesty is intrusted for the publique good hath many glorious effects the better to enable him thereunto But without doubt this is none of them That by his own Will he may lay any Tax or imposition upon His people without their consent in Parliament This hath now been five times adjudged by both Houses in the case of the Loans in condemning Commissions of Excise in the resolution upon the saving offered to be saved to the Petition of Right in the sentence against Manwaring and now Lutell in condemning the Shipmoney And if the Soveraign Power of the King can produce no such effect as this the Allegation of it is an aggravation and no diminution of his offence because thereby he doth labour to interest the King against the just grievance and complaint of the People 6. This Counsel was propounded with diverse Limitations and Provisions for securing and repairing the Liberty of the People This implies a contradiction to maintain an Arbitrary and Absolute Power and yet to restrain it with Limitations and Provisions for even those limitations and provisions will be subject to the same absolute power and to be dispensed in such manner and at such time as it self shall determine let the Grievances and Oppressions be never so heavy the Subject is left without all remedy but at His Majesties own pleasure 7. He alleadgeth They were but Words and no effect followed this needs no Answer but that the Miserable Distempers into which he hath brought all the three Kingdoms will be Evidence sufficient that his Wicked Counsels have had such Mischievous Effects within these two or three last years that many years peace will hardly repair those losses and other great Mischiefs which the Common-Wealth hath sustained 8. These Excuses have been collected out of the several Parts of his defence perchance some others are omitted which I doubt not have been Answered by some of my Collegues and are of no Importance either to perplex or to hinder your Lordships Judgment touching the hainousness of this Crime The 9th consideration is this That if this be Treason in the Nature of it it doth exceed all other Treasons in this That in the Design and Endeavour of the Author it was to be a constant and permanent Treason other Treasons are Transient as being confined within those particular Actions and Proportions wherein they did consist and those being past the Treason ceaseth The Powder Treason was full of horror and malignity yet it is past many years since The Murder of that Magnanimous and Glorious King Henry the Fourth of France was a great and horrid Treason and so were those manifold Attempts against Queen Elizabeth of blessed Memory but they are long since past the Detestation of them only remains in Histories and in the minds of men and will ever remain But this Treason if it had taken effect was to be a standing perpetual Treason which would have been in continual Act not determined within one time or Age but transmitted to Posterity even from one generation to
time of this Noble Lord's Defences he did not so much as crave any of our Opinions or acquaint us with any thing that tended that way and for the matter of Law Those Statutes cited by himself and offered to your Lordships Consideration were none of our stock but taken up at his own adventure I do not speak this to derogate from the pertinency of those Statutes for they shall be the subject of my Discourse but that the Noble Lord may not be disappointed of your Lordships right Conception and his own due praise My Lords It is your Pleasure we meddle not with matter of Fact and indeed we need not meddle at all with it because we hope it is already done and that sufficiently to our hands yet the matter of Law doth so naturally arise out of the matter of Fact that of necessity by your Lordships Favour we must sometimes touch on this if we speak to that Nor do we conceive it possible for us to speak advantagiously enough for the Lord Strafford 's just Defence unless the whole matter of Fact be determined as either proved or not proved or at least some states of Questions agreed upon where we may fix and settle our Arguments And so it is my Lords that I have chosen not at all to touch the Matter of law untill your Lordships shall be pleased to chalk me out a Way unless it be to clear your Judgments in one Statute only viz. 25 Ed. 3. because when the same was alledged by the Lord Strafford for his own Defence that not being convict by the letter thereof he could not be convict of Treason I remember the Salvo of that Statute was much insisted upon by those from the House of Commons as much conducing to their Ends. My Lords I will first speak of the Statute it self and then of its Salvo or Provision the Statute is That if any man shall intend the Death of the King the Queen or their Children kill the Chancellor or a Judge upon the Bench imbase the Kings Coyn or counterfeit the Broad Seal c. he shall be convicted and punished as a Traytor That the Lord Strafford comes within the letter of this Statute is not so much as once alledged nor indeed can it be with any Reason All that can be said is that by relation or argument à minore ad majus he may be drawn thither And that this cannot be I humbly offer these Considerations 1. This is a Declarative Law and such are not to be taken by any way of Consequence Equity or Construction but by the letter only otherwise they should imply a contradiction to themselves and be no more Declarative Laws but Laws of Construction Secondly This is a Penal Law and such if our Ground hitherto unquestion'd holds good can admit of no Inductions or Inferences for Penalties are to perswade the keeping of known Laws not of Laws conjectural ambiguous and by Consequence which perhaps the most Learned may not in their disputes question much less the Subject who is not to interpret the Statute doubt of in the point of Obedience nay rather without doubt he is to obey the letter of the Statute and conceive and that truly that he is not liable to the Penalty Thirdly We have a notable Statute 13 Eliz. c. 2. whereby it is declared That the bringing of Bulls from Rome to stir up the Subjects to Mutiny and Rebellion shall be punished as Treason Now if by interpretation or by consequence this sense might have been thrust upon preceding Statutes the making this had been superfluous and the persons then charged with that Crime might have been impeached of Treason even before the making of this Act. Fourthly Anno 21 Ed. 3. we have a Statute declaring That for a Servant to kill his Master is an Act of Treason and in the 27th Year of the same King a Process was framed against a man of Treason for Killing his Father grounded upon the same Argument à Majori ad Minus but it was found and the Sentence is yet in the Records that although in the 21 of Ed. 3. that Argument might have been admitted yet in the 27 it could not by reason of the Declarative Law intervening in the 25th Year And this Case comes very home to the point in hand My Lords I will not demand what kind of Offence it may be for a man to Subvert the Fundamental Laws of a Kingdom the Crime doubtless is unnatural and monstrous and the punishment must keep the same proportion only I must presume to offer these few things to your consideration 1. That one or more Acts of Injustice whether malitiously or ignorantly done can in no sense of Law be called the Subversion of the Fundamental Laws otherwise as many Judges perhaps so many Traytors It is very incident to Man's Nature to Err nor doth the Lord Strafford plead his Innocence in Oversights but in Treason 2. I do remember the Case of John de la Pool Duke of Suffolk this man in the 26 H. 6. was charged by the House of Commons with Eight Articles of Treason and those too very like to these against the Lord Strafford 1. That he had given the King bad Advices 2. That he had embased his Coyn. 3. That he had Sessed Men of War 4. That he had given out Summary Decrees 5. That he had imposed Taxes 6. That he had Corrupted the Fountain of Justice 7. That he had perswaded the King to unnecessary War 8. To the giving up Anjou in France Ovum Ovo And for all these though he was charged with High Treason for wronging the Right of the Subject and Subverting the Fundamental Lawes of the Kingdom yet after long agitation the matter was found by the Lords in Parliament not to imply Treason but only Felony Add to this another Case in the 23 H. 8. where one was charged for Subverting the English Laws and yet no Treason charged upon him Add to both these the Case of Richard Larkes pleaded at the Common-Pleas who was charged with Treason for subverting the Law but convicted only of Felony By which you may see my Lords what to this time hath been the Judgment of subverting the Lawes Thirdly It is very considerable That the Lord Strafford is not charged to have Subverted the Laws but only to have Intended to subvert the Fundamental Laws and this I conceive if there were no more might keep him free from that Statute of 25 Ed. 3. for although as touching the Life of the King the Queen and Children Intention is a Treasonable Act yet in all other things there mentioned there must be Action besides Intention For it is not said That if a Man doth intend to kill a Chancellor it shall be Treason but only if he doth kill him and if he doth Actually counterfeit the Broad Seal And although a man should prepare a Furnace make ready his Stamp and melt his Bullion yet if he gives not the King's Impress
the 18th year of Hen. 6th that both Person and thing are within the Statute That the Statute remains in force to this day that the parliament here hath cognizance of it and that even in the ordinary way of Judicature that if there be a Treason and a Traitor that the want of Jurisdiction in the judicial way may justly be supplied by Bill 5. That his endeavouring to subvert the Fundamental Laws and Government of the Realms of England and Ireland and instead thereof to introduce a Tyrannical Government against Law is Treason by the Common-Law That Treasons at the Common-Law are not taken away by the Statute of 25th Edw. 3 1 Hen. 4th c. nor any of them 6. That as this case stands it 's just and necessary to resort to the Supream Power in Parliament in case all the rest should fail Of these six five of them are Treason within the compass of the Laws already established Three within the Statute of 25th Edw. 3. and one within the Irish Statute the other by the Common-Law of England If but any one of these Six Considerations hold the Commons conceive that upon the whole matter they had good cause to pass the Bill My Lords For the first of Levying War I shall make bold to read the case to your Lordships before I speak to it It 's thus The Earl did by Warrant under his Hand and Seal give Authority to Robert Savil a Sergeant at Arms and his Deputies to Sess such numbers of Soldiers Horse and Foot of the Army in Ireland together with an Officer as the Sergeant should think fit upon His Majesties Subjects of Ireland against their Will this Warrant was granted by the Earl to the end to compel the Subjects of Ireland to submit to the unlawful Summons and Orders made by the Earl upon Paper Petitions exhibited to him in case of private interest between party and party this Warrant was executed by Savil and his Deputies by Sessing of Soldiers both Horse and Foot upon divers of the Subjects of Ireland against their Wills in Warlike manner and at divers times the Soldiers continued upon the parties upon whom they were sefsed and wasted their Goods until such time as they had submitted themselves unto those Summons and Orders My Lords This is a Levying War within the Statute of 25th Edw. 3. The words of the Statute are If any man do Levy War against our Lord the King in His Realm this is declared Treason I shall endeavour in this to make clear to your Lordships 1. What shall be Levying of War in respect of the motive or cause of it 2. What shall be said a Levying of War in respect of the action or thing done 3. And in the third place I shall apply them to the present case It will be granted in this Levying of War that Forces may be raised and likewise used in Warlike manner and yet no Levying of War within the Statute that is when the Forces are raised and employed upon private ends either of revenge or interest Before the Statute in Edw. the 1 time the Title of a Castle was in difference between the Earls of Hereford and Gloucester for the maintaining of the possession on the one side and gaining of it on the other Forces were raised on either side of many hundred Men they marched with Banners displayed one against another In the Parliament in the 20th of Edward 1. this was adjudged only Trespass and either of the Earls Fined 1000 Marks apiece After the Statute in Hillary Term in the 15th year of Edw. the 3. in the King's-Bench Rot. 3. Nicholas Huntercome in Warlike manner with 40 men armed amongst other weapons with Guns so ancient as appears by that Record they were did much spoil in the Mannor of the Abby of Dorchester in the County of Oxford this was accounted no Treason and so it hath been held by the Judges That if one or more Town-ship upon pretence of saving their Commons do in a forcible and Warlike manner throw in inclosers this is only a Riot no Treason The words of the Statute 25 Edw. 3. clear this point that if any man ride Armed openly or secretly with men at Arms against any other to kill and rob or to detain him until he hath made Fine and Ransome for his deliverance this is declared not to be Treason but Felony or Trespass as the Case shall require all the printed Statutes which have it covertly or secret are misprinted for the words in the Parliament Roll as appears in the 17th are Discovertment ou Secretement Open or Secretly Object So that my Lords in this of Levying War the Act is not so much to be considered but as in all other Treasons and Felonies quo animo with what intent and purpose My Lords If the end be considerable in Levying War it may be said that it cannot be a War unless against the King for the words of the Statute are If any man Levy War against the King Answ That these words extend further than to the person of the King appears by the words of the Statute which in the beginning declares it to be Treason to compass and imagine the death of the King and after other Treasons this is to be declared to be Treason to Levy War against the King If Levying of War extend no further than to the person of the King these words of the Statute are to no purpose for then the first Treason of compassing the King's death had fully included it before because that he which Levies War against the Person of the King doth necessarily compass his death It 's a War against the King when intended for alteration of the Laws or Government in any part of them or to destroy any of the great Officers of the Kingdom This is a Levying War against the King 1. Because the King doth protect and maintain the Laws in every part of them and the great Officers to whose care he hath in his own stead delegated the execution of them 2. Because they are the King's Laws he is the Fountain from whence in their several Channels they are derived to the Subject all our Indictments run thus Trespasses laid to be done Contra pacem Domini Regis the King's Peace for exorbitant offences though not intended against the King's Person against the King His Crown and Dignity My Lords this construction is made good by divers Authorities of great weight ever since the Statute of 25th of Edw. 3. downwards In Richard the 2d time Sir Thomas Talbot conspired the death of the Dukes of Gloucester and Lancaster and some other of the Peers for the effecting of it he had caused several People in the County of Chester to be Armed in Warlike manner in Assemblies in the Parliament held in the 17th year of R. 2. No 20. Sir Thomas Talbot being Accused of High-Treason for this It 's there declared insomuch as one of them was Lord High Steward of England
counterfeit Coin was Treason and Justice Stamford fol. 331. 44. is of opinion that this or the conspiring to counterfeit the Great Seal is Treason The Statute is If any shall counterfeit the Great Seal conspiring to do it by the Book is Treason if a man take the Broad Seal from one Patent and put it to another here is no counterfeiting it 's tantamount and therefore Treason as is adjudged in 2 Hen. 4. fol. 25. and by the opinion of Stamford If Machination or Plotting a War be not within that clause of the Statute of Levying of War yet is within the first of compassing the death of the King as that which necessarily tends to the destruction both of King and People upon whose safety and protection he is to engage himself That this is Treason hath been adjudged both after the Statutes of 1 Hen. 4. Cap. 10. and 1 Queen Mary so much insisted upon on the other side In the Third year of King Henry 4th one Balshal coming from London found one Bernard at Plough in the Parish of Osley in the County of Hertford Bernard asked Balshal what news he told him that the news was That Richard the Second was alive in Scotland which was false for he was dead and that by Midsummer next he would come into England Bernard asked him What were best to be done Balshal answered Get Men and go to King Richard In Michaelmas Term in the Third year of Hen. 4th in the Kings-Bench Rot. 4. This advice of War adjudged Treason In Queen Mary's time Sir Nicholas Throckmorton conspired with Sir Thomas Wyat to Levy War within this Realm for alteration in Religion he joyned not with him in the execution This conspiracy alone declared to be Treason by all the Judges this was after the Statute of Queen Mary so much insisted upon That Parliament ended in October this opinion was delivered the Easter Term following and is reported by Justice Dyer fol 98. It 's true Sir Thomas Wyat afterwards did Levy War Sir Nicholas Throckmorton he only conspired This adjudged Treason One Story in Queen Elizabeths time practised with Foreigners to Levy War within this Kingdom nothing done in pursuance of the practice The intent without any adhering to enemies of the Queen or other cause adjudged Treason and he executed thereupon It 's true my Lords that year 13 Eliz. by Act of Parliament it 's made Treason to intend the levying of War this Case was adjudged before the Parliament The Case was adjudged in Hillary Term the Parliament begun not till the April following This my Lords is a Case judged in point that the practising to Levy War though nothing be done in execution of it is Treason Object It may be objected That in these Cases Object the Conspiring being against the whole Kingdom included the Queen and was a Compassing Her destruction as well as of the Kingdoms here the advice was to the King Answ The Answer is first That the Warrant was unknown to His Majesty Answ that was a Machination of War against the People and Laws wherein His Majesties Person was engaged for protection Secondly That the advice was to his Majesty aggravates the Offence it was an Attempt which was the Offence it was an Attempt not only upon the Kingdom but upon the Sacred Person and His Office too himself was hostis patriae he would have made the Father of it so to Nothing more unnatural nor more dangerous than to offer the King Poyson to drink telling him that it is a Cordial is a passing of his death the Poyson was repelled there was an Antidote within the Malice of the giver beyond expression The perswading of Foreigners to invade the Kingdom hold no proportion with this Machination of War against the Law or Kingdom is against the King they cannot be severed My Lords If no actual War within the Statute if the Counselling of War if neither of these single Acts be Treason within the Statute The Commons in the next place have taken it into consideration what the addition of his other Words Counsels and Actions do operate in the Case and have conceived that with this Addition all being put together that he is brought within the Statute of 25 E. 3. The words of the Statute are If any Man shall Compass or Imagine the death of the King the words are not If any Man shall Plot or Counsel the Death of the King No my Lords they go further than to such things as are intended immediately directly and determinatively against the Life and Person of the King they are of a larger extent to compass is to do by Circuit to Consult or Practise another thing directly which being done may necessarily produce this effect However it be in the other Treasons within this Statute yet in this by the very words there is room left for constructions for necessary inferences and consequences What hath been the Judgment and Practice of former times concerning these words of compassing the Kings Death will appear to your Lordships by some Cases of Attainders upon these words One Owen Owen's Case of Sandwich in Kent in King James His time in the 13th year of His Reign at Sandwich in Kent spake these words That King James being Excommunicated by the Pope may be killed by any Man which killing is no Murther Being asked by those he spake to how he durst maintain so Bloody an Assertion Answered That the matter was not so heinous as was supposed for the King who is the Lesser is concluded by the Pope who is the Greater and as a Malefactor being Condemned before a Temporal Judge may be delivered over to be Executed So the King standing Convicted by the Popes Sentence of Excommunication may justly be slaughtered without fault for the Killing of the King is the Execution of the Popes Supream Sentence as the other is the Execution of the Law For this Judgment of High Treason was given against him and Execution done My Lords there is no clear intent appearing that Owen desired the thing should be done only Arguments that it might be done this is a Compassing there is a clear Endeavour to corrupt the Judgment to take off the Bonds of Conscience the greatest security of the Kings Life God forbid saith one of better Judgment then he that I should stretch out my hand against the Lords Anointed No saith he the Lord doth not forbid it you may for these Reasons lawfully kill the King He that denies the Title to the Crown and plots the means of setting it upon anothers head may do this without any direct or immediate desiring the death of Him that wears it yet this is Treason as was adjudged in the 10 of Hen. 7 in these of Burton and in the Duke of Norfolk's Case 13 Eliz. This is a compassing of His Death for there can no more be two Kings in one Kingdom then two Suns in the Firmament he that conceives a Title counts it worth venturing
year of Henry the Sixth which say that the English Statutes shall not be in force in Ireland unless particularly received in Parliament it makes all the Irish Statutes void which say that the English Statutes shall not be in force there It is usual when a Statute sayes that such a thing shall be done or not done to add further that all Statutes to the contrary shall be void No likelihood that this Statute intended to take away any Statute of Treason but when in the Chapter next before this Murder there is made Treason as if done upon the Kings person That this Statute of the Eighteenth year of Henry the Sixth remains on foot and not repealed either by the Statute of the Eighth year of Edward the Fourth or this of the Tenth year of Henry the Seventh appears expresly by two several Acts of Parliament made at the same Parliament of the tenth year of Henry the Seventh By an Act of Parliament of Henry the Sixth's time in Ireland it was made Treason for any Man whatsoever to procure a Privy-Seal or any other Command whatsoever for apprehending any Person in Ireland for Treason done without that Kingdom and to put any such Command in Execution divers had been attainted of Treason for executing such Commands There is a Treason so made by Act of Parliament in Henry the Sixth's time In the third Chapter of this Parliament of the tenth of Henry the Seventh an Act is passed for no other end then to repeal this Statute of Henry the Sixth of Treason If this Statute of Henry the Sixth of Treason had been formerly repealed by the Statute of 8 E 4. or then by the two and twentieth Chapter of this Parliament of the 10th of Henry the Seventh by bringing in the English Statutes the Law-makers were much mistaken now to make a particular Act of Parliament to repeal it it being likewise so unreasonable an Act as it was In the Eighth Chapter of this Parliament of the 10th of Henry the Seventh it is Enacted that the Statutes of Kilkenny and all other Statutes made in Ireland two only excepted whereof this of the Eighteenth of Henry the Sixth is none for the Common-Weal shall be enquired of and executed My Lord of Strafford saith that the bringing in of the English Statute hath repealed this Statute the Act of Parliament made the same time saith no it saith that all the Irish Statutes excepting two whereof this is none shall still be in force Object Oh but however it was in the 10 H. 7. yet it appears by Judgment in Parliament afterwards that this Statute of 18 H. 6. is repealed and that is by the Parliament of the 11th year of Queen Elizabeth the 7th Chapter that by this Parliament it is Enacted That if any Man without Licence from the Lord-Deputy lay any Soldiers upon the Kings Subjects if he be a Peer of the Realm he shall forfeit one hundred pounds if under the degree of a Peer One hundred Marks This Statute as is alleadged declares the Penalty of laying Soldiers on the Subjects to be only one hundred pounds and therefore it s not Treason Answ My Lords if the Offence for which this Penalty of one hundred pounds is laid upon the Offenders be for laying Soldiers or leading them to do any Act Offensive or Invasive upon the Kings People the Argument hath some force but that the Offence is not for laying Soldiers upon the true Subjects that this is not the Offence intended in the Statute will appear to your Lordships Ex absurdo from the words of it The Words are That if any Man shall assemble the People of the County together to conclude of Peace or War or shall carry those People to do any Acts Offensive or Invasive then he shall forfeit One hundred pounds If concluding of War and carrying the people to Acts Invasive be against the Kings Subjects this is High-Treason which are the words of the Statute of 25 E. 3. for if any Subject shall assemble the people and conclude a War and accordingly shall lead them to invade the Subject this is a levying of War within the words of the Statute and then the Statutes of the 25 E. 3. 1 H. 4. 1 of Queen Mary which the Earl of Strafford in his Answers desires to be tryed by are as well repealed in this point as the Statute of the 18th of Henry the Sixth he might then without fear of Treason have done what he pleased with the Irish Army for all the Statutes of levying of War by this Statute of 11 Eliz. were taken out of his way In Ireland a Subject gathers Forces concludes a War against the Kings People actually invades them bloodshed burning of houses depredations ensue two of those that is Murder and burning of Houses are Treason and there the other Felony by the construction the punishment of Treason and Felony is turned only into a fine of One hundred pounds from loss of Life Lands and all his Goods only to loss of part of his Goods The Third Absurdity a War is concluded three several Inrodes are made upon the Subjects in the first a hundred pounds damage in the second five thousand pounds damage in the third ten thousand pounds damage is done to the Subjects the penalty for the last inroade is no more then for the first only one hundred pounds This Statute by this Construction tells any man how to get his living without long labour Two parts of the hundred pounds is given to the King a third part unto the Informer Here 's no damage to the Subject that is robbed and destroyed My Lords The Statute will free it self and the makers from those Absurdities The meaning of the Statute is That if any Captain shall of his own head conclude of Peace or War against the Kings Enemies or Rebels or shall upon his own head invade them without Warrant from the King or Lord Deputy of Ireland that then he shall forfeit a Hundred pounds The offence is not for laying of Soldiers upon the Kings people but making War against the Irish Rebells without Warrant the Offence is not in the Matter but in the Manner for doing a thing lawful but without Mission I. This will appear by the general Scope of the Statute all the parts being put together II. By particular Clauses in the Statute III. By the Condition of that Kingdom at the time of the making of that Statute For the First The Preamble recites that in time of Declination of Justice under pretext of defending the Country and themselves diverse great Men arrogated to themselves Regal Authority under the names of Captains that they acquired to themselves that Government which belonged to the Crown for preventing of this It 's Enacted That no man dwelling within the Shire-Grounds shall thenceforth assume or take to himself the Authority or name of a Captain within these Shire-Grounds without Letters-Patents from the Crown nor shall under colour of his
refer still to offences made Treason by Act of Parliament they restrain not to the Treasons only particularly mentioned in the Statute in the 25th Edw. 3. but leave that Statute entire to the Common-Law-Treason as appears by the words immediately foregoing By the Second Part for the pains and forfeitures of Treasons if it intend only the punishment of Treason or if it intend both Treason and Punishment yet all is referred to the Provision and Ordinance of 25 Edw. 3. any Act of Parliament or other Declaration or thing notwithstanding It saith not other then such Penalties of Treasons as are expressed and declared in the Statute of 25 Edw. 3. that might perhaps have restrained it to those that are particularly mentioned no it refers all Treasons to the general Ordination and Provision of that Statute wherein the Comon-Law-Treasons are expresly kept on Foot If it be Asked What good this Statute doth if it take not away the Common-Law Treasons 1. It takes away all the Treasons made by Act of Parliament not only since the first of Hen. 4. which were many but all before 1 Hen. 4. even until the 25 E. 3. by express words 2. By express words it takes away all declared Treasons if any such had been in Parliament Those for the future are likewise taken away so that whereas it might have been doubted whether the Statute of the 1 H. 4. took away any Treasons but those of the 22d and 23d years of R. 2. This clears it both for Treasons made by Parliament or declared in Parliament even to the time of making the Statute This is of great use of great security to the Subject so that as to what shall be Treason and what not the Statute of 25 E. 3. remains entire and so by consequence the Treasons at the Common-Law Only my lords it may be doubted whether the manner of the Parliamentary proceedings be not altered by the Statute of 1 H. 4. Chap. 17. and more fully in the Parliament Roll Number 144 that is whether since that Statute the Parliamentary Power of Declaration of Treasons whereby the inferior Courts Receive Jurisdiction be not taken away and restrained only to Bill that so it might operate no further then to that particular contained in the Bill that so the Parliamentary Declarations for after-times should be kept within the Parliament it self and be extended no further Since 1 H. 4. we have not found any such Declarations made but all Attainders of Treason have been by Bill If this be so yet the Common-Law Treasons still remaining there is one and the same ground of reason and equity since the 1 H. 4. for passing a Bill of Treason as was before for declaring of it without Bill Herein the Legislative power is not used against my Lord of Strafford in the Bill it s only the Jurisdiction of the Parliament But my Lords because that either through my mistaking of the true grounds and reasons of the Commons or my not pressing them with apt agreements and presidents of former times or that perchance your Lordships from some other Reasons and Authorities more swaying with your Lordships Judgments then these from them may possibly be of a contrary or dubious opinion concerning these Treasons either upon the Statutes of 25 E. 3. 18 H. 6. or at the Common-Law My Lords If all these five should fail they have therefore given me further in Command to declare to your Lordships some of their Reasons why they conceive that in this Case the meer Legislative Power may be exercised Their Reasons are taken from these three grounds 1. From the nature and quality of the Offence 2. From the Frame and Constitution of the Parliament wherein this Law is made 3. From Practices and Usages of former times The horridness of the Offence in endeavouring the overthrowing the Laws and present Government hath been fully opened to your Lordships heretofore The Parliament is the Representation of the whole Kingdom wherein the King as Head your Lordships as the most Noble and the Commons the other Members are knit together into one Body Politick This dissolves the Arteries and Ligaments that hold the Body together the Laws He that takes away the Laws takes not away the Allegiance of one Subject alone but of the whole Kingdom It was made Treason by the Statute of 13 Eliz. for Her time to affirm that the Laws of the Realm do not bind the Descent of the Crown no Law no Descent at all No Laws no Peerage no Ranks or Degrees of men the same condition to all It 's Treason to kill a Judge upon the Bench this kills not Judicem sed Judicium He that borrowed Apelles and gave Bond to return again Apelles the Painter sent him home after he had cut off his Right Hand his Bond was broken Apelles was sent but not the Painter There are Twelve Men but no Law there 's never a Judge amongst them It 's Felony to Imbezle any one of the Judicial Records of the Kingdom this at once Sweeps them all away and from all It 's Treason to Counterfeit a Twenty shillings piece here 's a Counterfeiting of the Law we can call neither the Counterfeit nor true Coin our own It 's Treason to Counterfeit the Great-Seal for an Acre of Land no property hereby is left to any Land at all nothing Treason now either against King or Kingdom no Law to punish it My Lords If the Question were Asked at Westminster-Hall Whether this were a Crime punishable in Star-Chamber or in the Kings-Bench by Fine or Imprisonment they would say it went higher If whether Felony they would say that 's for an Offence only against the Life or Goods of some one or few persons It would I believe be answered by the Judges as it was by the Chief Justice Thurning in 21 R. 2. that though he could not Judge the Case Treason there before him yet if he were a Peer in Parliament he would so Adjudge it My Lords if it be too big for those Courts we hope it 's in the right way here 2. The second Consideration is from the Frame and Constitution of the Parliament the Parliament is the great Body Politick it comprehends all from the King to the Beggar if so My Lords as the Natural so this Body it hath power over it self and every one of the Members for the preservation of the whole It 's both the Physitian and the Patient If the Body be distempered it hath power to open a Vein to let out the corrupt blood for curing it self if one Member be Poysoned or Gangred it hath power to cut it off for the preservation of the rest But my Lords it hath often been inculcated that Law-makers should imitate the Supreme Law-giver who commonly warnes before he strikes The Law was promulged before the Judgment of death for gathering the Sticks No Law no Transgression My Lords To this rule of Law is Frustra legis auxilium invocat qui in legem
of the same Quiver For Mr. Pym as a Prologue to those Designs acquainted the House That there were Informations of Desperate Designs at home and abroad to bring up the Army against the Parliament to surprize the Tower that the Earl of Strafford might Escape that Portsmouth was to be betrayed the French were drawing down their Army in all hast to the Sea side And to the same Effect was the Petition of the Rabble States men which follows THat whereas your Petitioners did yesterday Petition for the Redress of many Grievances Petition of the Rabble and for the Execution of Justice upon the Earl of Strafford and other Incendiaries and to be secured from some dangerous Plots and Designs on Foot to which your Lordships have this day given Answer that you have the same under Consideration for which your Petitioners do render humble thanks but forasmuch as your Petitioners understand that the Tower of London is presently to receive a Garrison of men not of the Hamblets as usually they were wont to do but consisting of other Persons under the command of a Captain a great Confident of the Earl of Strafford which doth encrease their fears of the suddain Destruction of King and Kingdom wherein your Lordships and Posterity are deeply interested and this is done to make way for the Escape of the Earl of Strafford the Grand Incendiary They therefore pray that instant Course may be taken for the discovery thereof and that speedy Execution of Justice be done upon the Earl of Strafford Hereupon the Lords sent six Peers to the Tower who Examining the Lieutenant he informed them he had a Command from the King to receive a hundred men under Captain Billingsley into the Tower thereby throwing an Odious Reflexion upon the King as if he were of confederacy for the Earl his Escape which his Majesty understanding did himself the Justice to let the Lords know by a Message That upon a Complaint of Sir William Balfour the Lieutenant of the Tower of the great Resort of People thither he Ordered the said Captain and his Company to guard the Munition there but if that occasion Jealousies his Majesty is willing to receive their Lordships advice And for the other fine story of the Earl's Escape is was discovered by the miracle of three good Wives of Wappings peeping in at the Key-hole out of Curiosity to see the Earl and they heard him discourse with his Secretary Mr. Slingsby about his Escape but Mr. Slingsby upon Examination absolutely denyed it as did also the Master of the Ship which was said to be laid for him only Balfour being Examined confessed the Earl had moved some such thing and offered him the King's Warrant for his Indemnity but whoever considers that he was a Scot a Confident of the Party and that all things were managed by Scottish Counsels Measures and Examples of Tumults and withal how unjustly he had traduced the King just before in the matter of Captain Billingsley will not at all admire he should make a little bold with his Conscience to keep his place to oblige his Friends and Countenance a Report which was so advantageous to the Designs that were then caarying on by Tumults and all the Artifices imaginable But that which puts it out of all doubt is the Letter which this noble Lord writ that very day to the King to pass the Bill of Attainder against him a Generosity as it was very uncommon so very inconsistent with the design of this pretended Escape which seemed rather Levelled at his Majesties Reputation among the People then to have any reality in it The Letter was this May it please Your Sacred Majesty IT hath been my greatest grief in all these Troubles The Earl of Strafford's Letter to the King May 4. to be taken as a person which should endeavour to represent and set things amiss between Your Majesty and Your People and to give Counsels tending to the disquiet of the Three Kingdoms Most true it is that this mine own private Condition considered it had been a great madness since through Your Gracious Favour I was so provided as not to expect in any kind to mend my fortune or please my mind more than by resting where Your bounteous Hands had placed me Nay it is most mightily mistaken for unto your Majesty it is well known my poor and humble Advices concluded still in this That Your Majesty and Your People could never be happy till there were a right understanding betwixt You and them and that no other means were left to effect and settle this happiness but by the Counsel and Assent of Your Parliament or to prevent the growing Evils of this State but by intirely putting Your Self in this last resort upon the Loyalty and good Affections of Your English Subjects Yet such is my misfortune that this Truth findeth little credit yea the contrary seemeth generally to be believed and my self reputed as one who endeavoured to make a separation between You and Your People under a heavier censure than this I am perswaded no Gentleman can suffer Now I understand the minds of Men are more and more incensed against me notwithstanding Your Majesty hath declared That in Your Princely opinion I am not Guilty of Treason and that You are not satisfied in Your Conscience to pass the Bill This bringeth me in a very great streight there is before me the ruine of my Children and Family hitherto untouch'd in all the Branches of it with any foul crime Here are before me the many ills which may befal Your Sacred Person and the whole Kingdom should Your Self and Parliament part less satisfied one with the other than is necessary for the preservation both of King and People Here are before me the things most valued most feared by mortal men Life or Death To say Sir that there hath not been a strife in me were to make me less man than God knoweth my Infirmities make me and to call a destruction upon my self and young Children where the intentions of my heart at least have been innocent of this great offence may be believed will find no easy consent from Flesh and Blood But with much sadness I am come to a Resolution of that which I take to be best becoming me and to look upon it as that which is most principal in it self which doubtless is the prosperity of Your Sacred Person and the Common wealth things infinitely before any private mans interest And therefore in few words as I put my self wholly upon the Honor and justice of my Peers so clearly as to wish Your Majesty might please to have spared that Declaration of Yours on Saturday last and intirely to have left me to their Lordships So now to set Your Majesties Conscience at liberty I do most humbly beseech Your Majesty for prevention of evils which may happen by Your refusal to pass this Bill and by this means to remove praised be God I cannot say this accursed
rather what was safe than what seemed just preferring the outward peace of my Kingdoms with men before that inward exactness of Conscience before God And indeed I am so far from excusing or denying that complyance on my part for plenary consent it was not to his destruction whom in my judgment I thought not by any clear Law guilty of death that I never did bear any touch of Conscience with greater regret which as a sign of my repentance I have often with sorrow confessed both to God and Men as an Act of so sinful frailty that it discovered more a fear of man than of God whose Name and Place on Earth no man is worthy to bear who will avoid inconveniencies of State by Acts of so high injustice as no publick convenience can expiate or compensate I see it a bad exchange to wound a mans own Conscience thereby to salve State sores to calm the storms of popular discontents by stirring up a Tempest in a mans own bosom Nor hath Gods Justice failed in the event and sad consequences to shew the World the fallacy of that Maxim Better one man perish though unjustly than the people be displeased or destroyed For in all likelihood I could never have suffered with my people greater calamities yet with greater comfort had I vindicated Strafford's innocency at least by denying to Sign that destructive Bill according to that Justice which my Conscience suggested to me then I have done since I gratified some mens unthankful importunities with so cruel a favour and I have observed that those who counsell'd me to Sign that Bill have been so far from receiving the rewards of such ingratiatings with the People that no men have been harassed and crushed more than they he only hath been least vexed by them who counselled me not to consent against the Vote of my own Conscience I hope God hath forgiven me and them the sinful rashness of that business To which being in my Soul so fully Conscious those Judgments God hath pleased to send upon me are so much the more welcome as a means I hope which his mercy hath sanctified so to me as to make me repent of that unjust Act for so it was to me and for the future to teach me that the best rule of policy is to prefer the doing of Justice before all enjoyments and the peace of my Conscience before the preservation of my Kingdoms Nor hath any thing more fortified my resolutions against all those violent importunities which since have sought to gain a like consent from me to Acts wherein my Conscience is unsatisfied than the sharp touches I have had for what passed me in my Lord of Straffords business Not that I resolved to have employed him in my affairs against the advice of my Parliament but I would not have had any hand in his death of whose guiltiness I was better assured than any man living could be Nor were the crimes objected against him so clear as after a long and fair hearing to give convincing satisfaction to the major part of both Houses especially that of the Lords of whom scarce a third part were present when the Bill passed that House And for the House of Commons many Gentlemen disposed enough to diminish my Lord of Strafford 's Greatness and Power yet unsatisfied of his Guilt in Law durst not condemn him to dye who for their integrity in their Votes were by posting their Names exposed to the popular Calumny Hatred and Fury which grew then so exorbitant in their clamors for Justice That is to have both my self and the Two Houses Vote and do as they would have us that many 't is thought were rather terrified to concur with the condemning party than satisfied that of right they ought so to do And that after Act vacating the Authority of the precedent for future imitation sufficiently tells the world that some remorse touched even his most implacable Enemies as knowing he had very hard measure and such as they would be very loath should be repeated to themselves This tenderness and regret I find in my Soul for having had any hand and that very unwillingly God knows in the shedding one mans Blood unjustly though under the colour of the Formalities of Justice and pretences of avoiding publick Mischiefs which may I hope be some Evidence before God and Man to all Posterity that I am far from bearing justly the vast load and guilt of all that blood which hath been shed in this unhappy War which some men will needs charge upon me to ease their own Souls who am and ever shall be more afraid to take away any mans life unjustly than to lose my own Nor was this all for besides what he said at his own Death he acquainted Doctor Shelden afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury with his Resolution if ever he was in a Condition to perform his Vows of which this was one To do publick Pennance for the injustice he had suffered to be done to the Earl of Strafford as may be large be seen in his Life written by Dr. Perinchief fol. 119. Nothing was sounded in the Kings Ears but Fears Terrors and Threatnings of Worse and Worse Tumults and Rebellions from every quarter of the City and every corner of the Kingdom and indeed the King who had seen the effects of them both in Scotland and England could not but have very terrible apprehensions of them At last having wrastled him breathless he was vanquished by Importunity and necessity and yielded to the Passing of these two Fatal Bills by Commission the one for the Earl's and the other as it proved in the Event for his own Execution Upon Monday May the 10th Monday May 10. Bill of Attainder passed by Commission Mr. Maxwell Gentleman-Usher to the Lords came to acquaint the Commons with the good news that His Majesties Assent to the two Bills was to be given by Commission and that their Lordships did expect Mr. Speaker and the House of Commons to come up It seems the Gentleman was something transported as sure all the world was out of their wits for he came without the Black Rod and entred without being called in at which there was Exceptions taken but the News he brought was so agreeable that the transport of it did him the favour to take off the Resentments of the House who at another time would not have pocketted up such an affront with silence The Commission was granted under the Great-Seal of England directed unto the Lord Privy-Seal Lord Great Chamberlain Lord Steward The manner of passing Bills by Commission or any two of them for passing the Royal Assent to two Bills the one intituled An Act of Attainder of Thomas Earl of Strafford of High-Treason the other An Act to prevent the Inconveniencies which may happen by the untimely Adjourning Proroguing or Dissolving of this present Parliament The Lords being all in their Robes and the Commissioners sate upon a Form standing across the House
between the Chair of State and the Lord Keeper's Woolsack and the House of Commons with their Speaker being come up the Clerk of the Parliament delivered the Commission whereunto the Bills were annexed upon his knee Then the Lord Privy-Seal declared to both Houses that his Majesty had an intent to have come himself this Day to have given his Royal Assent to these two Bills but some important Occasions had prevented him and so his Majesty had granted a Commission for giving the Royal Assent which was delivered to the Clerk of the Parliament who carried it to his Table and read it this being done the Clerk of the Crown read the Titles of the Bills and the Clerk of the Parliament pronounced the Royal Assent to them both severally The Bill of Attainder was as follows WHereas the Knights Citizens The Bill of Attainder against the Earl of Strafford passed May the 10th and Burgesses of the House of Commons in this present Parliament assembled have in the name of themselves and of all the Commons of England impeached Thomas Earl of Strafford of High-Treason for endeavouring to subvert the ancient and Fundamental Laws and Government of his Majesties Realms of England and Ireland and to introduce an Arbitrary and Tyrannical Government against Law in the said Kingdoms and for exercising a Tyrannous and exorbitant power over and against the Laws of the said Kingdoms over the Liberties Estates and Lives of his Majesties Subjects and likewise for having by his own Authority commanded the laying and asseising of Soldiers upon his Majesties Subjects in Ireland against their consents to compel them to obey his unlawful Commands and Orders made upon Paper-Petitions in causes between Party and Party which accordingly was executed upon divers of his Majesties Subjects in a Warlike manner within the said Realm of Ireland and in so doing did levy War against the Kings Majesty and his liege people in that Kingdom And also for that he upon the unhappy Dissolution of the last Parliament did slander the House of Commons to his Majesty and did counsel and advise his Majesty that he was loose and absolved from the rules of Government and that he had an Army in Ireland by which he might reduce this Kingdom for which he deserves to undergo the pains and forfeitures of High-Treason And the said Earl hath been also an incendiary of the Wars between the two Kingdoms of England and Scotland all which offences have been sufficiently proved against the said Earl upon his impeachment Be it therefore enacted by the Kings most excellent Majesty and by the Lords and Commons in this present Parliament assembled and by authority of the same That the said Earl of Strafford for the haynous crimes and offences aforesaid stand and be adjudged and attainted of High-Treason and shall suffer such pain of Death and incur the forfeitures of his Goods and Chattels Lands Tenements and Hereditaments of any estate of Free-hold or Inheritance in the said Kingdoms of England and Ireland which the said Earl or any other to his use or in trust for him have or had the day of the first sitting of this present Parliament or at any time since Provided that no Judge or Judges Justice or Justices whatsoever shall adjudge or interpret any Act or thing to be Treason nor in any other manner than he or they should or ought to have done before the making of this Act and as if this Act had never been had or made Saving alwayes unto all and singular persons and bodies politick and corporal their Heirs and Successors others than the said Earl and his Heirs and such as claim by from or under him all such right title and interest of in and to all and singular such of the said Lands Tenements and Hereditaments as he they or any of them had before the first day of this present Parliament any thing herein contained to the contrary notwithstanding Provided that the passing of this present Act and his Majesties Assent thereunto shall not be any determination of this present Sessions of Parliament but that this present Sessions of Parliament and all Bills and matter whatsoever depending in Parliament and not fully enacted or determined And all Statutes and Acts of Parliament which have their continuance until the end of this present Session of Parliament shall remain continue and be in full force as if this Act had not been The Earl understanding that the Bill was passed did humbly Petition the House as follows SEeing it is the good Will and Pleasure of God The Earl of Strafford's Petition to the House of Peers that your Petitioner is now shortly to pay that Duty which we all owe to our frail Nature he shall in all Christian Patience and Charity conform and submit himself to your Justice in a comfortable assurance of the great hope laid up for us in the Mercy and Merits of our Saviour blessed for ever only he humbly craves to return your Lordships most humble thanks for your Noble Compassion towards those innocent Children whom now with his last blessing he must commit to the protection of Almighty God beseeching your Lordships to finish his Pious intention towards them and desiring that the Reward thereof may be fulfilled in you by him that is able to give above all that we are able ask or think wherein I trust the Honourable House of Commons will afford their Christian Assistance And so beseeching your Lordships charitably to forgive all his Omissions and infirmities he doth very heartily and truely recommend your Lordships to the Mercies of our Heavenly Father and that for his goodness he may perfect you in every good work Amen The next day being Tuesday May 11. Tuesday May 11. the King sent this Passionate Letter to the Lords in behalf of the Earl My Lords I Did yesterday satisfie the Justice of the Kingdom The Kings Letter to the Lords concerning the E. of Strafford by passing the Bill of Attainder against the Earl of Strafford but Mercy being as inherent and inseperable to a King as Justice I desire at this time in some measure to shew that likewise by suffering that unfortunate Man to fulfil the Natural Course of his Life in a Close Imprisonment Yet so if ever he make the least offer to escape or offer directly or indirectly to meddle in any sort of publick business especially with me either by Message or Letter it shall cost him his Life without further Process This if it may be done without the Discontentment of my People will be an unspeakable contentment to me to which end as in the first place I by this Letter do earnestly desire your Approbation and to endear it more have chosen him to carry it that of all your House is most dear to me So I desire that by a Conference you will endeavour to give the House of Commons Contentment assuring you that the Exercise of Mercy is no more pleasing to me than to see
Protestation I hope Gentlemen you do think that neither the fear of Loss nor love of Reputation will suffer me to belye God and mine own Conscience at this time I am now in the very door going out and my next step must be from time to Eternity either of Peace or Pain To clear my self before you all I do here solemnly call God to witness I am not Guilty so far as I can understand of the great Crime laid to my Charge nor have ever had the least inclination or Intention to damnifie or prejudice the King the State the Laws or the Religion of this Kingdom but with my best endeavours to serve all and to support all So may God be merciful to my Soul Then rising up he said He desired to speak something to the People but was affraid he should be heard by few in regard of the Noise but having first fitted himself to the Block and rising again he thus addressed himself to the Spectators MY Lord Primate of Ireland and my Lords The Earl of Strafford's Speech upon the Scaffold May 12. and the rest of these Noble Gentlemen It is a great Comfort to me to have your Lordships by me this day because I have been known to you a long time and I now desire to be heard a few words I come here my Lords to pay my last Debt to Sin which is Death And through the Mercies of God to rise again to Eternal Glory My Lords If I may use a few words I shall take it as a great Courtesie from you I come here to submit to the Judgment that is passed against me I do it with a very quiet and contented Mind I do freely forgive all the World a forgiveness not from the Teeth outward as they say but from my heart I speak in the presence of Almighty God before whom I stand that there is not a displeasing thought that ariseth in me against any Man I thank God I say truly my Conscience bears me Witness that in all the Honour I had to serve His Majesty I had not any Intention in my heart but what did aim at the Joynt and Individual prosperity of the King and His People although it be my ill hap to be misconstrued I am not the first Man that hath suffered in this kind It is a Common Portion that befals men in this Life Righteous Judgment shall be hereafter here we are subject to Error and Misjudging one another One thing I desire to be heard in and do hope that for Christian Charities sake I shall be believed I was so far from being against Parliaments that I did always think Parliaments in England to be the happy Constitution of the Kingdom and Nation and the best means under God to make the King and his People happy As for my death I do here acquit all the World and beseech God to forgive them In particular I am very glad His Majesty conceives me not meriting so severe and heavy a punishment as the utmost Execution of this Sentence I do infinitely rejoyce in it and in that Mercy of His and do beseech God to Return Him the same that he may find Mercy when he hath most need of it I wish this Kingdom all prosperity and happiness in the World I did it Living and now Dying it is my Wish I profess heartily my apprehension and do humbly recommend it to you and wish that every Man would lay his hand on his heart and consider seriously Whether the beginning of the Peoples happiness should be written in Letters of Blood I fear they are in a Wrong Way I desire Almighty God that no one drop of my Blood rise up in Judgment against them I have but one word more and that is for my Religion My Lord of Armagh I do profess my self seriously faithfully and truly to be an obedient Son of the Church of England In that Church I was born and bred in that Religion I have lived and now in that I dye Prosperity and Happiness be ever to it It hath been said I was inclined to Popery if it be an Objection worth the answering let me say truly from my heart That since I was Twenty one years of age unto this day going on 49 years I never had thought or doubt of the truth of this Religion nor had ever any the boldness to suggest to me the contrary to my best remembrance And so being reconciled to the Mercies of Jesus Christ my Saviour into whose bosom I hope shortly to be gathered to enjoy Eternal Happiness which shall never have an end I desire heartily to be forgiven of every Man if any rash or unadvised Words or Deeds have passed from me and desire all your Prayers and so my Lord Farewel and farewel all things in this World The Lord strengthen my Faith and give me Confidence and Assurance in the Merits of Christ Jesus I trust in God we shall all meet to live Eternally in Heaven and receive the accomplishment of all Happiness where every Tear shall be wiped from our Eyes and sad thoughts from our Hearts and so God bless this Kingdom and Jesus have Mercy on my Soul Then turning himself about he saluted all the Noblemen and took a solemn leave of all considerable persons on the Scaffold giving them his Hand And after that he said Gentlemen I would say my Prayers and I intreat you all to pray with me and for me Then his Chaplain laid the Book of Common-Prayer upon the Chair before him as he kneeled down on which he prayed almost a quarter of an hour then he prayed as long or longer without a Book and ended with the Lords Prayer then standing up he spyed his Brother Sir George Wentworth and call'd him to him and said Brother We must part remember me to my Sister and to my Wife and carry my Blessing to my Eldest Son and charge him from me That he fear God and continue an Obedient Son of the Church of England and that he approve himself a Faithful Subject to the King and tell him That he should not have any private Grudge or Revenge towards any concerning Me and bid him beware to meddle not with Church Livings for that will prove a Moth and Canker to him in his Estate and wish him to content himself to be a Servant to his Countrey as a Justice of Peace in his County not aiming at higher Preferments Carry my Blessing also to my Daughter Ann and Arrabella charge them to fear and serve God and he will bless them not forgetting my little Infant that knows neither good nor evil and cannot speak for it self God speak for it and bless it Then said he I have nigh done One stroke will make my Wife Husbandless my dear Children Fatherless and my poor Servants Masterless and seperate me from my dear Brother and all my Friends but let God be to you and them all in all After that going to take off his Doublet and to make
himself unready he said I thank God I am no more afraid of Death nor daunted with any discouragements arising from any fears but do as chearfully put off my Doublet at this time as ever I did when I went to Bed Then he put off his Doublet and wound up his Hair with his Hands and put on a white Cap. Then he called Where is the man that should do this last Office meaning the Executioner call him to me When he came and ask'd him forgiveness he told him he forgave him and all the World Then kneeling down by the Block he went to Prayer again himself the Bishop of Armagh kneeling on the one side and the Minister on the other to the which Minister after Prayer he turned himself and spoke some few words softly having his Hands lifted up the Minister closed his Hands with his then bowing himself to the Earth to lay down his Head on the Block he told the Executioner That he would first lay down his Head to try the fitness of the Block and take it up again before he laid it down for good and all and so he did and before he laid it down again he told the Executioner That he would give him warning when to strike by stretching forth his Hands and then laid down his Neck on the Block stretching out his Hands the Executioner struck off his Head at one blow then took the Head up in his Hand and shewed it to all the People and said God Save the King A Copy of the Paper containing the Heads of the Lord Strafford's last Speech written by his own Hand as it was left upon the Scaffold 1. I Come to pay the last Debt we owe to Sin 2. Rise to Righteousness 3. Dye willingly 4. Forgive all 5. Submit to what is Voted Justice but my intentions Innocent from Subverting c. 6. Wishing nothing more than great Prosperity to King and People 7. Acquit the King constrained 8. Beseech to Repent 9. Strange way to write the beginning of Reformation and Settlement of a Kingdom in Blood on themselves 10. Beseech that Demand may rest there 11. Call not Blood on themselves 12. Dye in the Faith of the Church 13. Pray for it and desire their Prayers with me His Body was afterwards Embalmed and Carried down into Yorkshire to be buried among his Ancestors Thus fell the Wonder of that Age and of all succeeding of whom I think a Greater Character cannot be given than those in short of the Archbishop of Canterbury who knew him best and the Primate of Ireland who saw him Dye The Archbishop discoursing with Dr. Whimberley concerning that Passage at their parting said That perhaps it was a softness unbecoming him but he hoped by Gods Assistance and his own Innocence that when he should come to his own Execution which he Expected the World should perceive that he had been more sensible of the Earl of Strafford's Loss than of his own and with good reason he said for that Gentleman was more Serviceable to the Church not to mention the State then either himself or all the Church-men of England had been And the Lord Primate of Ireland giving an account to the King of the manner of his Death told him That he had seen many Die but never saw so White a Soul return to its Maker At which Expression that Good and Compassionate Prince was so tenderly touched that turning himself aside he could not forbear paying the sad Tribute of some Tears to the Innocent Manes of the Illustrious Sufferer He left these Three Instructions to his Son in Writing First That he should continue still to be brought up under these Governors to whose Charge he had committed him as being the best he could chuse of all those within his Knowledg and that he should not change them unless they were weary of him that he should rather want himself than they should want any thing they could desire Secondly If his Prince should call him to Publique Service that he should carefully undertake it to testifie his Obedience and withal to be Faithful and Sincere to his Master though he should come to the same End that himself did Thirdly That he foresaw that Ruin was like to come upon the Revenues of the Church and that perhaps they might be shared among the Nobility and Gentry but charged him never to meddle with any of it for the Curse of God would follow all them that meddle with such a thing that tends to the destruction of the most Apostolical Church upon Earth Thus lay his Innocence asleep with his injured Ashes till together with Monarchy and Episcopacy it received a Resurrection at the Happy Restauration of his Most Serene Majestie King Charles the Second when by publique Act of Parliament publique Justice was done to his Memory and the Injustice of his Sufferings The Act was as follows WHereas Thomas late Earl of Strafford The Act for Reversing the Attainder of Thomas Earl of Strafford was impeached of High-Treason upon pretence of endeavouring to subvert the Fundamental Laws and called to a publick and solemn Arraignment and Tryal before the Peers in Parliament where he made a particular Defence to every Article objected against him insomuch that the turbulent party then seéing no hopes to effect their unjust Designs by any ordinary way and method of Proceedings did at last resolve to attempt the Destruction and Attainder of the said Earl by an Act of Parliament to be therefore purposely made to condemn him upon accumulative Treason none of the pretended crimes being Treason apart and so could not be in the whole if they had been proved as they were not and also adjudged him guilty of Constructive â—reason that is of Levying War against the King though it was only the Order of the Council-Board in Ireland to be executed by a Sergeant at Arms and three or four Soldiers which was the conuant practise of the Deputies there for a long time To the which end they having first presented a Bill for this intent to the House of Commons and finding there more opposition than they expected they caused a multitude of tumultuous persons to come down to Westminster armed with Swords and Staves and to fill both the Palace-yards and all the approaches to both Houses of Parliament with Fury and Clamor and to require Justice speedy Justice against the Earl of Strafford and having by those and other undue practises obtained that Bill to pass the House of Commons they caused the Names of those resolute Gentlemen who in a Caâ—e of innocent Blood had freely discharged their Consciences being Fifty nine to be posted up in several places about the Cities of London and Westminster and shied them Straffordians and Enemies to their Countrey hoping thereby to deliver them up to the fury of the People whom they had endeavoured to incense against them and then procured the said Bill to be sent up to the House of Peers where it having some
Necessity therefore to be used being lawful L. L. Ireland Commission of Array to be put in Execution They are to bring them to the Borders In reason of State you have power when they are there to use them at the King's Pay if any of the Lords can shew a better let them do it Town full of Nobility who will talk of it Obser he will make them smart for it Thus did Ambition and private Revenge disguise themselves under the popular pretence of publique Justice and tenderness for the safety of the Common-wealth The truth is Power and Greatness do always render the Great Ministers of State Criminals to Malice and Envy and of this I will give two remarkable Instances out of the above mentioned Memoirs of the Earl of Manchester When saith he The reason why the Marquess Hamilton and the Lord Cottington escaped the fury of the Faction strickt Scrutiny was made into the Councils and Actions of those who were in greatest Power and Credit with the King divers of the Privy-Council most of the Judges came under the Debate of a Capital or Criminal Impeachment and the very Order of Episcopacy with all its Hierarchy incurred the Odium of Superstitious Pride and Oppression But they who were looked upon as the principal Instruments of those Mischiefs which threatned the Ruine of the Three Kingdoms of England Scotland and Ireland were the Archbishop of Canterbury the Earl of Strafford the Marquiss Hamilton and the Lord Cottington these were of the Juncto where all things of consequence and privacy had been consulted and resolved and these were designed first to be questioned But the Marquiss Hamilton seeing a dark Cloud gathering over his head thought it necessary to seek a timely Shelter and upon consultation with his Friends about the most probable way for preventing of the Clamour of the Commons which might prove a fatal Vote against him he was advised to improve his Interest in the Commissioners of Scotland for he had personally obliged some of them and the rest could not but acknowledge that he had Expressed a great care of his Nations happiness in all those imployments wherein he had been trusted by his Majesty for though he often shewed a great Aversion and activeness against them in their Cause and Quarrel yet in all their Extremities they found him a Friend intending their good He therefore pressed them to intercede for him which they did with earnest solicitations They likewise gave such Engagements for his future Compliance with the Parliaments Designs as he was not only Exempt from all fear of Accusation but he became a Confident in all their private Designs against others and employed his Credit with the King for the obtaining many and great concessions The Lord Cottington could not hope for so powerful an intercession neither durst he rely on his Innocency as Parliament-proof therefore he had recourse to that prudent if not subtle way by stripping himself of his Skin to save his life He knew the Mastership of the Wards was a place of that value and power as probably it might stop the Mouths of his greedy Enemies or else open the hearts of some towards him in a way of Protection and Friendship He therefore declared to the King his condition and propounded the making the Lord Viscount Say and Seal to be his Successor This proved a very successful policy for as soon as this was made known to those who were concerned in their hopes of his place all Criminal Aspersions were laid aside and he gained the advantage of a retired and quiet being Thus far the said Earl in his Memoirs who was no Stranger to the most private transactions of those persons and times The Fall of this lofty Cedar gave not only a general consternation to all the Kings Friends but the greatest encouragement imaginable to the whole Faction who could not dissemble their satisfaction at their having gained so important a point but that it boyled over at the Mouths of the less cautious and more warm of the Party insomuch that I have heard one who was inwardly acquainted among them affirm that one of them as I think Mr. Pym was heard to boast of their success in words to this effect Have we saith he speaking of the Kings passing the Bill of Attainder against the Earl of Strafford got him to part with Strafford then he can deny us nothing And certainly nothing could be of greater disadvantage to his Majesties Affairs then this sacrificing a Great Court Favourite to their Wills rather then to Law or Justice For the whole Nation knew how dear this Great Man was to his Master and the great struglings which the King made if possible to save him and the reluctancy with which he seemed to resign him rather to necessity then reason as it made the victory appear greater so it taught all others of the Kings Friends the greatness of their danger and the impossibility of stemming so strong a Torrent as had wrackt so brave a person as the Earl of Strafford Nor did they think it any disparagement when they saw the King himself stoop to such compliances for them also to bend their Necks And doubtless as nothing can more encourage the Servants and Ministers of any Prince in circumstances and difficulties of this nature than the courage and resolution of the Prince himself so nothing can depress their Spirits comparably to the fear of seeing themselves deserted and left to the Fury and Rage of their Enemies for adhering faithfully to and vigorously prosecuting the Interests of their Master And had his Majesty made use of his Royal Prerogative and refused to Pass the Fatal Bill it could not have happened worse to him then afterwards it did but it might have proved better because they were not then in a condition to Levy a Formal War against him as afterwards they did his Majesty having a very good Army in the North to have Opposed them and had the Earl saved his a Noble and Valiant General to have been at the head of them But to return to the Parliamentary Affairs the Tumults were grown so insolent that his Majesty being sensible of the danger of them sent a Message to the Lords about them Upon which the Lords desired a Conference with the Commons the heads of which the Lord Privy-Seal delivered as follows THat he was commanded from the King to declare to both Houses at a Conference Conference about the Tumults that the People do assemble in such unusual numbers that his Majesty fears the Council and the Peace of the Kingdom may be interrupted and therefore as a King that loves Peace takes care that all Proceedings in the Parliament may be in a fair temperate and peaceable manner It being now time of Parliament his Majesty will not of himself prescribe the way but expects that both Houses upon mutual Conference will advise such a course which may best preserve the quietness of the Kingdom That their
Matth. Paris that the Bishop of Winchester was his Brother a very Potent Man in the State And it is worthy our Noting that the Bishops did endeavour to salve their Disloyalty and Perjury by bringing in the Salick Law to this Kingdom Trayterously avowing that it was baseness for so many and so great Peers to be subject to a woman Nay it seemeth the Bishops did not intend to be true Subjects to him though a brave and worthy Prince H. Huntington had his Title to the Crown been as good as the Prelates at his Election did declare for read we not that the Bishops of Salisbury Lincoln Ely and others did fortifie Castles against him and advanced to him in Armed and Warlike manner Wendover Nay did not his Brother the Bishop of Winchester forsake him and in a Synod of Clergy accursed all those that withstood the Empress Maud Paris Malmsbury blessing all that assisted her Surely this Curse ought to have fallen on himself and the Archbishop who did trouble the Realm with Fire and Sword Sure as these were too great to be put out of Parliament so were they very dangerous therein Unto Stephen succeeded Henry the Second In this time Thomas Becket was Archbishop of Canterbury what his demeanor towards his Soveraign was and what Mischief was by him occasioned to the Kingdom would take too much time to declare though some Papists that adore him for a Saint will say he resisted on just Cause Caesarius dial lib. 8. c. 69. yet I will deliver what I read and render him with the Chronicles an Arch-Traytor and tell you that the Doctors in Paris did Debate whether he were damned for his disloyalty Rogerus the Norman avowing Bale Brit. Cent. 2. that he deserved death and damnation for his Contumacy toward the King the Minister of God From him I pass to his Son Richard the First R. 1. who had two Brothers that were Bishops the one of Duresme the other of Lincoln and after Archbishop of York and going to the Holy Land appointed for Governour of the Kingdom William Longchamp Chief Justiciar and Lord Chancellor of England and Papal Legate Fox p. 289. This Vice-Roy Paris Hovedon alii Guil. Nubu lib. 4. c. 14. Hovedon Nub. l. 4. c. 17. Hovedon p. 399. or rather King for so Paris calls him Rex Sacerdos had joyned with him Hugh Bishop of Duresm for the Parts beyond Humber This Kingly Bishop as Authors deliver did use incredible Insolence and intolerable Tyranny and commit a most Sacrilegious and Barbarous Out-rage upon the Person of Jeffery Archbishop of York and natural Brother to King Richard the First for which afterwards being taken in a Curtesans Apparel and Attire velut delicata muliercula he was banished the Realm Now as it was very difficult to turn such Papal Bishops and Regulo's out of Parliament so certainly such Lord Bishops did work there no little Mischief to Regal Power the Subjects Liberties and the Weal publique Certainly this was not the Duty and Office of a Bishop Matth. Paris Hollin in R. 1. surely the Silk and Scarlet Robes of Princes and Justiciars were as undecent for these Bishops as was the Coat of Iron of the Bishop of Beavois taken Prisoner by this King which he sent to the Pope with a Vide an tunica filii tui sit an non to which he made Answer That he was not his Son nor the Son of the Church For he had put off the peaceable Prelate and put on the Warlike Souldier took a Shield instead of a Cope a Sword for a Stole a Curace for an Albe a Helmet for a Mitre a Lance for a Bishops Staff perverting the Order and Course of things Thus we see that a Bishop must destroy Mens Lives either as a Justiciar in Court or as a Souldier in Camp Qui si non aliquem nocuisset mortuus est they would do any thing but what they ought to do Feed the Flock they desire rather to Sit in Parliament then stand in a Pulpit accounting Preaching according to Bishop Juell so far below their greatness as indeed it is above their goodness We neither deny or reject Episcopacy or Church Government it self but the Corruptions thereof and we say that the Bishops who stiffly maintained those Corruptions have inforced this our distaste When Jacob was forced to depart from Laban for ill usage I conceive that the breach was in Laban not in Jacob. So also those that did forsake Babylon God commanding to depart from it lest they should be partakers of their punishment as they were guilty of their Crimes did not occasion the schism or breach but the sins of Babylon And we confess that true it is that we refuse and forsake the present Church Government but no further then it hath forsaken Pure and Primitive Institution therefore let none say that we are desirous of Innovation for I think we may boldly with the forenamed Reverend Bishop Juell affirm Nos non sumus novatores From King Richard the First I come to King John King John an Usurper likewise who was advanced to the Regal Throne by Archbishop Hubert and the Prelates * Observe this That even in this Mans opinion England is no Elective Monarchy Matth. Paris Hist Major This lewd Bishop unjustly declaring this and all other Kingdomes to be Elective and that no man hath Right or fore Title to succeed another in a Kingdom but must be by the Body of the Kingdom thereunto Chosen with Invocation of Grace and Guidance of Gods Holy Spirit alledging further and that most plainly by example of David and Saul That whosoever in a Kingdom Excelled all in Valour and Virtue ought to surmount all in Rule and Authority and therefore they had all unanimously Elected John first imploring the Holy Ghosts Assistance as well in regard of his merits as Royal Blood And thus the Bishops blanch their disloyal assertion with Sacred Writ and their Lewd devised Plot with the Holy Ghosts Assistance Hereby they rejected the just Title and Hereditary Succession of Arthur his Elder Brother's Son And as he did this disherison unjustly and disloyally so did he this Election lewdly and fraudulently as himself after confessed when being demanded the Reason of his so doing he replyed That as John by Election got the Crown so by Ejection upon demerit he might lose the same which after he did endeavour to his utmost and at last effected by depriving him of Life and Kingdome Let me not be misconceived Matth. Paris R. Hovedon Girald Cam. who called him Principio fraenum I know Hubert died 8 or 10 years before him but what he did begin and forward was furthered and pursued by Stephen Langton and other Bishops and Prelates too long to rehearse His other Brother being Archbishop of York a strange Example saith Malmsbury to have a King ruled by two Brethren of so turbulent humours Many of their Treasonable Acts and
the Regiment of the Kingdom together with the King And now will any say No Bishop No King yet one word more before I part with these Bishops what Ground-work they laid and what means they used for the Ruine of King and Kingdom was it not their working upon the Impotence of a Womans will insinuating what indignity it was that a She-Daughter of France being promised to be a Queen was become no better than a waiting-woman living upon a Pension and so nourishing in her great Discontents perswaded her going to France which was the Matter and Embrion and as I may say the chief Cause of Common Destruction which after ensued God keep all good Princes from heark'ning or consenting to the pernicious Counsels of such pestilent Priests and prating Parasites To declare all their Disloyalties in Parliament and out would fill a large Volume But now Brevis esse laboro therefore I only say That as it was not for their Goodness but Greatness that they sate in Parliament so their sitting there did I think I may say almost evert Monarchy yea Regality with what face can they inculcate that Aspersion No Bishop no King Certainly by what I have already delivered and shall now declare in the Reigns of Succeeding Princes it will â—ppear quite contrary that where Lordly Bishops domineer and bear Rule and Sway neither Kings nor Kingdoms themselves or Subjects are secure Now to the Reign of King Edward the Third did not John Archbishop of Canterbury perswade and incite this King and the Parliament to a most dangerous War with France whereby the Death of Millions hath been occasioned To such Mischief do they use their Learning and Eloquent Orations in Parliament What Epiphanius delivered of Philosophers that they were In Re stultâ Sapientes so may we say of such Bishops that they are In malo publico facundi But to pass by particular Men and Actions I shall only deliver unto you some Notable Passages in Parliament Anno 1371. The Parliament did Petition the King to have them deprived of all Lay-Offices and Government they being commonly the Plotters and Contrivers of all Treasons Conspiracies and Rebellions the very Incendiaries Pests and Grievances both of the Church and State the chiefest Instruments to advance the Peoples usurped Authority though with Prejudice of the Kings which they never cordially affected and the Arch-Enemies of the Common-wealth through their private Oppression Covetousness Rebellion and Tyranny when they have been in Office as may appear by Antiquitates Ecclesioe Britannicae in the Lives of Anselm Becket Arundel c. Here we see that they never affected the Authority of Kings but rather were Scourges to their Sides and Thorns in their Eyes Now we come to R. 2. his Grandchild who Succeeded him R. 2. we read that when in Parliament in London the Layety had granted a Fifteenth on Condition that the Clergy would likewise give a Tenth and Half William le Courtney then Archbishop did stiffly oppose it alledging they ought to be free nor in any wise to be taxed by the Layety which Answer so offended the Lords and Commons Tho. Walsingham that with extream fury they besought the King to deprive them of their Temporalties alledging That it was an Alms-Deed and an Act of Charity thereby to humble them that was then delivered for an Alms-Deed and an Act of Charity which is now accounted Sacrilege and Cruelty The next that Succeeded him was H. 4. but an Usurper also H. 4. for at that time there were living of the House of York whose Right by the Title of Clarence was before his as Mortimer c. In opposition to his Claim and Right the Bishop of Carlisle made a most Eloquent Oration but to what purpose Hayward to perswade his dethroning now vested in the Regal Government and thereby to ingage the Kingdom in a Civil War which when his Oratory could not effect he laboured and so far prevailed that by his subtil insinuations and perswasions many Princes of the Blood Royal Joh. Stow ex Anonymo Hal. Cron. and other great Lords were drawn to a Conspiracy himself laying the Plot together with the Abbot of Westminster the Chief Wheels of all the Practice as moving the rest for the King's Death whereby he brought to the Block those Noble Peers and as his Pestilent Council had infected their Minds so was the Blood of them John Stow Annals Hall ex Walsingh and theirs tainted by this foul Treason but as I discommend his disloyal Actions so I no better approve the other flattering and Time-serving Bishops who did Plead the Right of the Title of the said King more Eloquently than Honestly more Rhetorically than Divinely for which their Expressions they were employed as Ambassadors to Foreign Parts to declare and justifie his Title and Right to the Scepter the Bishop of Hereford to Rome the Bishop of Durham to France the Bishop of Bangor to Germany and the Bishop of St. Asaph to Spain which Bishop of Asaph sate as Judge in that Parliament and pronounced the Sentence of Deposition against King Richard The Form as near as I remember was We John Bishop of St. Asaph John Abbot of Glastenbury Commissioners named by the House of Parliament Sitting in Place of Judgment c. Here you may note that the Bishop did pass Judgment of a great Inheritance no less than Two or Three Kingdoms and though not between two Brothers but Cozins yet did adjudge most wrongfully as was most apparent I note withal That the Title of Lord is not assumed by this King-deposing Bishop nor any other that I read of Now what he had judged in Parliament his Holy Brother of Canterbury must make good in Pulpit Fabian 1. Concor Hall ex Fab. delivering what unhappiness it was to a Kingdom to have it governed by such a Man Certainly a most dangerous Position to an Hereditary Monarchy I also note that this Arch-Bishop was Brother to the Earl of Arundel and at the same time the Arch-Bishop of York a near Kinsman to the Earl of Wiltshire and who durst then plead against the Right of the Bishops Sitting in Parliament In the same King's Reign Richard le Scroop the Arch-Bishop of York did in Parliament enter into Conspiracy with Thomas Mowbray Earl Marshal against the said King for which they were both beheaded And now in the said King's Reign in the Parliament of Coventry let me also tell you That in the said Parliament as in other both before and after a Bill was exhibited against the Temporalties of the Clergy who called that Parliament Parliamentum Indoctorum saying That the Commons were fit to enter Common with their Cattle having no more Reason then bruit Beasts This is Speed's delivery but I take it that he repeateth it as the Prelates Censure of the House of Commons But to him succeeded Henry the Fifth H. 5 in his time did not Henry Chichley in an Eloquent Oration in Parliament revive
the Wars with France Hall in 8 R. 2. by declaring the King 's Right thereunto to the effusion of much Christian Blood and to the loss of all we had there To expiate which he built a Colledg in Oxenford to pray for the Souls Slain in France Though what he did then deliver was true of the King 's Right much Christian Blood and to the loss of all we had there To expiate which he built a Colledg in Oxenford to pray for the Souls Slain in France Though what he did then deliver was true of the King 's Right of France as was also the other of John Arch-Bishop of the same See in Edw. the Third's time and no less true was that of Carlisle against H. 4th's Title Yet I may say it was not the Office or Function of a Bishop to incense Wars Domestique or Foreign Nay this Bishop did set this War on foot to divert the King from Reformation of the Clergy For in that Parliament held at Leicester there was a Petition declaring that the Temporal Lands which were bestowed on the Church were superfluously and disorderly spent upon Hounds and Hawks Horses and Whores which better imployed would suffice for the maintenance of 15 Earls 1500 Knights 6200 Esquires and hundred Alms-houses and besides of Yearly Rent to the Crown 20000 pounds From him I come to his Son Henry the Sixth H. 6 I read many Accusations that Glocester the good Protector did lay to the Charge of Beaufort the Cardinal of Winchester and Lord Chancellor Fox Mart. in H. 6. Great Uncle to the King Living Son to John of Ghent alledging him a Person very dangerous both to the King and State his Brother of York a Cardinal also together with other Bishops no better For we read of Arch-Bishop Bourchier and other Bishops that they did shamefully countenance the distraction of the time These as I delivered before though bad in Parliaments yet too great to put out I will not now speak of many other Particulars that I might either in this King's Reign or his Successors to King Henry the Eighth for that I desire to declare what they did since the Reformation yet therein will be as brief as I may having already too much provoked your Patience for which I crave humble Pardon To Henry the Sixth succeeded Edward the Fourth E. 4 who indeed had the better Title to the Crown notwithstanding Arch-Bishop Nevil Brother to the King Maho Warwick with others did Conspire and attempt his Dethroning and after took him Prisoner and kept him in his Castle of Midleham and after in Parliament at Westminster did they not declare him a Traytor and Usurper confiscate his Goods revoke abrogate and make frustrate all Statutes made by him and intayl the Crown of England and France upon Henry and his Issue-Male in default thereof to Clarence and so disabling King Edward his Elder Brother But to hasten I will pass over Edw. the Fifth E. 3 whose Crown by means of the Prelates as well as the Duke of Buckingham was placed on the head of his Murtherous Uncle that Cruel Tyrant for had not the Cardinal Arch-Bishop by his perswasion with his Mother taken the Brother Richard Duke of York out of Sanctuary the Crown had not been placed on his Uncle's Head nor they lost their Lives and not to speak of Doctor Pinker and Doctor Shaw's Sermons and other foul passages of Prelates as Morton and others who sought also the destruction of King Richard and that when his Nephews were dead R. 3 and none had Right before him to the Crown which he then wore what disloyal long Speeches made he to the Duke of Buckingham to perswade the said Duke to take the Crown to himself From Richard I pass to Henry the Seventh I told you before H. 7 that Morton would have perswaded Buckingham to dethrone King Richard the Third and take the Kingdom to himself to which he had no Right and failing therein he addressed himself to Henry then Earl of Richmond and as by his Counsel he prevailed with him so he prevailed against and won from Richard the Garland This perswader and furtherer of bad Titles was advanced to the See of Canterbury his desire whereof perhaps caused his disloyalty and being in high favour with this Prince by his special Recommendations procured one Hadrian de Castello an Italian to be made first Bishop of Hereford after of Bath and Wells who also was made Cardinal by that Antichristian Goodw. Catal. of Bishops in Bath c. pag. 309. Paulus Jovius and devilish Pope Albert the Sixth and as Moreton had endeavoured the dethroning of his Lord and King so did the other Conspire the Murther of Pope Leo the Tenth when he was told by a Witch That one named Hadrian should succeed him As to Henry the Eighth I need not speak much of his Opinion of Bishops who he saith were but half Subjects if Subjects at all to him when he caused Sir Thomas Audeley Speaker to Read the Oath of Bishops in Parliament Spede And that it was so appeared when Wolsey and Campeius refused to give Judgment for the Unlawfulness of the Marriage of H. 8. and thereupon a Divorce whereupon the Duke of Suffolk said and that truly It was never merry in England since Cardinal Bishops came amongst us It were too large to repeat all the Petitions and Supplications and Complaints of Divines against them in this King's Reign as of Doctor Barnes Latimer Tindall Beane Barns Supplic alii and others This last named saith That the Bishops alone have the Keys of the English Kingdom hanging at their Girdles and what they traiterously Conspire among themselves the same is bound and loosed in Star-Chamber Westminster-Hall Privy Council and Parliament This and much more he But as their sitting there hath been obnoxious so it is useless as may appear by the Statute of 31 H. H. 8.31 8. yet in force where it is Enacted That as the then Lord Cromwell so all other that should thereafter be made Vice-Gerents should sit above the Arch-Bishop in Parliament Nay hold general Visitations in all the Diocesses of the Realm as well over the Arch-Bishops Bishops Arch-Deacons as Laiety to enquire and Correct their Abuses to prescribe Injunctions Rules and Orders for Reforming of Religion for abolishing Superstition and Idolatry and Correction of their Lives and Manners c. And read we not that in the 37 of the King's Reign Letters Patents were granted to Lay-men to exercise all manner of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction H. 8.37 as the King's Officers not the Bishops Thus we see the Government of Bishops as well as their Sitting in Parliament may be spared And that neither have nor heretofore had any Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction in making of Canons or Constitutions Henry 8.25 but by the King 's Writ nor Promulge or Execute any such without the King 's Royal Assent and Licence under Pain appears by the Statute of
25th of the same King upon the Clergies own submissive Petition And the Bishops themselves in the Prosecution of this Act 1603. in the beginning of King James his Reign did decree the same and pronounce Excommunication ipso facto upon all or any that should Ordain or Execute the same without Royal Assent Now you have seen their Demeanour in Parliament for Three or Four Hundred years or thereabouts The delivery hereof hath taken up much time and perhaps thereby most are satisfied that they have been hurtful and therefore that it is not convenient they should longer continue Members of that Honorable House where they have done such Mischief to King and Common-wealth yet in regard of my Promise and Undertaking to declare them Prejudicial from the First Parliament to this present by Testimony of Credible Authors in each King's Reign as also to meet with an Objection which I conceive will be offered to make all that hath been proved as Extravagant so invalid That those Actions Practises Plots Conspiracies or Treasons were done and perpetrated in time of Popery and that it was done by Papal Command I will deliver their Actions no less detestable nay rather more heinous after the Reformation than before In the several Reigns of King Edward the Sixth Queen Mary Queen Elizabeth King James of Blessed Memory and our present Sovereign whom God long Preserve But I desire I may be rightly understood that when I charge these Reverend Bishops that were very good Men Chief Pillars of the Church great Lights of Learning and Charge them to have those things as Bishops which I believe they would not have done as Private Ministers If I say I declare that they to hold their Bishopricks and in expectance of great Preferment and to please great Lords and Princes Kings and Emperors have not only yielded to but perswaded to introduce Idolatry to disinherit the Right Heirs of Kingdoms and force good Princes to do Acts Unnatural and Unjust Let me not be thought to speak in Depravation or Detraction I do not intend their Infamy and so desire to be understood their Memory ought to be dear to us all and it ever hath been and is precious in my Esteem but I thereby insinuate that Corrupt Lordly Episcopacy hath an Infection in it tainting the purest and godliest Ministers I pray you misconceive me not I am not against Episcopacy truly understood or a Church-Government rightly used but I conceive and therefore under Correction say That it hath with Theseus Ship received so many new Pieces and Additions to the first Building that it doth justly occasion a Dispute whether it be the same little or nothing of the first Substance and Materials remaining So that we have Episcopal Government in Name but want the Substance Vox proeterea nihil with Ixion we embrace but a Cloud instead of Juno or at best but a Blear-eyed Leah instead of a Beautiful Rachel This Tree I say is almost rotten this Salt somewhat unsavory this Light very dim this Building scarce sound or sure which if propping will help I would not have demolished till a Model of a better be agreed upon In King Edward's Reign did not the Reverend Bishop O Grief to hear faith my Author perswade Ed. 6. Fox Acts and Mon. and subscribe to the disinheriting of the two Daughters of H. 8. the Sisters of his King contrary to the Statute of 35 H. 8. as also in prejudice of the Right of Scotland Margaret being eldest Sister to Mary Grandmother to Jane on whose Head they would settle the Crown which Plot I think I may say wicked and disloyal if it had taken effect in all likelyhood the blessed Union of both Kingdoms had not ensued which as I said before was hindred by Betton Bishop of St. Andrews in H. 8th's time I have not yet spoke any thing as to the Point of Idolatry the most wicked and highest degree of Treasons being against the King of Kings did not the Arch-Bishop Cranmer and Bishop Ridley perswade John Spede nay earnestly press King Edw. 6. that the Lady Mary might have Mass said in her House and that to be done without all prejudice of Law the Greatness of her Person being the immediate Successor and the Might of Charles the Emperor moved those Bishops too forward and so far urged this to the King and from Divines becoming Politicians alledged the Danger in breach of Amity with the Emperor and when he convincing by Scripture and told them he would rather hazard his Life than grant that which was not agreeable to Truth They alledge the Bonds of Nature At last tell him they would not be said nay This they offered and thus far they pressed althô they could not prevail with this Pious Prince These were not the Baits that Peter angled with to catch Souls or the Weapons that St. Paul fought with when he professed they were not Carnal but mighty through God to cast down Holds they propose not Honor and Security to Christ's Disciples but Hazard and Baseness A most godly Speech of a good Christian Prince the like whereto I read that King James uttered in his Protestation made to Watson as he after confessed to the Earl of Northampton upon some occasion offered All the Crowns and Kingdoms in this World saith he shall not induce me to change one jot of my Profession which is the pasture of my Soul and earnest of my Eternal Inheritance A Pious Speech of a Magnanimous King whose Memory shall ever be justly Blessed and I doubt not but our Gracious Sovereign as he holdeth his Kingdoms so possesseth the like Religious Courage and Constancy But to return to our former Bishops viz. Cranmer Ridley c. did they repent them of this upon better Consideration and upon the Death of this good King advance the Title of the Right Heir Nothing so Queen Maries Letter to the Bishops and L. from Keningall 9 July 1553. for when Queen Mary hearing that Jane her Cousin was to be Proclaimed Queen Writ her Letter to the Lords declaring her own Right and marvelling that they so unjustly attempted to put her from it contrary to their Loyalty Allegiance and the Statute which had formerly setled the Crown upon her They I mean the Bishops as well as the Lords for I find Canterbury and Ely to have Subscribed told her That she had no Right thereto but Jane must be Queen and she must submit her self to her as her Soveraign And what they Writ did Ridley Bishop of London Preach And thô this was not done or spoken in Parliament yet no man doubteth but if it had been effected they would have Pleaded in Justification thereof and confirmed it as Rightful in the next Parliament that should have been Called Now I have declared them disloyal Traitors and most unjust and ungodly in these Passages To pass from this Queen to the next I find that in the First year of good Queen Elizabeth there was a
further Reformation desired and what was then earnestly pressed by good Divines Jo. Stow Pag. 1084. as Dr. Scorie Cox Mr. Jewel Grindal Whitehead Horn Gest was thus far granted by that Godly Princess that there should be a Conference at Westminster where being come they were opposed by the Bishop of Winchester Lincoln Litchfield Carlisle and Chester together with some others These Bishops saith mine Author Stow abruptly broke off this Conference Pleading a mistaking of their Directions and in the next Sitting utterly refused either to Write their own or to Read the others Reasons whereby all was undone that was intended whereof part was Imprinted by Richard Jugge and John Cawood as is to be seen and this was in time of Parliament Much more I might declare of Bishops Actions in this Queens time as that the Bishops in Queen Elizabeths Inauguration did refuse to Anoint or Consecrate her viz. York Canterbury dying a little before Also these Chief Bishops denied the same as London Duresm Winchester Ely Lincoln Exeter Bath and Wells Coventry and Litchfield Chichester and Peterborough But I hasten to Conclusion And as this virtuous Queen did yield that a Dispute should be had for Reformation so did the gracious Prince King James grant the like at Hampton-Court where were Doctor Reynolds and Doctor Sparkes of Oxford and Knewstabs and Chaderton of Cambridge Now who resisted the Reformation Sure none other but the Bishop of Canterbury Duresme London Winchester Chichester Worcester Carlisle and St. Davids and the Deans of Westminster Windsor Pauls Chester Worcester and Christ-Church alledging that there was no need of Reformation But God and good Men did know the contrary but I will not trouble you with their Actions in this King's Reign their Introduction of Schisms Heresies and Idolatry of Popery and Arminianism and what not Of Irreligion to the Deity Mischief and Danger to the King and prejudice to the People and Kingdom few or none within these Walls but know them and felt the harmful fruits thereof As for their Actions in His Majestie 's Reign which I think do poise down and over-ballance all formerly done since beginning of Parliaments put together in the other Scale I will refer them to the Reports of the Committees for the Pope of Lambeth and his Cardinals Wren and others and briefly conclude That whereas from their first Sitting in Parliament to this time they have as well in Parliament as out been so prejudicial and appeared to have during their sitting there Plotted and Contrived Treasons and Conspiracies Rebellion and War Domestick and Foreign been Incendiaries and Grievances to State and Church and Arch-Enemies to King and Common-wealth introducing Salique Law making this Kingdom Elective and our Princes only Kings durant bene gerend or rather bene placit in worse Case and less hold than a Duke of Venice I hope His Majesty will Lâ—ge Talionis make their Episcopacy to be only Titular which is as much as is due to them whether Arch-Bishops or Bishops for they are to have Priority or Precedency Quoad-Ordinem not Quoad Ministerium wherein the poorest Curate is his equal and his fellow-Minister And as I am not for equality and Parity so I would not have too great a distance the Danger whereof to any Estate be pleased to hear as I received it from an Author formerly mentioned in these words rendred Too much Increase and unproportionable Growth is a Cause that procureth the Change and Ruin of Common-weals For as the Body is made and compounded of Parts and ought to grow by Proportion that it may keep a just Measure so every Common-weal being compounded of Orders and Estates as it were of Parts they must be maintained in Concord one with another as it were with equal and due proportion observed between each of them For if one Estate be advanced too much above another Dissention ariseth Equality being the Nursing Mother of Peace and Contrariwise Inequality the beginning of all Enmity Factions Hatred and Part-taking But seeing it is meet that in every well-establish'd Policy there should be a difference of Rights and Privileges betwixt every Estate Equality may continue if provision be made that one Estate grow not too much before the other But more of this elsewhere in its more proper place And as for these Reasons I yielded my Vote for the Unlawfulness and Inconvenience of their Sitting there Therefore I wish they may be no longer Members of that most Honorable House I humbly crave leave to add a word or two to what I formerly spoke I am not ignorant that the foresaid Assertion No Bishop No King is received as the delivery of King James but thô it might be admitted in the Sense he meant and intended to wit that those that dislike a Church Government will hardly admit Regal Rule yet we can no way allow thereof as it is commonly offered and pressed that the Regal Power cannot subsist without the present Episcopacy Now when that Wise Learned and Religious King did conceive of the Rules and Tenents of Bishops and Prelates how Consonant to the Majesty of Temporal Princes or whether he thought them rather to tend to the Trampling thereof under foot and laying their Honour in the Dust may appear by his Quotations in the latter end of his Apology for the Oath of Allegiance which I thought fitter to annex hereunto than to have delivered them in their proper place when I spake of Bishops in the Reign of Ed. 2d being then desirous to continue the Historical Narration of their Sitting and Actions in Parliament having too much transgressed by my often enterweaving other passages therewith I overpassed the same King James's Collection out of Cardinal Bishop Bellarmine are as followeth 1. 1. De Laicis c. 7. That Kings are rather Slaves than Lords 2. 2. De Pont. Rom. L. 1. c. 7. That they are not only Subject to Popes to Bishops to Priests but even to Deacons 3. 3. Ibid. That an Emperor must content himself to Drink not only after a Bishop but after a Bishop's Chaplain 4 4. Ibid. de Cler. c. 20. That Kings have not their Authority nor Office immediately from God nor his Law but only from the Law of Nations 5. 5. De Pontif. Lib. 3. c. 16. That the Popes have degraded Emperors but never Emperor degraded the Pope Nay even * Lib. 5. c. 8. Bishops that are but the Pope's Vassals may Depose Kings and Abrogate the Laws 6. 6. De Laicis c. 8. That Church-men are as far above Kings as the Soul is above the Body 7. 7. De Pontif. Lib. 5. c. 8. That Kings may be Deposed by their People for divers Respects 8. 8. De Pontif. Lib. 2. c. 26. But Popes can be Deposed by no means for no Flesh hath Power to Judge of them 9. 9. De Pontif. Lib. 4. c. 15. That Obedience due to the Pope is for Conscience sake 10. 10. De Clericis c. 28.
But Obedience due to Kings is only for certain Respects of Order and Policy 11. 11. Ibidem That those very Church-men that are Born and Inhabit in Soveraign Princes Countries are notwithstanding not their Subjects and cannot be Judged by them although they may Judge them 12. 12. Ibidem And that the Obedience that Church-men give to Princes even in the meanest and meer Temporal Things is not by way of any necessary Subjection but only out of Discretion and for Observation of good Order and Custom Here we find what base Estimation Prelates had of Princes may we not then justly except against their delivery as it is by them urged No Bishop No King Whoever will have the Patience to read over this long and tedious Speech and compare it with the Histories of those Authors which he has gleaned it from may possibly find the matters of Fact either mistaken or falsly represented nor indeed can we give intire credit to all that was written by the Monks of those Times who being great Enemies to the Bishops may be supposed very partial in relating some Passages of their Lives however it is not my Province to vindicate the Ill Actions of any sort of men whatever and is confessedly known that several of those Bishops as particularly Becket the famous Romish Saint were notorious Traytors and ill men But that which I think ought not to be passed by without animadversion is the Weakness of this Gentleman's Argumentation for it is evident that the main stress of his Argument is from the Actions of former ill Bishops to prove the necessity not only of taking from them all Temporal Power and Estate but also to Abolish and Extirpate the very Office for when ever he or any of his Party talk of Reformation as he does when he tells you They were degenerated from the Primitive Institution and that he only wishes there were Reformation not Demolishing but Amendment and Restitution the Reader is to Understand that by those soft Words of Reformation Amendment Restitution and Primitive Institution is meant the Utter Extirpation of Episcopacy as then it stood and the Reducing it to the Geneva standard which with them was a Restitution of it to its Primitive Institution Now how weak and inconsequential the Argument is from the Abuse of any Office Power Dignity Trust or Order to argue the Abolition or Taking it away there needs little more to be said then that Admitting the truth of this for a Practicable and Necessary Maxim all Laws Government and Order must cease in the World for it will as necessarily follow That because there have been ill Kings and Parliaments Magistrates and Laws Therefore they ought wholly to be taken away as because there have been ill Bishops that therefore the whole Order ought to be Abolished And indeed a few Years succeeding brought the same Consequences and Effects upon the King and House of Lords as it had done upon the Bishops who for Mal-administration and pretended Miscarriages by the Usurpation of these soft Reformers and Reducers of Men to their Primitive Institution were both Exauctorated and discharged of any share in the Government and many of them with the King himself of his Royal Crown and Innocent Lives verifying literally to a tittle what he takes such pains to confute in the Close of his Speech as a false and foolish Maxim No Bishop No King And certainly this Gentleman ought to have considered that Ecclesiastical Persons have in all Ages in all Places of the World under all Governments among all Religions Pagan Jew Christian Mahometan universally had a share in the Administration of Civil Affairs and particularly in Legislation so far as the preparing of Laws for the Royal Impress amounts to and with very good reason by a Rule which upon some Occasions these Gentlemen have a Great Veneration for Quod tangit Omnes ab Omnibus debet tractari and Ecclesiasticks as well as others being to be bound by Laws ought to have their part in preparing and consenting to them And further he ought to have considered that Under the Jewish Oeconomy instituted by the Only Wise God himself the chief Administration of all Civil as well as Religious Affairs was Vested in the Ecclesiasticks And for our English Constitution the Laws had incorporated the Episcopal Order into the Very Fundamentals of the Government making them one of the Three Estates of the Land as they are by several Acts declared and to their Sitting not only in Parliament but in all Great Councels during the Saxon Government all Records so long as we have any unanimously inform us so that they had an immemorial Prescription for their Right and it was an ill presage what the future Reformation would prove when it was begun with the over-turning of one of the three Fundamental Pillars upon which the Weighty Frame of the Government was built After all the long Harangue of the ill Actions of former Bishops in the times of Popery when he comes in the period of his Speech as one would reasonably have Expected to speak something to purpose of the Protestant Bishops instead of that as if he had designed to Gratifie the Papists he falls to calumniate the first Reformers Cranmer Ridley c. as factious turbulent Traytors and Incendiaries and when he comes to those of his own time the Pope of Lambeth and his Cardinals Wren and others as he is pleased to stile the Archbishop and Bishops he makes a most hideous Out-cry of Popery Arminianism Idolatry and what not of irreligion to the Deity mischief and danger to the King and prejudice to the People and Kingdome without offering so much as one single testimony or proof by any Action Word or Writing of theirs to support so gross and black a Charge But this was a Method these Worthy Patriots had learnt from the Jesuits Fortiter calumniare aliquid haerebit to throw all the dirt imaginable upon the Albs and Lawn Sleeves of the Bishops not doubting but some of it would stick to them in the opinion of the People and they were such great Masters in the Art of Blackening that I think even the Great Master of the Black Art who has his name from calumniating and falsly accusing the Innocent might have been their Schollar as doubtless he was their Tutor in this hellish Trade But to leave Mr. Thomas with his long Speech let us return to the other Affairs the Faction was now under great Fears of both the Northern Armies who were not only Discontented for want of Pay both Scots and English but several of the latter seeing Evidently whither this procedure of the Anti-Episcopal Faction tended had some warm thoughts about them to endeavour to prevent it while they had the power in their hands knowing that as soon as possible the King would be stript of this Power and those Forces be Disbanded but the matter it seems was either not so well contrived or so secretly managed but that
and Deputy-Lieutenants how affected to the Religion and to present their Names to the House and that where there is want that Arms and Ammunition may be supplyed By this Means they got a true account of all those who were their Friends and who their Enemies who were therefore to be displaced as disaffected to Religion and Popishly inclined as all those who were for Episcopacy were vogued to be and besides hereby they gave a General Alarm and Amazement to the Whole Nation to believe that those Fears and Jealousies with which they bewitched the People into Rebellion were grounded upon the foundations of Truth and real Danger which was the Occasion of this Inquiry into the state of the Militia Upon this a Message was sent to the Lords to acquaint them with a dangerous Conspiracy to seduce the Army against the Parliament and to increase the Fears and Jealousies among the People Message to the Lords about the Conspiracy to seduce the Army an Order was sent from the Commons to the Lord Mayor of London to take care of the City Guards The Message to the Lords was in haec verba Mr. Hollis who carried up the Message read it in these words Message about the Conspiracy of the Army That the House of Commons hath received such Information as doth give them just cause to suspect that there have been and still are secret practices to discontent the Army with the proceedings of Parliament and to ingage them in some Design of dangerous Consequence to the State and by some other mischievous ways to prevent the happy success and conclusion of this Parliament And because the timely discovery and prevention of these dangerous Plots doth so nearly concern the safety both of * Yet afterwards they did all that was possible to persuade the People that the King was in this Conspiracy King and Kingdom they desire your Lordships would be pleased to appoint a select Commitee to take the Examinations upon Oath of such persons and Interrogatories as shall be presented unto them by the Directions of the House of Commons and in the presence of such Members of that House as shall be thereunto appointed with Injunction of such Secrecy as a business of this nature doth require They have Ordered That such Members of their House as shall be thought fit shall upon notice be ready to be Examined and they desire your Lordships would be pleased to order the like for the Members and Assistants of your own House And further it is desired That your Lordships will forthwith send to his Majesty to beseech him in the Name of the Parliament upon this great and weighty occasion that no Servants of his Majesties of the Queen or Prince may depart the Kingdom or otherwise absent himself without leave from his Majesty with the humble advice of the Parliament until these Examinations be perfected Whereupon it was Ordered That this House will joyn with the House of Commons in all that they desire and these Lords following were Deputed to take the Examinations Earl of Bath Earl of Essex Earl of Warwick Earl of March Viscount Say and Seal Lord Wharton Lord Paget and Mr. Serjeant Glanvile and Mr. Attorney General to write and set down the Examinations There being never a Bishop in the Committee A Salvo for the Bishops a Memorandum was entered in the Journals MEmorandum Whereas none of the Lords the Bishops are joyned with the aforesaid deputed Lords it was declared by the House that it should be no prejudice to the Lords the Bishops This being done the Lord Great Chamberlain the Lord Steward the Lord Chamberlain the Earl of Dorset and the Earl of Newcastle were appointed to wait on his Majesty with the aforesaid request of the Parliament to which they brought this Answer THat his Majesty hath willingly granted it The Kings Answer concerning his Servants and gave a present Command to the Lord Chamberlain the Earl of Newcastle and the Earl of Dorset to give notice hereof to all under their Charge that none do depart the Kingdom without the King's License but to be forth-coming upon demand which accordingly they have already done After which the Oath of Secrecy was given to Serjeant Glanvile and Mr. Attorney in these words YOV shall Swear The Oath of Secrecy given by the Lords to Serjeant Glanvile and Mr. Attorney assistant to the Committee of Lords to Examine the Conspiracy The Persons accused That in your writing and setting down of the Examination of the Witnesses to be produced before the Lords deputed to take Examinations upon Interrogatories to be produced by the House of Commons concerning the English Army in the North and in all things concerning the same You shall well truly and faithfully behave your selves and not discover the same before the end of this Parliament or Publication granted or leave of this House first obtained The Persons Accused of this Design of seducing the Army against the Parliament were Sir John Suckling Mr. Henry Percy Brother to the Earl of Northumberland Mr. Henry Jermyn Colonel Goring Mr. William Davenant Captain Palmer Captain Billingsley and Sir Edward Wardourn and Warrants were issued out against them to bring them under the Examination of the House of Commons This day there passed little of Moment Thursday May 6. the Commons being taken up with Reading several Bills one for the security of the True Religion the Safety and Honour of his Majesties Person the just Rights of the Subject and the better discovering and punishment of Popish Recusants as also another Bill for Subsidies With which guilded baits they not only Angled for Popular Favour but also endeavoured to hide their Antimonarchical Designs against his Majesty by these specious pretences of endeavouring to study his Safety and Honour The House was this day informed That the Persons against whom the Warrants were Issued upon the Accusation of their endeavouring to seduce the Army were not to be found whereupon at a Conference it was desired that all the Ports might be stopped upon which the Lords made this Order Ordered The Order of the Lords for stopping the Ports That all the Ports of England shall be forthwith stopped until the pleasure of this House be further known and none to depart the Kingdom except Sir Thomas Roe and such as he will be answerable for who is to give in their names to this House And in particular stay is to be made of Henry Percy Esq Henry Jermyn Esq Sir John Suckling Knight William Davenant and Captain Billingsly that they depart not out of this Kingdom but are to be apprehended and safely conducted with all speed unto this House Directed To the Right Honourable Algernon Earl of Northumberland L. High Admiral of England To James Earl of March Lord Warden of the Cinque-Ports To Jerom Earl of Portland Captain and Governour of the Isle of Wight To George Goring Esq Governour of Portsmouth After which Sir Philip Carteret Lieutenant
and not the whole Body of the Kingdom was as follows Honoratissimis viris Equitibus Civibus Burgensibus Supremae Curiae Parliamentariae Senatoribus Consultissimis summa cum Demissione The Petition of the University of Cambridge May 12. 1641. Senatores Honoratissimi NOn veremur ne volventibus tanta negotia molesti simus Academia Cantabrigiensis cum nihil sit aut ad Religionem certius aut ad splendorem nominis excelsius quam suscipere Litterarum clientelam in quo Studio cum singularis Animi vestri propensio semper eluxerit tum nulla in re magis possit eminere quam si Ecclesiae honestamenta ea quae sub optimis Regibus tam diu obtinuerunt indelibata tueamini Non enim agitur unius Academiae non unius Aetatis causa nam nec industria poterit non relanguescere nec bona indoles ali neque augeri nec vota parentum non in irritum cadere nisi spe non vana suffulciantur Quam praematurum bonis artibus occasum imminere si stipendium idem Militi sit quod Imperatori Sunt qui expediendis Scholasticorum ambagibus evolvendis antiquorum Patrum Monumentis expurgandae faeci Romanae velut Augaei stabulo se totos impenderunt nec aliam mercedem prensant quà m in Ecclesia Cathedrali tandem aliquando quasi in portu conquiescere ita fit ut quod ignavis Asylum inscitiae est id candidioribus ingeniis pro stimulo sit ad optima persequenda nec aequitas judiciorum vestrorum ferret improbitatem nonullorum in publicam Calamitatem redundare Impetigo Romana quam amplam tum sibi nacta videbitur se diffundendi materiam cum non sit nisi imbelles adversarios habitura neque enim certamini vacare possunt qui id unicè agunt ut in rostris concionibus sudent etiamnum persentiscere nobis videmur nudam atque inanem Academiam antiquam paupertatem quasi praeludio perhorrescimus Nec vestra progenies non aliquando ventura est in tantarum miseriarum partes Quin itaque Senatores amplissimi per spes parentum per illecebras industriae per subsidia simul ornamenta pietatis per vincula nervos firmamenta litterarum velitis splendorem Ecclesiae qui longissimis ab usque temporibus deductus est authoritate vestrâ communire Sed quia linqua nativa dolores desideria sua faelicius exprimit annexam Litteris Petitionem benevolis auribus excipietis Datae è Frequenti Conventu nostro Cantabr tertio Idus Aprilis 1641. Honori vestro Deditissimi Procancellarius reliquusque coetus Academiae Cantabrigiensis To the Honourable the Knights Citizens and Burgesses of the House of Commons Assembled in Parliament The Humble Petition of the University of Cambridge Sheweth THat your Petitioners having heard of divers suggestions offered to this Honourable Court by way of Remonstrance tending to the subversion of Cathedral Churches and alienation of those Lands by which they are supported being the Ancient Inheritance of the Church founded and bestowed by the Religious bounty of many Famous and Renowned Kings and Princes of this Land other Benefactors both of the Clergy and Laity and Established and Confirmed unto them by the Laws of this Kingdom and so accordingly have been employed to the advancement of Learning the encouragement of Students and preferment of Learned Men besides many other Pious and Charitable uses May it please this Honourable Court out of their great Wisdom and tender Care for the cherishing of Learning and furtherance of the Studies and Pains of those who have and do devote themselves to the service of the Church graciously to protect and secure those Religious Foundations from Ruine and Alienation and withal to take order that they may be reduced to the due observation of their Statutes and that all Innovations and Abuses which have by some Mens miscarriages crept in may be Reformed that so the Students of our Vniversity which by the present fears both are and will be much sadded and dejected may be the better invited to pursue their Studies with alacrity and the places themselves disposed to the most serviceable and deserving Men according to their first Institution And your Petitioners as in Duty bound shall ever pray c This day The Defence of Deans and Chapters heard in the House of Commons for fashion sake those Gentlemen who desired to speak something in defence of the Deans and Chapters were heard before the House of Commons and after Dr. Burgess had inveighed against the singing of the Service alledging That Devotion vanished into Quavers and that St. Paul's Hymns were Legentibus non Cantantibus and had run a long Harangue upon the necessary use of Prayer and the power of Preaching Dr. Hacket made a learned Speech in defence of those Religious Foundations shewing how much they tended to the Glory of God the Advancement of True Religion Promoting of Piety Encouragement of Learning and the good of the Common-wealth The fum of his Defence so far as I can collect from those broken fragments which are Entred in the Journal of the House of Commons was as follows He shewed That in the beginning of the Reformation of this Church from Popery it was Queen Elizabeths great care to place the most Learned and Able Men in the Cathedral Churches and that from thence the great light of the Reformed Religion spread it self over this Nation by the constant preaching that was maintain'd there every Lord's Day besides a weekly Lecture That here were the Nurseries and Seminaries of Learning there being a Grammar-School to every Cathedral that the great Encouragement to Learning was the future expectancy of Rewards without which very few persons would be induced to fit themselves for Sacred Functions that the Labour and Industry must be great and long and the Charges extraordinary to qualifie any Person for the Service of God and the Church and that therefore these Encouragements are not more then enough to invite Men to these chargeable and laborious Studies Then he proceeded to shew the Primitive design of these Structures and Foundations which was That the Colledge of Presbyters might be as a Synod and Council to the Bishop to assist him in the Exercise of his Jurisdiction that they were greatly for the Honour of our Religion being the first Monuments of Christianity in our Nation dedicated to the Service of God and set apart for the continual Exercise of Christianity continual Prayers and Praises being there offered up to God Almighty for all sorts and conditions of Men. Then he proceeded to shew the advantage of those Foundations which the Church enjoyed by the Religious bounty of our devout Ancestors whose Wills ought to be had in Veneration As first to the Churches Tennants who had very advantageous Leases many times not much different from Inheritance paying only one part of Seven rather as an acknowledgment than a Rent Secondly To the Cities wherein they were by the great Resort
and Concourse of People to those places Thirdly To the Poor who found there a constant relief from their Hospitality Fourthly To the King's Revenues for that besides their First-fruits Tenths c. no sort of Men did more readily grant Subsidies to his Majesty or were more willing at this time to contribute to the publick Charges of the Kingdom He trusted much he said in the Honour and Justice of this Honourable House in regard that though they were Accused of great and flagitious Crimes yet he could not hear of the least proof offered against them and therefore he hoped that they who professed so much sincerity in Religion would never have St. Paul's censure deservedly laid upon them Thou that abhorrest Idols dost thou commit Sacriledge Which he did not see how it could be avoided if they destroyed these Religious Foundations which were dedicated and set apart for the solemn Service and Honour of God Concluding That upon the Ruine of the Rewards of Industry and Learning no Structure could be raised but Ignorance and upon the Chaos of Ignorance nothing but Confusion Prophaneness Irreligion and Atheism But Alas All this was but Surdis Canere Upon this there arose a warm debate and the Episcopal Party in the House who were by far over-numbered urged That they took the late Protestation to be the meaning and intention of the House to defend the Protestant Religion and not to destroy it according to the first Clause of the said Protestation But they soon found themselves in Solomon's Snare who informs them that is a Snare to devour holy things and after vows to make Enquiry for whatever their intention was in taking it the imposers had one very far different and meant it as an Engine to pull down the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy as a Relique of Popery and therefore they now explained their meaning to be That Explanation of the Protestation by the True Reformed Protestant Religion expressed in the Doctrine of the Church of England against all Popery and Popish Innovations within the Realm contrary to the same Doctrine is meant only the Publick Doctrine professed in the said Church so far as it is opposite to Popery and Popish Innovations and that the said Words are not to extend to the maintaining of any Form of Worship Discipline or Government nor of any Rites or Ceremonies of the said Church of England So that upon the Matter hereby the Government of the Church by Arch-bishops Bishops c. together with the Liturgy were plainly designed for Extirpation which is the Presbyterian way of Reforming Thus by an unhappy Artifice were many worthy and sound men not only for the Doctrine but Government of the Church as it were drawn into a Confederacy to destroy her And if their too inconsiderate compliance drew them into this danger how deeply were they Guilty who designedly drew them into the making a solemn Protestation Vow and Promise in the presence of Almighty God to perform something which by their own Confession was so mysterious and doubtful as to need an Explication a Vow made without the knowledge or consent of their Supreme Lord and Sovereign and as they Explained it not only directly contrary to their Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy but such a one as their Sovereign could not permit them to keep but he must violate his Coronation Oath by which he had obliged himself to defend the Church in all her Priviledges and Immunities as then by Law possessed and enjoyed A most impious affront to the Supreme Majesty of Heaven making him a Party to a Vow so rashly made that the very framers of it to their Eternal Infamy acknowledged by this Explanation carried so much Ambiguity as to render it not sufficiently understood to be taken with a safe Conscience nor by many of those who took it be kept without perjury and making shipwrack of their Consciences However this advantage Posterity will be able to make of it not to be again imposed upon by such wily stratagems of pretenders to Reformation but for the future will more easily be able to discover the design and meaning of such Protestations and Associations and in what sense they who diffent from the Church of England understand the True Protestant Religion of which they boast themselves such great Champions and Assertors and that though for a time to serve their Interest they may dissemble yet they esteem the Discipline Rites and Ceremonies of the present Established Church of England no better than Popery and Popish Innovations And that notwithstanding the Testimony of Antiquity long before either Popery or Presbytery came into the World recommends them to us as the Primitive Government and Usages of the Universal Church notwithstanding that the first Reformers set to their Testimony by Martyrdom which they suffered from the Papists an evident demonstration that they are not Popish Notwithstanding that they are agreeable to the Rule of Scripture enjoyned by those Laws and Legislators who detested abhorred and banished the Pope and Popery out of England yet if ever they can get the Power proportionable to their Wills they will endeavour to Extirpate Root and Branch the most truly Primitive and Apostolical Church in the whole Christian World A Message from the House of Commons by Mr. Arthur Goodwin Message from the Commons about the Bill to restrain Ecclesiastical persons from medling in Secular Affairs who delivered the Bill for the abbreviation of Michaelmas Term which the Commons had passed with the amendments And to desire their Lordships from the Commons to take into Consideration as soon as they can the Bill touching the Restraining of Bishops and Persons in Holy Orders from intermedling in Secular Affairs This day two Letters were read in the House of Commons one from Mr. Peter Heywood Thursday May 13. Fears of the French another from Thomas Smith of Dover to one James Buckhurst of the great fears of the French and their being about to Ship many thousands of men to be landed in England the Consideration of which were referred to the Committee of Seven Thus did they by continual Alarms of Fears and Dangers even upon the slightest and most trivial Grounds as it were to keep the People perpetually awake and force them into those dreadful State-Phrensies which were the deplorable Consequences of these Reports and Rumors His Majesty came this day into the House of Lords and having Seated himself in his Chair of State the Lords being in their Robes fitting uncovered the House of Commons were sent for the Royal Assent being to be given to three Bills viz. One for the Abbreviation of Michaelmas Term Another for Pressing and Levying of Marriners and others for the Service of the Kingdom and the third For the Remainder of the Six Subsidies Upon the presenting of which Mr. Speaker made this Speech as I find it in the Book of Speeches Pag. 204. May it please Your Most Excellent Majesty Mr. Speaker's Speech at the passing
of the three Bills for Abbreviation of Michaelmas Term for pressing Marriners and for the Remainder of the six Subsidies May 13. 1641. THE great security of the Kingdom rests in the happy concurrence of the King and People in the Vnity of their hearts These joyned Safety and Plenty attends the Scepter but divided Distraction and Confusion as Bryers and Thorns overspread and make the Land barren No Peace to the King No Prosperity to the People The Duties and Affections of Your Subjects are most Transparent most Clear in the chearful and most liberal Contributions given to knit fast this Vnion with the bond of Peace The Treasures of the privy Purse are but the supplies of Princes warranted by a common Interest But the publick Tribute given by common Assent supports Royal Dignity is sheltered under the Wings of Prerogative and by that Power covered from the Eyes from the Touch of Deceivers In these we render Caesar what is due to Caesar and Tribute to whom Tribute belongeth The proper Inscription of the Crown is born here and Censures those Malignant Spirits that dare whisper into the Ears of Sacred Majesty that our selves only not Your Sacred Person not Your Royal Posterity are the Supreme Objects of the Givers The preservation of the publick Vnion the supply of Your Armies the distresses miserable distresses of the Northern parts the common Calamities of the times begat the consideration of this Bill the Remainder of the six entire Subsidies happily presented to Your Sacred Majesty by this unworthy hand the first Vote advanced a credit to us to issue them for the use of Your Sacred Majesty The full perfection adds growth to that Credit and enables us to return to Your Sacred Majesty as to the Ocean the Tribute due to Justice and Soveraignty These are the vast earnests of our desires which take their rise from the due regard from the safety of Your Throne of Your Posterity Your Royal Assent stamps Your Image here and makes this Yours and Yours only which I by the Commands of the Commons humbly beseech of Your Sacred Majesty to give After which the Clerk of the Crown reading the Titles severally the Clerk of the Parliament pronounced the King's Assent This being done his Majesty delivered a Paper to the House concerning the Draining of the Fens recommending it to their consideration as a business much concerning the good of the Kingdom The Act for restraining Bishops and others in Holy Orders from intermedling with Secular Affairs read a second time This day one Mr. John Smith a Minister in Custody of the Serjeant Attending the House was brought to the Bar and Committed to the Gate-house for words spoken against the Parliament For though all sorts of people spake freely enough against the Actions of the Judges Mr. Smith a Minister committed to the Gatehouse Ministers of State Privy-Councellors nay and of the King himself without the least controll or danger of either punishment or animadversion yet to speak against any thing done or said by the Commons was now become the most dangerous offence and which through the diligence of the well affected Party for so the Dissenters from the Church called themselves who were most notable Informers was certainly complained of to the Commons and by them most severely punished if not by Prisons yet by the great Charges of being kept long in the Custody of the Serjeant at Armes The Explanation of the Protestation formerly mentioned Friday May 14. was this day Ordered to be Printed and Published that so the Presbyterian Party might receive encouragement and assurance of their intention to pull down the Government of the Church by way of a Glorious and thorow Reformation This day Doctor Cozens and some others that are Delinquents in the Impeachment brought up from the House of Commons Dr. Cozens and others at the Bar of the Lords House were called in who kneeled at the Bar and then stood and heard the Impeachment read after it was read Doctor Cozens made his humble request in behalf of himself and the rest that this Cause may be heard publickly before the whole House This day Two Clergy-men who had been informed against in the House of Lords were Released by the following Orders WHereas Andrew Sandeland Clerk Sandeland and Waferer two Clergy Men Released hath been long in Custody for words alledged to have been spoken by him for which this House had just cause to have inflicted punishment upon him if they had been proved but after a long time no Prosecution appearing against him it is Ordered That the said Andrew Sandeland be forthwith discharged and set at liberty of and from his present Restraint or Imprisonment and that any Bond or other Security entered into by the said Andrew Sandeland for his attendance upon this House shall be forthwith Cancelled and delivered up to him Ordered That Michael Waferer Clerk having been long in Custody be forthwith discharged of his Restraint and that his Bonds and other Security given for his Attendance upon this House be delivered up to him to be Cancelled and his Cause dismissed this House because no Prosecutors have this long time appeared The Faction found better Encouragement from the Commons House to prosecute honest men by their false Informations at the Committee for Scandalous Ministers And indeed the Lords House was not at all for their purpose yet while the Bishops and so many of the Loyal Nobility sate there whose Honour and Justice would soon have discovered the Malice of these Accusations This day the Lord St. John's of Bletsoe was Introducted in his Robes Lord St. John of Bletsoe Introduced into the House of Lords between the Lord Hunsden and the Lord Grey of Wark he delivered his Writ upon his knee to the Speaker which being delivered to the Clerk it was read then the Lord Chamberlain and the Lord Moubray in the place of the Earl Marshal his Father and the King at Arms going before him brought him and placed him next below the Lord Hunsden After which he and the Lord Chief Baron took the Protestation The Commons having received an Information against Mr. Saturday May 15. Mr. Davenant and Mr. Walley sent for by the Serjeant as Delinquents Informations against Mr. Percy William Davenant the Poet and Mr. Elias Walley concerning the Business of the Army they were by Order of the House sent for as Delinquents by the Serjeant Also several Informations against Mr. Percy the Earl of Northumberland's Brother which were taken at Chichester were read upon which John Lamb and Robert Merryweather were sent for from Chichester to be Examined upon it and a Conference with the Lords was desired upon it The Earl of Bath reports the Conference Conference about Percy Merryweather and Lamb. That the House of Commons have received certain Information that on Wednesday Night last past was Sevennight Mr. Percy came to Petworth and sent for one Robert Merryweather and borrowed of him
released from their Imprisonment in the Tower but nothing was done upon it The Earl of Northumberland sent a Message to the Commons to let them know he had received a Letter from his Brother Mr. Henry Percy and that if they would send some of their House they should have an account of it Whereupon Mr. Hollis and some others were sent to his Lordship The Letter was in these words WHat with my own innocency Mr. Henry Percy 's Letter to the Earl of Northumberlan concernin the business of the Army and the violence I hear is against me I find my self much distracted I will not ask your Counsel because it may bring prejudice upon you but I will with all faithfulness and truth tell you what my part hath been that at least it may be cleared by you whatsoever becomes of me When there was 50000 l. designed by the Parliament for the English Army there was as I take it a sudden demand by the Scots at the same time of 25000 Pounds of which there was 15000 l. ready this they pressed with much necessity as the Parliament after an order made did think it fit for them to reduct 10000 l. out of the 50000 l. formerly granted upon which the Souldiers in our House were much Scandalized amongst which I was one and sitting by Wilmot and Ashburnham Wilmot stood up and told them if that the Scots would procure Money he doubted not but the Officers of the English Army might easily do the like but the first order was reversed notwithstanding and 10000 l. given to the Scots this was the cause of many discourses of dislike amongst us and came to this purpose that they were disobliged by the Parliament and not by the King this being said often to one another we did resolve that Wilmot Ashburnham Pollard Oneale and my self to make some expressions of serving the King in all things he would command us that were Honourable for him and us being likewise agreeing to the Fundamental Laws of the Kingdom that so far we would Live and Die with him this was agreed upon with us not having any Communication with others that I am coupled now withal and further by their joynt consent I was to tell his Majesty thus much from them but withal I was to order the matter so as the King might apprehend this as a great Service done unto him at this time when his Affairs were in so ill a condition they were most confident That they would engage the whole Army thus far but farther they would undertake nothing because they would neither infringe the Liberties of the Subjects nor destroy the Laws to which I and every one consented and having their Sense I drew the Heads up in a Paper to the which they all approved when I read it and then we did by an Oath promise one another to be constant and secret in all this and did all of us take that Oath together then I said Well Sirs I must now be informed what your particular desires are that so I may be the better able to serve you which they were pleased to do and so I did very faithfully serve them therein as far as I could this is the truth and all the truth upon my Soul In particular discourses after that we did fall upon the Petitioning to the King and Parliament for Moneys there being so great Arrears due to us and so much delays made in the procuring of them but that was never done 1. Concerning the Bishops Functions and Votes 2. The not Disbanding of the Irish Army until the Scots were Disbanded too 3. The endeavouring to settle his Majesties Revenue to that proportion as formerly And it was resolved by us all if the King should require our assistance in those things that as far as we could we might contribute thereunto without breaking the Laws of the Kingdom And in case the King should be denyed those things being put to them we would not fly from him all these persons did act and concur in this as well as I this being all imparted to the King by me from them I perceived he had been treated with by others concerning some things of our Army which agreed not with what was purposed by me but inclined a way more sharp and high not having limits either of Honour or Law I told the King he might be pleased to consider with himself which way it was fit for him to hearken unto for us we were resolved not to depart from our grounds we should not be displeased whosoever they were but the particular of the designs or the persons we desired not to know though it was no hard matter to guess at them In the end I believe the danger of the one the justice of the other made the King tell me he would leave all thoughts of other propositions but ours as things not practiceable but desired notwithstanding that Goring and Jermin who were acquainted with the other proceedings should be admitted amongst us I told him I thought the other Gentry would never consent to it but I would propose it which I did and we were all much against it but the King did press it so much as at the last it was consented unto and Goring and Jermin came to my Chamber there I was appointed to tell them after they had sworn to secrecy what we had proposed which I did But before I go into the debate of the way I must tell you Jermin and Goring were very earnest Suckling should be admitted which we did all decline and were desired by all our men to be resolute in it which I was and gave many reasons Whereupon Master Goring made answer he was engaged with Suckling his being employed in the Army but for his meeting with us they were contented to pass it by Then we took up again the ways which were proposed which took great debate and theirs differed from ours in violence and height which we all protested against and parted disagreeing totally yet remitted it to be spoken of by me and Jermin to the King which we both did And the King constant to his former resolutions told him these ways were all vain and foolish and would think of them no more I omit one thing of Mr. Goring he desired to know how the Chief Commanders were to be disposed of for if he had not a condition worthy of him he would not go along with us we made answer that no body thought of that we intended if we were sent down to go all in the same capacity we were in he did not like that by any means and by that did work so with Master Chidley that there was a Letter sent by some of the Commanders to make him Lieutenant General and when he had ordered this matter at London and Master Chidley had his instructions then did he go to Portsmouth pretending to be absent when this was aworking we all desired my Lords of Essex and Holland that if
Clergy-man no Dignitary whose Books have cost him a Thousand Pounds which when he dies may be worth to his Wife and Children about Two Hundred It will be a shameful reproach to so flourishing a Kingdom as this to have a poor beggarly Clergy For my part I think nothing too much nothing too good for a good Minister a good Clergy-man They ought least to want who best know how to abound Burning and shining Lights do well deserve to be set in good Candlesticks Mr. Hide I am as much for Reformation for purging and maintaining Religion as any man whatsoever but I profess I am not for Innovation Demolition nor Abolition Possibly the Reader will now be desirous to see this Bill which gave so much business to the Parliament and therefore I here present him with a Copy of it as I find it in the Paper-Office An Act for the Abolishing and taking away of all Arch-Bishops Bishops their Chancellours and Commissaries Deans Deacons and Chanters Arch-Deacons Prebendaries and Canons and all other their Under-Officers of the Church of England WHereas the Government of the Church of England by Arch-Bishops and Bishops The Bill against Episcopal Government and the Hierarchy of the Church their Chancellors and Commissaries Deans Arch-Deacons and others their Cathedral Officers have been found by lang experience to be a great Impediment to the perfect Reformation and Growth of Religion prejudicial to the Civâ—l Government of this Kingdom Be it therefore Enacted by the King 's most excellent Majesty the Lords and Commons Assembled in this present Parliament by the Authority of the same That from henceforth there shall be no Arch-Bishops Chancellors or Commissaries of any Bishopricks Deans Deans and Chapters Arch-Deacons Prebendaries Chanters Canons or Pety-Canons or any other of their Officers within this Church or Kingdom And every Parson that shall hereafter use or exercise any Power Iurisdiction Office or Authority Ecclesiastical or Civil by Collection of any such Name Title Dignity or Office or Iurisdiction to incur the Penalty and a Forfeiture contained in the Act of Premunires made in the 16 R. 2. That all which hereafter done by any Arch-Bishopricks their Chancellors Commissaries Deans Deans and Chapters Arch-Deacons Prevendaries Canons Petty-Canons or any other Office by Collection of any of their Dignities or Officers aforesaid shall be meérly void in Law any Statute or Ordinance heretofore made to the contrary any wise notwithstanding And that all Mannors Lands Territories Impropriations Houses Rents Services and other Hereditaments whatsoever of the said Arch-Bishopricks Deans Deans and Chapters Arch-Deacons Prebendaries Canons Petty-Canons which they or any of them have in Right of the said Churches or Dignities shall be disposed and ordered of in such manner sort and form as the King 's most excellent Majesty the Lords Temporal and Commons in this present Parliament Assembled shall appoint And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforesaid That all Ecclesiastical Iurisdiction fit to be exercised within this Church and Kingdom of England shall be committed to such a number of Persons and in such manner as by this present Parliament appointed Divers Papers were upon this occasion presented to the Consideration of the House of Commons and many even of the Presbyterians who were for altering some things yet were not for Extirpation of Root and Branch among the rest I find these two in the Paper-Office THe Agitation of change of Government in the Church A Proposition concerning Bishops and Ecclesiastical Affairs and Church Government in the House of Commons is a Business of so high a Consequence that it is necessary to prevent any Resolution by Voting their judgment alone lest that being brought up with prejudice to the Lords who are and ought to be equally interessed may also prejudice the Cause It is a doubtful Case in the heat of this dispute how farr the Commons may go in the Declaration of their Opinions in which if the Lords shall not concur it may prove a great Rock of offence between the two Houses Therefore 't is very requisite that the Lords of the Higher House do timely interest themselves in the discussion and before any Resolution in either House To this purpose the Lords may be pleased to make a Committee in their House for the Reformation of Church Affairs and Government and thereupon demand a Conference with the Committee of the House of Commons that the business may be handled by Consultation on both sides pari passu and gradu At this Conference the Lords may be pleased to propose these grounds 1. That neither by Example nor Reason in any Age or State Matters Ecclesiastical or Mutations in Church Affairs were ever alone determined by Lay-men 2. In the Primitive Church and most Ancient times matters of this nature were always debated in General Councils or National Synods in the blessed Reformation the business was agitated by a Choice number of Divines who communicated their proceeding with Reformed Divines abroad and admitted some Strangers into their Consultations for the satisfaction of their Brethren and Peace of the Church 3. The publick Enemy of our Religion will take infinite advantage at every Alteration and especially at any that shall be resolved above by Lay-men 4. It must of necessity produce a dangerous Schism in the Church if without all Respect of Edification and satisfaction to the Parties different in judgment any conclusion should be imposed upon both without their consent 5. It is impossible that any Resolution taken in Heat and Passion can be so permanent but that time will discover a Necessity of fresh alterations to the shame of the whole Reformation 6. It is necessary to proceed in such a way as may not be Scandalous to the Churches abroad and may give satisfaction to both Parties opposite and contending at Home and may be Honourable Durable Obliging and Fortified with the consent and agreement of the Ecclesiastick and the Authority of the Parliament To effect which it is most agreeable to true Wisdom and Policy that both Houses of Parliament determine and declare for the present that the Laws Established for Church Government shall be obeyed And because all things in the first Reformation could not be fore-seen or some things were necessarily for other respects overseen which Time and great Liberty and Light have discovered and which may now be more fitly taken into consideration That therefore both Houses may be pleased to move His Majesty for the calling of a National Synod I mean of a Select number of Divines of all three Nations subject to His Majesty equally and impartially chosen of Moderate and Learned Men of both sides in which may be discussed and resolved a setled and uniform Model of Government to be presented unto the Parliament of all the Kingdoms there to receive Strength and Approbation In which Assembly Godly Men and lovers of Peace assisted by the Spirit of God may doubtlessly be induced to receive satisfaction from one another in
Affection to My People as I desire My People should shew to Me and not only so but likewise in Eschewing all Occasions of Dispute and in seeking to remove Jealousies And for this particular Bill you cannot but know that I do Freely and Frankly give over that Right which My Predecessors have ever Esteemed their own though I confess disputed yet so as it was never Yielded by any of them Therefore you must understand this as a mark of My Confidence in you thus to put My Self wholly upon the Love and Affections of My People for My Subsistence and therefore I hope in the perfecting of this you have begun you will go on the more Cheerfully And as for those Rumors which have bred Suspitions concerning the Army though I have heard some loose Discourses touching it which I never understood otherwise than as having Relation to the Scottish Army or preventing Insurrections yet they were so slight of themselves that they vanished by their own lightness within few dayes after they were born And therefore having shewed you my Clearness in this I will leave you with the Assurance That I never had other Design but to win the Affections of my People by the Justice of my Government With this flattering Eloquence did they endeavour to impose upon the gracious Inclinations of his Majesty who did in all things apply himself to oblige them representing themselves as most tenderly concerned for the Support of his Royal Crown and Dignity by this small Supply which was in reality nothing more than raising mony by his Royal Authority towards defraying a Debt which they had drawn upon the Nation by the burdensome maintenance of the Army of their Brethren of Scotland Dr. Leighton another such Turbulent Presbyterian as Prin Wednesday June 23. Dr. Leighton inlarged from his Imprisonment in the Fleet. A Bill for punishing Scandalous Ministers read the first time Burton and Bastwick who for his affronting the Government was committed Prisoner to the Fleet was this day by order of the House of Commons inlarged from his Imprisonment A Bill was this Day read the first time for the punishing of Scandalous Ministers By which as it afterwards appeared they intended the Loyal and Orthodox Clergy for indeed to stand up for the Established Government of the Church to defend the Liturgy to maintain the Royal Prerogative or to speak any thing against the violent proceedings of the Parliament for Extirpation of Episcopacy were the greatest Crimes and Scandals in the World against which neither Learning nor Priety were the least Defence A Bill for taking away the Court of Requests read the first time A Bill was also read the first time for suppressing and abolishing the Court called the Court of Requests The King had now upon the pressing importunities of the Scottish Commissioners and in hopes by his presence there at the Parliament to Compose the Affairs of that Kingdom resolved upon a journey into Scotland This sudden turn put the Faction in England to a strange perplexity They were very jealous and fearful lest the King coming to a perfect accommodation with his Subjects of Scotland they might be defeated of the hopes of that Brotherly assistance which they expected from them and which they had purchased at so dear a Rate and that the want of their help might prove a mighty obstacle to the intended progress of their Reformation of the Church and State in England But Mr. Pym who never wanted a Letter of dangerous Consequence though of his own Contrivance to help them out at a dead lift Thursday June 24. Clerk of the Markets Bill passed the Commons Bill for punishment of Scandalous Ministers read a second time Bill to prevent vexatious sults for Knighthood read a second time produced one in the House which being read he moved that a Conference should be desired with the Lords concerning the King's going into Scotland The Bill for the regulating the Clerks of the Markets being read a third time was also this day passed the House of Commons Also the Bill for punishing Scandalous Ministers was read a second time A Bill for the preventing vexatious Suits for Knighthood had also this day a second Reading Then several heads for a Conference with the Lords and several Propositions to the King before he go into Scotland were read The Cessation was also prolonged for a fortnight longer if the Treaty shall so long continue It was Ordered Cessation prolonged Father Philips the Queens Confessor sent for about a Letter intercepted going to Mr. Montague in France That Father Phillips should be sent for to attend the Committee in the Asternoon about a Letter from one Father Philips to Mr. Mountague in France The Messenger coming to White-hall and finding him acquainted him therewith Philips told him He would only go in again and eat something and go along with him But he immediately went and acquainted the Queen with his sending for by the Commons after some stay he returned and told the Messenger That he had been with the Queen who had commanded him not to go till she had spoken with the King and that he would obey her Command before that of the House of Commons Which Message being related to the House it was Ordered That a Warrant should be sent to apprehend him and bring him before the House as a Delinquent A Warrant was also directed to the Serjeant at Arms to bring the Pope's Nuncio before the House but he was not to be found The Bishop of Lincoln Reports the Conference about the Ten Propositions had this morning with the House of Commons The 10 Propositions of the Commons to be presented to the King before he goes into Scotland June 24 1641 which was delivered by Mr. Pym who spake as followeth He told your Lordships that he was Commanded by the House of Commons to present unto your Lordships their continued Care and Endeavour for the good of the Kingdom that as your affections are Vnited with them in one great End to serve God the King and the Commonwealth so your Counsels might likewise jointly Co-operate thereunto There is but one End and one Foundation of all these Affections and Counsels howbeit they spread themselves to many and several Branches for they are so Vnited and Interweaved Duties which we owe to our God our King and our Common-wealth that we cannot duely and truely serve God but thereby we serve our King nor serve God and our King as we ought without our Service to the Common-wealth And as a way to this Common and General End he was to make unto your Lordships several Propositions Because they had lately found out very Malignant and Pestiferous Designs set on foot or plotted to trouble the Peace of the Kingdom The which though they were prevented yet were still pursued which is the Reason why the House of Commons do present your Lordships with these several Propositions in Ten several Heads which have their Branches
and Subdivisions made under them The first Head concerning the Disbanding of the Army First Head that is in the Forefront because it is first to be done and to make way for all the rest And of this four several Branches 1. The House of Commons desires the five Regiments to be first Disbanded according to the former Order agreed upon by both Houses 2. The Commissioners for the Scots to be desired to retire some of their Troops from the Teeze 3. That their Lordships would joyn with the House of Commons in an humble motion to his Majesty to declare these Five Regiments to be Disbanded and the rest of the Army as soon as Mony may be provided and for the punishment of those that shall refuse to Disband if any such should be 4. That the Lord General should be intreated forthwith to repair to the Army upon Saturday at the furthest at which time the Mony will be there And that the Lord Newport Master of the Ordnance may likewise be there to take care of the Ordnance and all things under his Charge The Second Head was Second Head That his Majesty will be pleased to allow a convenient time before his journey into Scotland that so the Army may first be Disbanded and that some of the important Affairs now depending in Parliament some in both Houses and other some in the House of Commons may be dispatched before his Majesties Journey This Proposition he backs with these Four Reasons 1. The Safety of his Majesties Person 2. The Removing of the Jealousies of his good Subjects 3. The Cutting off the hopes of those which are ill affected and have any Design of disturbing the Kingdom by means of the Armies 4. The great advantage in his Majesties own Affairs and contentment of his People if before his going the Royal Assent may pass to divers Bills concerning the Reformation of the Church and State whereof some are already sent up and others in Preparation as the Bill intended for further Grant of Tonnage and Poundage and other Customs That some time may be employed to Regulate the King's Estate and Revenue to free them of unnecessary Burthens and to employ them for the good of the Commonwealth All which require his presence in Parliament The Third Head was about his Majesties Councels Third Head 1. That his Majesty may be humbly Petitioned to remove such evil Counsellors against whom there shall be any just Exceptions And for the Committing of his own Business and the Affairs of the King to such Counsellors and Officers as the Parliament may have cause to conside in The Reasons Because all those ill effects we feel were produced by those ill Counsels in all the three Fundamentals before spoken of 1. In matters of Religion 2. In the King 's private Estate 3. In the good of the whole Kingdom All these Three have decayed but those of another Kind and Allay have much prospered of late amongst us as matters of Monopolies matters of Projects and new Inventions Here he told your Lordships a Tale of a Gardner who being demanded why the Weeds grew so fast and the Flowers so thin in his Ground-Plot answered That the Weeds were the true Children but the Flowers were but so many Slips and Bastards So saith he it is written That Kings should be our Nursing-Fathers and Queens our Nursing-Mothers but we have found here of late by reason of bad Counsellors no Nurses but Hirelings of the Publick State these therefore are especially to be removed for the reducing of the Kingdom to a better Condition and Posture Howbeit this Request is by the Commons recommended but in general for the present without pointing out or designing of particulars in hope the King will find them out himself Otherwise it will cause the House of Commons to reduce this Petition to Names of Particulars and therefore they desire your Lordships so to commend it to his Majesty that he would put the Affairs of his own and the Kingdom into such hands as his Majesty and the Parliament may confide in The Fourth Head concerns the Queens Majesty Fourth Head and consists of several Branches 1. That his Majesty will be graciouslyy pleased by Advice of his Parliament to persuade the Queen to take some of the Nobility and others of Trust into her Service in such Places as are now of her disposing Reason She shewed her self ready to do any thing for the Common good of the Kingdom and this is of that kind 2. That no Jesuit be entertained into Her Majesties Service nor any Priests Natives of his Majesties Dominions The Reasons of this First Because Banished in all other Courts of Catholique Princes Secondly Against the Laws of our Nation that Native Priests should be here 3. That the Colledg of Capuchins at Denmark House may be dissolved and the Persons sent away out of the Kingdom for these Four Reasons 1. Their being here is a Scandal to our Religion and a Danger to our Peace 2. Disaffection to the State manifested in Two Letters dated May 6. whereby many Slanders are cast upon the Parliament and the good Subjects under the Name of Puritans as disaffected and injurious to the Queens Person and thereupon the Cardinal excited to some Design against England 3. The Letter of Nathanael Phillips wherein by way of Reproach unto the Parliament he writes That the Protestation taken in both Houses is like the Scottish Covenant but somewhat worse 4ly That divers Informations are given of great quantity of Gold Transported by these Priests 4. The Fourth Branch concerning the Queen is upon the special Occasion of his Majesties absence That your Lordships would joyn with the House of Commons to Advise the King That some of the Nobility and others of Quality with a competent Guard may be appointed to attend the Queen for the Security of her Royal Person against all Designs of the Papists and others ill-affected to the Peace of the Kingdom The Reasons for this First To secure Her from Popish Attempts Secondly By the Watchfulness of those Worthy Persons Priests and Jesuits may be kept from the Court. He protested That herein they intended nothing of Disrespect he said it was a blessed thing to be kept from Temptation and to be rid of those Flies would gain the Queen the Love of the People in his Majesties Absence The Fifth Head concerning the Prince Fifth Head and the rest of the Royal Issue That some Person of Publique Trust and well-affected in Religion may by Advice of the Parliament be placed about the Prince and may take Care of his Education Especially in matters of Religion and the like Care to be taken of the rest of his Majesties Children The Sixth Head concerning Papists coming to Court Sixth Head consisted of Four Branches 1. Humbly desired by the Commons who desire your Lordships to Joyn with them in that Petition That his Majesty would be sparing in Licensing Papists to come to
Court 2. That if they come without License they may be punished severely and the Laws be put in Execution 3. That if any English woman that is a Papist be about the Court she may not reside 4. That no Pension be paid to any lying beyond the Seas which are of dangerous Condition And further That English Ladies Papists be removed from the Court and his Majesty moved for his Assent That the Persons of the most Active Papists be so restrained as shall be necessary for the Safety of the Kingdom even Lords as well as others The Seventh Head concerning the Nuncio's Seventh Head That it may be declared by an Act of Parliament That if any man shall presume to come to this Kingdom with Instructions from the Pope or Court of Rome that he shall be in Case of High Treason and out of the Protection of the King and Laws The Eighth Head concerning the Security and Peace of the Kingdom Eighth Head consisted of Four Branches 1. That men of Honour and Trust be placed Lord Lieutenants in every County and that direction be given to the Lieutenants to be Careful in the Choice of their Deputies 2. That the Trained Bands be furnished with Arms Powder and Bullet and that they be Exercised and made ready for Service also that an Oath be prepared to pass both the Houses of Parliament or else where Oaths cannot be Enjoyned to be taken by the Lord Lieutenants Deputy-Lieutenants and other Officers of Trained-Bands and to secure their Fidelity in these Dangerous Times 3. That the Cinque-Ports and other Parts of the Kingdom may be put into good Hands and a List of those who Govern them may be presented to the Parliament and that those Persons may be altered upon Reason and that Especial Care be taken for Reparation and Provision of the Forts 4. That my Lord Admiral that Noble Lord of whose Honour the House of Commons stand secure be desired to inform the Parliament in what Case the Navy is that if there be any defect it may be provided for out of the Money which is to come upon the Bill of Tonnage and Poundage And that if any suspected person have any Command in any of his Majesties Ships that he may be removed The Ninth Head was Ninth Head That his Majestie will be pleased to give Directions to his Learned Counsel to draw a General Pardon in such a Large and Beneficial manner as may be for the Security of his Subjects The Tenth Head was Tenth Head That a Select Committee of the Lords may joyn with a proportionable Number of the House of Commons from time to time to confer about the particular Courses as may be most Effectual for the Reducing these Propositions to Effect for the Publique Good See here the Sketch or rough Draught of the Ensuing Rebellion and Revolution which had been so long hatching by these Popular and Pretended Patriots For that they might either totally Abrogate or at least Reduce the Imperial Monarchy of these Nations to a Venetian Dukedom or as afterwards to an Oligarchical State it was necessary they should possess themselves of the Power of the Militia the Forts Garrisons and Strength of the Nation and to put out all those who were the King 's most Loyal Subjects and true to Monarchy and Parliaments upon the Old Foundation of the Three Estates out of all Power and Trust as Evil Counsellors and to put into their places such persons as the Parliament might confide in which were those of the Puritanical Faction And because the King would not subject himself to the Tyranny and Arbitrary Government of these his Subjects they therefore endeavoured to persuade the People that the King by the Suggestion of his Evil Counsellors intended to do so Himself and set up Arbitrary Power over them upon this point of the Militia it was that the matter came to the Fatal Umpirage and Decision of the Sword And lest the King should to prevent this Imposition upon his Royal Prerogative have gotten into the Affections both of the English and Scottish Army whose Mercenary Temper from Experience they very well knew they were now so sollicitous for the present Disbanding which if it could not be accomplished so soon as they desired yet the setting a Guard upon the Queen was to have a Pawn which they knew was very dear to his Majesty to secure themselves against all Events However it was a high point of Wisdom in them to procure a Full and General Pardon for what they had already done and attempted which was only to be Beneficial to themselves and their own Party all the Incendiaries and Malignants and such as they had put the Brand of Impeachment or Accusation upon being to be Excepted as was afterwards Urged in the House upon Mr. Selden's pressing it in Favour of Sir John Suckling Commissary Wilmot and some others A Message was brought to the House from his Majesty Friday June 25. Message from his Majesty about Disbanding to let them know That his Majesty gives Consent to the Disbanding of the Army and wishes it may be done with Honour and Safety to the Nation His Majesty also acquainted them That the Pope 's Nuncio should be presently sent away out of the Kingdom This Day in the Lords House The 1 2 3. of the 10 Propositions Agreed to by the Lords the First Second and Third Heads of the Ten Propositions delivered by Mr. Pym at a late Conference were publickly read and for the Freer Debate of the same the House was adjourned into a Committee during Pleasure and after a long Consideration of them they were agreed to After which the House was reassumed Order concerning the Northern Counties to take their Accounts and it was moved That the Inhabitants of the Counties of Northumberland Bishoprick of Durham and Town of Newcastle do desire That a Commission may Issue to certain Gentlemen of the said Counties joyned with such Scottish Gentlemen as shall be named by the Scottish Commissioners at Newcastle whereby they may be authorized where there are differences of Account between the Scots and the said Inhabitants 1. To Examine Witnesses upon Oath what Moneys have been paid by the said Inhabitants or any of them for or towards the Relief of the Scottish Army since the 28. of August last 2. To Examine upon Oath what Hay Corn or other Goods have since the said time been taken from the Inhabitants or any of them by any Officer or Officers or other person of the said Scottish Army and for which no Payment or Satisfaction hath been made to the said Inhabitants 3. To Examine upon Oath what Sum or Sums of Money are justly due and in arrear by the said Army to the said Counties or any Inhabitants thereof for Billetting any Horse or Foot of the said Army Ordered That the Clerk of the Crown do issue out a Commission accordingly A Message was brought from the House of Commons by
as it will Real or Counterfeit it served their Turn made a mighty Noise and furnished them with a fresh Supply of those Fears and Jealousies with which they intoxicated the People and gave them a Rise for the Wheel that was now upon Motion to stop the King 's intended Journey into Scotland of which they were not a little jealous and distrustful A Petition from several Ministers of Wales was Read and referred to the Committee for Scandalous Ministers Welch Petition Thus the Indulgent Mother-Church of England had nursed up Undutiful and Unnatural Children to Rebel against Her a sort of Amphibious Hypocrites who could conform and swear Obedience to her Laws and Government while she was in Prosperity but Petition to pull her down when they saw her Entring into the Red Sea of Persecution they who had Sucked her Breasts and Eat of her Bread now lifting up their Heels against her and her Enemies being those of her own House This Day the House of Lords was adjourned during Pleasure The further Debate of the 10 Propositions in the House of Lords into a Committee to debate the rest of the Ten Heads brought up from the House of Commons And the House proceeded to the Fourth Head concerning the Queens Majesty And it was Ordered That for the present this Head and Branches be laid aside untill the Articles made at the Marriage be seen Then the Fifth Head and the Branches were debated and agreed to The Sixth Head the second Branch agreed to The third Branch Agreed to joyn with the House of Commons to Petition His Majesty to prevent it hereafter and to let the House of Commons know That there is but one English Lady about the Queen that is a Papist and to acquaint them with the quiet Condition of that Lady The 4th Branch agreed to The Fifth Branch concerning Active Papists Agreed to know of the House of Commons Who they mean by Active Papists and how far the Extent is to be The Eighth Head concerning the Security and Peace of the Kingdom the first Branch agreed to the second Branch to be treated of at the Committee The third Branch also left to the Committee The Fourth Branch Ordered That the Earls of Essex and Leicester and the Lord Kymbolton do acquaint the Lord Admiral with it The Ninth Head referred to the Committee and they to call the King's Counsel The Tenth Head agreed to concerning a Select Committee of Lords to joyn with a proportionable number of the House of Commons from time to time to confer about these particular Courses as shall be most Effectual for the Reducing of the Propositions to Effect for the Publique Good And these Lords following were appointed to be Committees for the same Viz. Lord Chamberlain E. Bath E. Essex E. Dorset E. Sarum E. Warwick E. March Their Lordships to meet when they please * Message from the King about Disbanding The Lords that were appointed to Wait on His Majesty returned this Answer That the King will give Order to his Attorney-General to issue forth and publish a Proclamation speedily and hath given Directions for Letters to be written to the Deputy-Lieutenants from the Lord Lieutenants to assist them with Power if occasion shall serve for the quiet Conveying the Soldiers through the several Counties which they pass And lastly That his Majesty is willing the Earls of Holland and Newport do go into the North to their several Charges in the Army at the time prefixed There was a Motion made from the Earl of Holland General of the Army Saturday June 26. who was going down in order to the Disbanding That he might have an Act to impower him to Exercise Martial Law if the Soldiers should prove Mutinous but it was rejected only they Resolved to procure a Proclamation to be sent down for the punishment of the Soldiers if they should be disorderly by the Justices of Peace and that the Justices and other Civil Officers should see the Soldiers orderly Conducted through their respective Counties to the places of their aboad There was also a Message from the Scots Commissioners Message from the Scots Commissioners about the Kings Journey into Scotland to acquaint the House That they were informed that they had Voted against his Majesties going into Scotland as he had graciously promised them which they said might be of great prejudice unto them for that they had sent Proclamations through the Kingdom of Scotland for his Majesties Entertainment within a certain limited time and therefore they desired the House would take it into Consideration Nevertheless they did not desire that his Majesty should go till Matters were well settled here provided it might not be prejudicial unto them by causing some Jealousies among the People there Sir William Savil this Day Petitioned the House Monday June 28. Sir William Savil released from the Tower upon which it was Ordered That he should be discharged from his Imprisonment in the Tower A Committee of 48 appointed to meet 24 Lords at a Conference in the Painted Chamber about the Propositions delivered by Mr. Pym on Thursday last concerning the King's going into Scotland c. In the House of Lords this day the Petition of the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of the City of London The Lord Major and Aldermen of Londons Petition about chusing one of the Sheriffs lately presented to the King was by his Majesty's Command delivered to the House and referred to the determination of the Parliament The effect of the Petition was concerning the sole Election of one of the Sheriffs of London which the Lord Mayor claims to have by prescription of Three Hundred Years to which the Commons of the said City disassented unless it be with their Confirmation and Approbation Hereupon it was Ordered That the Lord Mayor Recorder and some of the Aldermen and some of the Commons of the City of London shall have notice to attend this House to morrow morning at Eight of the Clock at which time their Lordships will hear both sides what they can say in this business A Message was brought from the House of Commons by Mr. Pym Message by Mr. Pym about the Archbishops Charge and Trial. who was commanded to let their Lordships know That formerly they brought up an Impeachment of High Treason against the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury which hath lain asleep ever since but now they intend to proceed and Examine divers Witnesses concerning that business therefore desired their Lordships that a select Committee may be appointed to Examine such Witnesses as the House of Commons shall desire and that to be in the presence of some Members of the House of Commons as they shall appoint and that the Examinations be kept secret as in the Case of the Earl of Strafford and as that they have made an Order in their House to Examine such Members of their House as are requisite so they desire their Lordships will be pleased to provide that such
Justice and many other Difficulties daily through delayes growing Greater is such that it cannot suffer longer delay And therefore that the Houses of Parliament would be pleased so far to Express their Reciprocal respect of our Affairs that they will give present Assent to his Majesties Coming in his Royal Person at the day aforesaid without which we can have no ground to deal with the Parliament to the Effect above Adam Blaire Which Answer their Lordships taking into Consideration the House did incline that the King should go his Journey to Scotland at the prefixed time Provided that the Armies be Disbanded and the Bills pass which are ready and will be ready for Settling the Peace and Security of this Kingdom before that time And upon signification that his Majesty Commanded the abovesaid Answer to be Communicated to both Houses of Parliament it was Resolved to have a Conference with the Commons Which being done accordingly a Message was brought from the House of Commons by Mr Secretary Vane to let them know That upon the Report made to the House of Commons concerning the time of the King's Journey to Scotland they have taken the same into Consideration and they desire in Regard of the Weighty Affairs of the Kingdom at this time that their Lordships would joyn with them in Petitioning his Majesty That he would be pleased not to begin his Journey to Scotland from hence untill the 10th of August next To which their Lordships Answer That their Lordships will Joyn with the House of Commons in their Desires and will appoint some Lords to Attend his Majesty for his Answer herein And the Earl of Essex Earl of Warwick and Earl of Bristol were appointed to move the King herein for his Answer The Earl of Bristol returned with this Answer from his Majesty That he is ingaged by Promise to be in Scotland by a peremptory Day but if the Lords Commissioners do Treat with the Scots Commissioners for further Time for his Journey and they Consent thereunto his Majesty will refer himself to it Upon this the Lords Commissioners were appointed presently to meet with the Scots Commissioners and move them herein and it was returned That the Scots Commissioners hope the Parliament of Scotland will give way for deferring the King's Journey until the Tenth of August but desire the Houses of Parliament will declare whether they Consent to the King 's going then or what other certain time the Parliament will agree to And after a Conference with the Commons upon this Subject the Earl of Bristol reported That the House of Commons by way of Answer to the Conference do present a Vote which was passed in their House which was read as followeth Resolved upon the Question That this Answer shall be returned to the Lords To desire their Lordships to joyn with this House to Petition his Majesty that he will be pleased to stay his Journey into Scotland until the 10th of August and that if then he shall please to take his Journey this House shall Submit unto it Hereupon it was Ordered That this House doth Assent to the Vote of the House of Commons Upon the Petition of one Mr. Cradock it was Ordered Committee for Scandalous Ministers revived That the Committee for Scandalous Ministers should be revived to Sit on Friday and the Petition was referred to them Upon Reading the Petition of the Parson and some of the Inhabitants of the Parish of St. Thomas Apostles in London A Petition against several Sectaries for pulling down Rails at St. Thomas Apostles London complaining that John Blackwel Francis Web Thomas Colley Michael Robinson Zacheus Isles George Dye and John Roberts did in a violent manner break down and carry away the Rails about the Communion-Table in the said Church Hereupon it was Ordered That the Parties aforesaid be sent for to Answer these misdemeanours on Friday next So hot were these Zealots for this pretended Reformation that the late Sentence of the Lords against some of their Brethren in Iniquity was not able to cool it But the truth is they were not only backed but set on by some sticklers in the House of Commons who had a design against these Superstitious and Idolatrous Rails and thought it a good expedient to usher it in by shewing how grateful a piece of Reformation it would be to the Godly and well-affected Party The Bill for the Poll-mony was this day read in the House of Lords and upon some dislike about the inequality of the Rates Wednesday June 30. the Bishops pleading their inability to pay their First-fruits Tenths Subsidies and that too a Conference was desired by the House of Lords with the Commons at which Conference the Lords delivered the Bill back to have some Clauses inserted therein desiring that they might Rate their own Members as the Commons did theirs But the Commons insisted upon it to be the undoubted Priviledge of the House of Commons to impose Taxes upon which occasion Sir Simon D'Ewes made this following Discourse to their Lordships My Lords I Shall humbly crave liberty to shew you Sir Simon D'Ewes his Speech about the Poll-Bill at a Conference June 30. 1641. that the House of Commons hath done no more in rating and proportioning of these particular Summs upon your Lordships then by the Ancient rights and priviledges of Parliament they might and to speak the truth they could in possibility do no less It hath been several times spoken in this place no less justly then nobly by some of your Lordships that all matters of supply should originally proceed from the House of Commons for so hath been the practice of former times in the ages past In the Parliament Roll month July 1641. de Anno 9. H. 4. Numero 21. when the Peers began but in a small circumstance to trench upon this priviledge of the Commons there arose a long and an earnest debate upon it the issue of which produced a full declaration agreed upon by both Houses That matter of supply must first proceed from the grant of the Commons and then be assented unto by the Lords so as if we had sent up the present Bill either with blanks for your Lordships to have filled them up or have left you out wholly to have inserted your own degrees and proportions one of which we must have done if we had not proceeded as we did it must of necessity have followed that your Lordships contrary to the undoubted priviledge of the same House had originally granted aid and subsidy and the Commons had but assented Before that time though not upon so great an occasion it was declared in Parliament as appears in Rotulo Parliamenti de Anno 5. R. 2. n. 16. That the House of Commons are first to treat of matter of supply to resolve upon it and then to communicate thir resolutions to the Peers Now my Lords our resolutions are most properly couched in a Bill so as we did transmit the present Grant
other way The means of it are first to preserve Religion sound and entire within his own Kingdom at home next to unite the Homogeneal parts of it pieces of the same together by Alliances by Confederations abroad The good effects of this German Match was lost by the ill Counsels of those times It will be an honour to us to repair it by better The restoring of the Prince Elector to his Territory and Dignity will restore Religion there will strengthen it may increase it further in Germany which consideration is of a great and vast consequence proportionable to the greatness and vastness of that Country it will likewise refresh and comfort the sorrowful heart of that most Noble Virtuous and Magnanimously suffering Queen of Bohemia his Majesty's Sister his Highness's Mother who is ever to be highly and tenderly regarded by this Kingdom This is a fit Conjuncture of time to begin it in whilst the King of Spain hath so much to do of his own as he is not able to afford his usual aids to the Emperor which probably may induce the Emperor to abate of his former Resolutions That which is now propounded is only a Manifest to express and declare our zeal and heartiness to the Cause and thereby to give it Countenance and Reputation in the present Dyet at Ratisbone Reputation in matters of State doth many times prevail as much as Substance His Majesty's Father of blessed memory and himself have for many years mediated and treated with the Successive Emperors by all fair and amicable ways they have been deluded they have been neglected It becomes us Mr. Speaker to be Englishly sensible of the injustice of the Indignity Wherefore my humble Motion is That the House will be pleased presently to name a select Committee to compose a Declaration suitable to the importance of the Cause But the further consideration of this matter was deferred till Wednesday at Nine of the Clock A Message was also delivered from the King by Sir Benjamin Rudyard concerning the Queen-Mother Message about the Queen-Mother who was very desirous to depart the Kingdom only Mony was wanting to defray her charges which would amount to no less than 10000 l. And it seems the Commons were no less desirous to have her gone Artic. brought in by Sir Tho. Widdrington against the Bishop of Ely Vide the Articles infra July 20th for they presently consented that there should be so much paid out of the Poll-mony for that Service Sir Thomas Widdrington brought in 25 Articles against Matthew Wren Lord Bishop of Ely which being read and singly voted were ordered to be Engrossed and then the House came to this Vote upon it Resolved c. That Matthew Wren Bishop of Ely is in the opinion of this House unfit and unworthy to hold or continue any Spiritual Promotion or Office in the Church or Common-wealth and that the Lords be desired to joyn with this House to move his Majesty to remove the said Bishop from his Person and Service And upon this Sir William Parkins took an occasion to speak as followeth for the work of Reformation Master Speaker I Stand not up in my own particular behalf Sir William Parkins's Speech July 5. 1641. but in the Vniversal and General name of the whole Kingdom Alas Master Speaker they depend all upon our exemplary Justice which if we do fully execute will not only give great and plenary satisfaction to our Nation but will likewise cause the Land to smile hereafter with the blessed Beams of prosperous Felicity But if the least Errour and smallest Deliberation be overseen by us Oh! It strikes my trembling mind with horror to think on it how will all things precipitate themselves into Ruine most Irrevocable but I speak not this as if any here would omit or extenuate the Supremacy of Justice in the least thought To admonish you of that point were to bid the Moon keep her Monthly Course the Spheres to reduce themselves in their Circumference or the Sun to shine upon the Earth But I speak this only to add a Spur unto you lest we should at any time languish in our Heaven-proceeding Journey The Cries of the People have come up to me the Voice of the whole Nation tingles in my Ears and methinks I hear each Subject wish that we would briefly establish the Church-Government with all Expedition Let us first begin to confirm our Religion and God will bless our other Proceedings the better That was always my Opinion and I am sure the expectation of the whole Kingdom How long have we sate here and how little have we effected How much time have we consumed and what little have we performed herein How long have we laboured in this our daily Travel and as yet have brought forth but an Embryo in what we did intend 'T is true I confess we have tormented our selves with daily troubles and vexations and been very solicitous for the welfare of the Common-wealth but what have we performed what have we perfected I will once more relate what my former Opinion was Let us I say begin in the real Establishment of our Religion and as I said all our other determinations will succeed with a better Omen for indeed most of our Delinquents are linkt to this Chain they depend most on this point therefore we should do well to enter speedily upon the Work Master Speaker Excuse my Zeal in this Case for my mouth cannot Imprison what my mind intends to let out neither can my tongue conceal that which my heart desires to promulge Behold the Arch-Bishop that great Incendiary of this Kingdom lyes now like a Fire-brand raked up in the Embers but if he ever chance to blaze again I am afraid what heretofore he had but in a Spark he will fully burn down to the ground in a full Flame Wherefore Master Speaker Let us begin for the Kingdom is pregnant with expectation in this point I confess there are many more Delinquents for the Judges and other Knights walk in Quirpo but they are but Thunderbolts forged in Canterbury 's fire Look upon them all but as polluted Rivers flowing from that corrupt Fountain Well is it so then that all depend on Religion Why are we then so backward in not Roforming the Church Why do we stick in this point and not rather proceed in it with all expedition For indeed according to the Laws of this Kingdom as it hath the Dignity of Preeminence so let us give it the Priority in our Determinations Master Speaker Think with your self I pray in what Faction the Church is now in what Schism in what Confusion of distracted Sectaries it is promiscuously shaken Behold the Papists will have their way the Brownists will have their way the Anabaptists their way the Puritan as some call them their way the Jesuitical Priests their way and in these various ways they make such a Labyrinth of Religion that few or none scarce can find out
forbear doing to be Great to be Rich had he Children or Kindred or had none This highly unjust Judge by continuing sins maintained his Actions to preserve himself he knows to be found guilty in one of his offences the penalty of the Law for it therefore covers the offences committed with inventing and acting other For a Judge to be Unjust more hurts the Publique than any other he is not suspected What a Judge doth is looked on as a thing that ought to be done The most pernicious Great Man that by cunning hath got to himself the Heart and Tongue of his Prince his ill acts have dyed with him if not taken up by others and then they walk in darkness No man will justifie what he doth by saying Such a Favorite did it but the Unjust Judgments of this Judge were given in the Noon-day were done in the face of the whole Kingdom in the hearing of such as might carry the News to all Parts of the Realm and was therefore done His Unjust Judgments were our Records We have seen Wicked Great Men most Craftily Politique they hated our Laws yet not meeting with Active Judges moulded to their purposes they and their acts have dyed the Realm flourished but of late others less Politick meeting with most Unjust Judges every way as ill as they could wish them to be then did the Kingdom faint under the Load of its Misery did long struggle now it 's rising I assure my self your Lordships will assist to take off the Burden If the Designs of some would not have such a man to be at liberty a Warrant from some Lords of the Council would soon have laid him in Prison and given no cause had he moved this Judge to be Discharged or Bailed he could have obtained neither if their wayes would not have endured that man to live a Judge reviling the Prisoner and his Councel that moved for his Discharge or Bail joyned with the hate of some Great Man might soon have moved a Gaoler for unwholsome Rooms and Lodging and ill Dyet for his Prisoner and they may soon take Life away month July 1641. Offenders in Prisons are looked after to be safe only such are brought in by Power against Law are abused Had a great Man desired the Estates of others the breach of a Proclamation might readily have been charged against them in the Star-Chamber but they it may be could have answered and cleared themselves and proved their Answers by Testimonies had they been referred to this Judge he would have expunged the one suppressed the other Then followed Fines to the value of their Estates or more then Imprisonments of course till they paid such Fines your Lordships have heard what this Judge did to the Sope-boylers The Country-man followed the Plough and his thinking he was assured of his Right of Property and Liberty gave him ability to do it He believed his Neighbour his Landlord his King could not take his Goods from him without his consent He knew the usual payments by Law and in Extraordinary Causes thought to have that Care to choose such for his Knights of his Shire or for his Burgesses as might be mindful of the cause of payment and of his Estate This man hath heard the Opinions and Judgment of this Judge hath seen his Goods taken from him without his or his Knights of the Shire or Burgesses consent or advise These have made him his Wife and Children to joyn in tears to wish they had never been born they have made them think on many wayes to keep safe that Estate which was yet left them have made them desire to sell all their Goods and hide the Money but then he remembers this Judge how that he shall be carried to Prison and remain there if he pay not what please others to assess him Then they think idle persons the drones and moths of the Common-wealth to be a wise people who to be unworthy to live they formerly conceited They expect and can think of nothing but to be Beggars Where publick and enormous Offences have been committed eminent and notorious punishments must be such will make your Lordships Proceedings highly esteemed else there will be so many offenders as none without danger can be punished This Judge Subverting our Laws took away the Hearts of many he subscribed for the Kings Power but so as he put him on taking his Subjects Goods and of all other such ways be most dangerous For we know his Majesty is not the last that suffers and is not the King worth many Thousands The place of this Judge was to have given and preserved to the King the Hearts of his Subjects the due execution of the Laws had done this and when such notice is taken of a Prince none will conspire against him who cannot fain to themselves Safety before or after any fact committed Forraign Enemies will not Invade his Kingdoms Thus hath his Majesty now got our Hearts and will for ever have them This Judge is to answer for what his Majesty and for what we have suffered I am Commanded by the House of Commons to desire of your Lordships That the Proceedings against Sir Robert Berkley Knight one of the Justices of his Majesties Court of Kings-Bench may be in as speedy a way of Trial as the Course of Parliament will allow The Articles were as follow The Atticles of Impeachment of Sir Robert Berkley Knight one of the Justices of the Court of the Kings-Bench by the Commons in this present Parliament Assembled in their Own Name and in the Name of all the Commons of England in Maintenance of their Accusation whereby he standeth Charged with High Treason and other great Misdemeanors INprimis That the said Sir Robert Berkley Articles of Impeachment against Sir Robert Berkley c. July 6. 1641. then being One of the Justices of the said Court of Kings-Bench hath Trayterously and Wickedly endeavoured to Subvert the Fundamental Laws and Established Government of the Realm of England and instead thereof to introduce an Arbitrary and Tyrannical Government against Law which he hath declared by Trayterous and Wicked Words Opinions Judgments Practices and Actions appearing in the several Articles Ensuing 2. Whereas by the Statute made in the 25th Year of the Reign of King Henry the 8th Prices of Victuals are appointed to be rated in such manner as in the said Statute is declared But it is manifest by the said Statute Corn is none of the Victuals thereby intended Nevertheless some ill-affected persons endeavouring to bring a Charge upon the Subjects contrary to Law did surmise that the Prices of Corn might be rated and set according to the Direction of that Statute and thereupon great Gain might be raised to his Majesty by Licences and Dispensations for selling Corn at other Prices And a Command from his Majesty being procured to the Judges and sent to them by William Noy Esquire his Majesties then Attorney-General to deliver their Opinions touching
the Question Whether Corn was such Victuals as was intended to have the price rated within the said Statute In Answer to which Demand the said Sir Robert Berkley then being one of his Majesties Justices of the Court of Kings-Bench in furtherance of the said unlawful Charge endeavoured to be imposed as aforesaid the Thirtieth day of November in the Eighth Year of his now Majesties Reign did deliver his Opinion That Corn was such Victual as was intended to have the Price rated within the said Statute Which said Opinion was contrary to Law and to the plain Sense and Meaning of the said Statute and contrary to his own Knowledg and was given and delivered by him with a purpose and intention that the said unlawful charge might be imposed upon the Subject 3. That an Information being preferred in the Court of Star-Chamber by the said William Noy his Majesties then Attorney-General against John Overman and Fifteen other Soap-makers Defendants charging them with several pretended Offences contrary to divers Letters Patents and Proclamations touching the Making and Uttering Soap and using the Trade of Soap-makers and other Offences in the said Information mentioned Whereunto the Defendants did plead and Demur as to part and answer to other part of the said Information And the said Plea and Demurrer being over-ruled for that the Particulars therein insisted upon would appear more fully after answer and proof therefore the Defendants were ordered to Answer without Prejudice and were to be admitted to such Exceptions to the said information and Advantages of the matter of the Plea and Demurrer upon the hearing as shall be material and accordingly the Defendants did put in their Answers and set forth several Acts of Parliament Letter-Patents Charters Customs and Act of Common-Councel of the City of London and other Matters materially conducing to their Defence and in Conclusion pleaded Not Guilty The said Sir Robert Berkley then being one of the Justices of Court of Kings-Bench upon the 30th day of March in the Eighth Year of his Majesties now Reign upon an Order of Reference to him and others by the said Court of Star-Chamber to consider of the Impertinency of the said Answers did Certifie the said Court of Star-Chamber That the whole Answers excepting the four words and ten last Lines should be expunged leaving thereby no more substance of the said Answers than the Plea of Not Guilty And after upon a Reference to him and others by Order of the said Court of the impertinency of the Interrogatories and Depositions of Witnesses taken on the Defendants part in the same Case the said Sir Robert Berkley upon the second day of May in the Eighth Year of his now Majesties Reign Certified that Nine and thirty of the said Interrogatories and the Depositions upon them taken should be suppressed which Answers except as aforesaid and Depositions although the same did contain the said Defendants most material Defence Yet were expunged and suppressed according to the said Certificates both which said Certificates were contrary to Law and Justice and contrary to his the said Sir Robert Berkley's own knowledg and contrary to the said former Order whereby the Advantages were saved to the Defendants as aforesaid And by reason thereof the said John Overman and the said other fifteen Defendants were sentenced in the said Court of Star-Chamber to be committed Prisoners to the Fleet and disabled from using their Trade of Soap-makers And one of them fined in a Thousand Five hundred Pounds Two of them in a Thousand Pound apiece Four of them in a Thousand Mark apiece which Fines were estreated into the Exchequer without any mitigation And the said Defendants according to the said Sentence were imprisoned and deprived of their Trade and Livelihood tending to the utter ruine of the said Defendants and to the overthrow of free Trade and contrary to the Liberty of Subjects 4. That he the said Sir Robert Berkley then being one of the Justices of the Kings-Bench and having taken an Oath for the due administration of Justice according to the Laws and Statutes of this Realm to His Majesties Liege People on or about the last of December subscribed an Opinion in haec verba I am of Opinion that as where the Benefit doth more particularly redound to the good of the Ports of Maritime Parts as in case of Piracy or Dep redations upon the Seas there the charge hath been and may be lawfully imposed upon them according to Presidents of former Times so where the good and safety of the Kingdom in general is concerned and the whole Kingdom in danger of which His Majesty is the only Judge there the charge of the Defence ought to be borne by all the Realm in general This I hold agreeable both to Law and Reason 5. That he the said Sir Robert Berkley then being one of the Justices of our Court of Kings-Bench and duly sworn as aforesaid In February 1636. subscribed an extrajudicial Opinion in Answer to Questions in a Letter from His Majesty in haec verba Charles R. WHen the Good and Safety of the Kingdom in general is Concerned and the whole Kingdom in Danger Whether may not the King by Writ under the Great Seal of England Command all the Subjects of this Kingdom at their Charge to provide and furnish such Number of Ships with Men Victuals and Munition and for such time as he shall think fit for the Defence and Safeguard of the Kingdom from such Danger and Peril And by Law compel the doing thereof in case of refusal or refractoriness And whether in such case is not the King the Sole Judge both of the Danger and when and how the same is to be prevented and avoided May it please your Most Excellent Majesty We have according to your Majesties Command severally every Man by himself and all of us together taken into serious consideration the Case and Question signed by your Majesty and inclosed in your Royal Letter And we are of Opinion that when the good and safety of the Kingdom in general is concerned and the whole Kingdom in danger your Majesty may by Writ under the Great Seal of England command all your Subjects of this your Kingdom at their charge to provide and furnish such number of Ships with Men Victual and Munition and for such time as your Majesty shall think fit for the Defence and Safeguard of the Kingdom from such Danger and Peril And that by Law your Majesty may compel the doing thereof in case of Refusal or refractoriness And we are also of Opinion that in such Case your Majesty is the sole Judge both of the danger and when and how the same is to be prevented and avoyded John Brampston John Finch Humphrey Davenport John Denham Richard Hutton William Joanes George Crook Thomas Trevor George Vernon Robert Barkley Francis Crawley Richard Weston 6. That he the said Sir Robert Berkley then being one of the Justices of the Court of Kings-Bench and duly sworn as
aforesaid did on the deliver his Opinion in the Exchequer Chamber against John Hampden Esquire in the Case of Ship-Money that he the said John Hampden upon the matter and substance of the Case was chargeable with the Money then in Question A Copy of which proceeding and judgment the Commons of this present Parliament have delivered to your Lordships 7. That he the said Sir Robert Berkley then being one of the Justices of the Court of Kings-Bench and one of the Justices of Assize for the County of York did at the Assizes held at York in Lent 1636. deliver his charge to the Grand-Jury that it was a lawful and inseparable Flower of the Crown for the King to command not only the Maritime Counties but also those that were In-land to find Ships for the defence of the Kingdom And then likewise falsely and maliciously affirmed that it was not his single judgment but the judgment of all his Brethren witnessed by their subscriptions And then also said that there was a rumour that some of his Brethren that had subscribed were of a contrary Judgment but it was a base and unworthy thing for any to give his Hand contrary to his Heart and then wished for his own part that his Hand might rot from his Arm that was guilty of any such Crime when as he knew that Master Justice Hutton and Master Justice Crook who had subscribed were of a contrary Opinion and was present when they were perswaded to subscribe and did subscribe for Conformity only because the major Number of the Judges had subscribed And he the said Sir Robert Berkley then also said that in some Cases the Judges were above an Act of Parliament which said false malicious Words were uttered as aforesaid with intent and purpose to countenance and maintain the said unjust Opinions and to terrifie His Majesties Subjects that should refuse to pay Ship-Money or seek any remedy by Law against the said unjust and illegal Taxation 8. That whereas Richard Chambers Merchant having commenced a Suite for Trespass and false imprisonment against Sir Edward Bromfield Knight for imprisoning him the said Chambers for refusing to pay Ship-Money in the time that the said Sir Edward Bromfield was Lord Mayor of the City of London in which Suite the said Sir Edward Bromfield did make a special Justification The said Sir Robert Berkley then being one of the Justices of the Court of Kings-Bench in Trinity Term last then sitting on the Bench in the said Court upon debate of the said Case between the said Chambers and Sir Edward Bromfield said openly in the Court that there was a Rule of Law and a Rule of Government And that many things which might not be done by the Rule of Law might be done by the Rule of Government And would not suffer the Point of Legality of Ship-Money to be argued by Chambers his Councel all which Opinions Declarations Words and Speeches contained in the Third Fourth Fifth Sixth Seventh and Eighth Articles are destructive to the Fundamental Laws of this Realm the Subjects right of Property and contrary to former Resolutions in Parliament and to the Petition of Right which Resolution in Parliament and Petition of Right were well known to him and Resolved and Enacted when he was the King's Serjeant at law and attendant in the Lords House of Parliament 9. That he the said Sir Robert Berkley then being one of the Judges of the Court of King's-Bench and being in Commission of the Peace and duly sworn to execute the Office of a Justice of Peace in the County of Hertford on or about the seventh of January 1638. at which time the General Sessions of the Peace for the said County were there holden The said Sir Robert Berkley then and there sitting on the Bench did revile and threaten the Grand-Jury returned to serve at the said Sessions for presenting the removal of the Communion Table in All-Saints Church in Hertford aforesaid out of the Place where it anciently and usually stood and setting it Alter-ways against the Laws of this Realm in that Case made and provided as an Innovation in Matters concerning the Church the said Grand-Jury having delivered to them in Charge at the said Sessions by Master Serjeant Atkins a Justice of the Peace of the said County of Hertford that by the Oath they had taken they were bound to present all Innovations concerning Church Matters And he the said Sir Robert Berkley compelled the Fore-Man of the Jury to tell him who gave him any such Information and thereby knowing it to be one Henry Brown one of the said Grand-Jury he asked the said Brown how he durst meddle with Church Matters who affirming that in the said Charge from Master Serjeant Atkins the said Jury was charged to do he the said Sir Robert Berkley told the said Brown he should therefore find Sureties for his good Behaviour and that he the said Sir Robert Berkley would set a great Fine on his Head to make him an Example to others and thereupon the said Brown offered sufficient Bail but he the said Sir Robert Berkley being incensed against him refused the said Bail and committed the said Brown to Prison where he lay in Irons till the next Morning and used to the said Brown and the rest of the Jurors many other reviling and terrifying Speeches And said he knew no Law for the said Presentment and told the said Brown that he had sinned in the said Presentment And he compelled the said Grand-Jurors to say they were sorry for that they had done in that Presentment and did bid them to trample the said Presentment under their Feet and caused Brown to tear the said Presentment in his sight And he the said Sir Robert Berkley when as John Houland and Ralph Pemberton late Mayor of Saint Albons came to desire his Opinion on several Indictments against John Brown Parson of Saint Albons and Anthony Smith Vicar of Saint Peters in Saint Albons at the Quarter Sessions held at the said Town of Saint Albons on the four and twentieth of June 1639. for the removal of the Communion Table out of the usual Place and not Administring the Sacrament according to Law in that Case provided He the said Sir Robert Berkley then told them that such an Indictment was before him at Hertford and that he quashed the same and imprisoned the Promoters by which threatning and reviling Speeches unjust Actions and Declarations he so terrified the Jurors in those Parts that they durst not present any Innovations in the Church Matters to their great Grief and Trouble of their Consciences And whereas several Indictments were preferred against Matthew Brook Parson of Yarmouth by John Ingram and John Carter for refusing several times to Administer the Sacrament of the Lords-Supper to them without any lawful Cause at the Assizes held at Norwich in 1633. He the said Sir Robert Berkley then being one of the Judges of the Assize proceeded then to the Tryal on the said
Brothers and the Head of his House the Spanish King Adopts Ferdinand of Gratz for his Son so to prepare a way to make him the Successor of his Scepter Crown and Purple Then were the Sacred Dyets of the Empire the Ancient means to reconcile Differences and prevent Jealousies as often dissolved abortively as called insincerely Rumours were spread of Practices and Designs against the Protestant Princes and Cities And that those Rumours might not vanish in Smoak the Liberties of the Great and Ancient City of Strasburg were opprest The Protestant Princes seeing Materials and Engines on every side prepar'd for their Ruine were necessitated to meet at Heilburn and there to conclude an union amongst themselves This gave the Jesuits an assured hope of making Germany speedily miserable by a Calamitous War for not only the Pontifician Princes took the opportunity to settle a Catholique League as they call'd it amongst themselves But also the Elector of Saxony like a true Pseudo-Lutheran neither Protestant nor Papist shews as good an Affection to the Catholic League as the Evangelick Union The old Emperor Matthias begins now to act his part and the Jesuits spur on their ready Scholar Ferdinand of Gratz to ascend the bloody Theatre they had so long designed him Through the old Emperor's intercession abusing the Bohemian Protestants Credulity with sugared Flatteries and large Promises he is admitted to the Crown of that rich Kingdom which soon after made way for him unto the Crown of Hungary also The Jesuits and the Spaniards did now only want a fair occasion to begin a War in Germany The Emperour Matthias labours with the Protestant Princes to dissolve their Union which not taking effect the Bishop of Spiers is encouraged underhand to pick a Quarrel with the Prince Elector Palatine and to build a strong Fortress upon his neighbours Territories pretending he had right to that Plot of Ground upon which the said Fortress was raised But an higher Providence did not suffer this Spark to set Germany on Fire though it had been kindled at the Prince Elector's own door to affront and provoke him for he by an incredible celerity did cause the said Fortress to be demolished before the Enemy could fit and furnish it for his intended use which made him sit still and study for a new occasion which that it might not be long wanting the Liberties and Priviledges of the Protestants in Bohemia contrary to their new King Ferdinand's Oath were temerated and by that means in the year 1619 the greater part of the Estates of that Kingdom were necessitated after mature deliberation to abdicate him and to Elect Frederick Prince Elector Palatine for their King And thus are we arrived at that sad period of time upon which so many fatalities have ensued in which we may see evidently That the Prince Elector Palatine was not causally guilty of any part of that Ocean of Blood that hath been since spilt in Germany as the Pontifician side pretend he was The Scene was long before prepared by the Enemies of the Truth and the Kingdom of Bohemia was filled with Arms and Hostilities divers Months before his accepting of that Crown when himself laboured by an earnest mediation to have given a peaceable Issue to those bloody beginnings It was the Honour and Greatness of that Matchless Princess that he gained here and the considerable Succours they expected from hence that especially drew the Bohemians to that Choice It therefore concerns us now at length to provide that the Prince Elector himself and the other Princely Branches of that great Family being the second without question if not the first and most Ancient of the Empire extracted by their last match from the Royal Line of Great Britain should not under colour of their Father's accepting that Crown to which they now pretend no Title be for ever despoyled of their Ancient Inheritance and Electoral Dignity To which Calamity they had never been reduced had not the French King at that time forgotten the old Maxime of his Predecessors which was To keep even the Ballance of Germany to which also did most fatally concur the Duke of Bavaria's Ambition betraying his own Blood and the Duke of Saxony's taking Arms against the Evangelical Party By this means and the advancing of Spinola with the Spanish Army out of the Netherlands was not only the Kingdom of Bohemia lost in a few months but the Palatinate also excepting some few Places of strength invested by the Enemy and that poor people left to slaughter calamity and desolation The Correspondence of some ill Ministers of this State abroad with those of Forreign States here assisted by some fatal Instruments at home furthered all this mischief at the instant putting this State in hope of a match when Supplies should rather have been sent from hence to have preserved at least the Electoral Territories from an Invading Power It is true that the Spanish Match had been generally treated of some 5 or 6 years before this fatal Fire kindled in Germany being first set on foot by the Duke of Lerma under Philip of Austria late King of Spain But now it was effectually advanced and fortified with a conjoyned Treaty of accommodating the Palatine Cause without effusion of Blood This and much more appears in the Original Journal-Books of the Two Houses of Parliament in Anno 21 Jacobi Regis which I have so far perused as so short a time would give leave and though that matters are there set down at large especially in the Records out of the House of Peers yet I have abstracted it into so narrow a compass as may well sort with the little spare time of this House to hear it The Relation was first made at White-hall during that Parliament in the presence of the greater part of both the said Houses on Tuesday February 24. And it was afterwards reported upon Friday the 27th day of the same Month next ensuing in the Lords House by the then Lord Keeper and in the House of Commons by Sir Richard Weston at that time Chancellor of the Exchequer It is there at large set forth That His Majesty's Royal Father having had several fair promises from the Emperour Ferdinand the Second and the King of Spain of a peaceable Restitution of the Palatinate caused not only such considerable Forces as were then remaining in Germany under the Prince Elector's Ensignes to disband but procured also some Places of strength in the Palatinate it self to be Surrendred and Consigned over to the late Infanta of Spain But in the year 1622. our late Royal Sovereign King James upon his Ambassadors return from Bruxels having discovered the Emperors intentions to be full of insincerity and deceit wrote his Princely Letters bearing Date at Hampton-Court October 3. 1622. to the then and still Earl of Bristol His Majesty's Extraordinary Ambassadour in Spain to let him know That he now perceived little sincerity in all the Spanish King's promises for the peaceable Restitution
Conference about it The House of Lords was turned into a Committee to debate the 4th Head brought from the House of Commons concerning the Queens Majesty and the first Branch was agreed to The further Debate of the 10 Propositions by the Lords To the Second Article It was agreed to Joyn with the House of Commons to move the King That he will be pleased not to give his Consent to the same hereafter it being against the Laws of this Kingdome To the Third concerning the Colledg of Capuchins at Denmark-House agreed The 4th not now Resolved There was a Debate in the Commons House Thursday July 8. concerning the Forreign Ambassadors entertaining and sheltering Romish Priests and Jesuits Natives of his Majesties Dominions upon which it came to this Vote Resolved c. That this House doth declare That no Forreign Ambassador whatsoever ought to shelter or harbour any Popish Priest or Jesuit Vote against Forreign Ambassadors Entertaining Romish Priests Natives of the Kings Dominions that are Natives of the Kings Dominions under pretence of being their Servants or otherwise And the Committee for the 10 Propositions to his Majesty about his Journey are to present this Declaration to the Lords Committee appointed to meet them and to desire their Lordships to Joyn with this House to Petition his Majesty that this may accordingly be observed The Cessation was Voted to continue 14 dayes longer from Munday next Cessation prolonged The House then reassumed the Debate about Mr. Hollis and others Imprisoned and Fined 3 Car. and came to these Votes Further Votes about Mr. Hollis c. 3 Car. Resolved c. That Sir George Crook one of the Justices of the Kings Bench is not Guilty of the delay in granting the Habeas Corpus to Mr. Hollis c. Resolved c. That the continuance of Mr. Hollis c. 3 Car. in Prison by the then Judges of the Kings Bench for not putting in Sureties for the Good Behaviour was without Just or Legal Cause Resolved c. That the Exhibiting the Information against Mr Hollis Sir John Eliot and Mr. Valentine in the Kings Bench being Members of Parliament and for matters done in Parliament was a breach of Priviledge of Parliament Resolved c. That the Judgment given upon Nihil dicit against Mr. Hollis Sir John Eliot and Mr. Valentine and the Fines thereupon Imposed and their several Imprisonments thereupon was against the Law and the Priviledg of Parliament Resolved c. That the several proceedings against Mr. Hollis Sir John Eliot and Mr. Valentine by committing them and Prosecuting them in the Star-Chamber and the Kings Bench is a Grievance Resolved c. That Mr. Hollis Mr. Strode Mr. Valentine Mr. Long and the Heirs and Executors of Sir John Eliot Sir Miles Hobart and Mr. Peter Heyman respectively ought to have reparation for their respective Damages and Sufferings against the Lords and others of the Council by whose means they were apprehended and committed against the Council that put their Hands to the Information in the Star-Chamber and the Judges of the Kings Bench. Resolved c. That Mr. Laurence Whittacre being a Member of the Parliament 3 Car. and entring into the Chamber of Sir John Eliot being likewise a Member of that Parliament searching of his Trunk and Papers and Sealing of them is Guilty of the Breach of Priviledg of Parliament this being done before the dissolution of the Parliament Resolved c. That Mr. Laurence Whittacre being guilty of the Breach of the Priviledg of Parliament as aforesaid shall be sent forthwith to the Tower there to remain a Prisoner during the Pleasure of the House Whereupon Mr. Whittacre being called down Mr. Lau. Whittacre sent to the Tower for Breach of Privilege 3 Car. and kneeling at the Bar Mr. Speaker pronounced this Sentence against him Mr. Whittacre then desired permission of the House to speak for himself which being granted he said That he did freely confess the matter of Fact and that he should not endeavour to extenuate it by the Confusion of the times but that he had only this to plead in mitigation of the Sentence that it was an Error committed so long ago being now 13 years since and that he was commanded to do what he did by Warrant from the King himself and three and Twenty Privy Councellors But all this availed him nothing for he was immediately sent to the Tower Now for the Readers satisfaction and that he may have a clear understanding of this affair it will I think not be unacceptable to present him with these following Papers relating to this affair There were several Questions proposed to the three Chief Judges to which they gave these Answers Quere I. There solutions of the Three Chief Judges about matters in the Parliament 3 Car. WHether a Parliament Man offending the King Criminally or Contemptuously in the Parliament House and not then punished may not be punished out of Parliament Answer We conceive That if a Parliament Man exceeding the Priviledge of Parliament do Criminally or Contemptuously offend the King in the Parliament House and not there punished may be punished out of Parliament Quere II. Whether the King as he hath the power of Calling and Dissolving a Parliament have not also an absolute power to cause it to be Adjourned at his pleasure Answer We conceive That the King hath the Power of Commanding of Adjournments of Parliaments as well as of Calling Prorogueing and Dissolving of Parliaments But for the manner thereof or the more particular Answer to this and the next subsequent Question we refer our selves to the Precedents of both Houses Quere III. Whether if the King do Command an Adjournment to be made he hath not also power to Command all further proceedings in Parliament to cease at that time Quere IV. Whether it be not a high Contempt in a Member of the House contrary to the King 's express Commandment Contemptuously to oppose the Adjournment Answer The King 's express Commandment being signified for an Adjournment if any after that shall Tumultuously oppose it further or otherwise then the Priviledge of the House will Warrant This we conceive to be a great Contempt Quere V. Whether if a few Parliament-Men do Conspire together to stir up ill Affections in the People against the King and the Government and to leave the Parliament with such a loose and by words or writings put it in Execution and this not punished in Parliament it be an offence punishable out of Parliament Answer We conceive this Offence to be punishable out of Parliament Quere VI. Whether if some Parliament-Men shall Conspire together to publish Papers containing false and scandalous Rumors against the Lords of the Privy Council or any one or more of them not to the end to Question them in a Legal or Parliamentary way but to bring them into Hatred of the People and the Government into Contempt and to make Discord between the Lords
Friday July 9. at which Mr. Denzil Hollis made this following Speech My Lords THe Knights Mr. Denzil Hollis his Speech about the Palatinate July 9. 1641. Citizens and Burgesses of the House of Commons have commanded me to let your Lordships know that they have taken into their serious Consideration His Majesties Proposal unto them of the Manifesto in which he is graciously Pleased to declare his Pious Intentions concerning his Royal Sister the Prince Palatine her Son and the rest of the Electoral Family They do with all Humbleness acknowledg His Majesties Favor in communicating unto them any part of His Royal Thoughts and asking their Advice and Counsel in a Business that doth so neerly concern Him as needs must the Happiness nay the Subsistence of these Distressed Princes of so Glorious an Extraction their Veins being enriched with the same Blood that is from so Royal Ancestors derived with Glory into his Sacred Person And in that Relation the House of Commons looks upon them with an Eye of Tenderness wishing that every drop of that Princely Blood may ever be illustrated with Honor and Happiness That His Majesty may be Crowned with this Blessing To see nothing but Glory in himself and in all that belong unto him To hear then that these Princes so nearly allyed unto the King should suffer that which is so unworthy of them instead of Honor of Greatness to find Oppression instead of a Fortune answerable to their Birth and Relation to have their ancient Patrimony torn from them and deteined by a Hand of Violence is a Thing which makes our Ears to tingle and our Hearts to rise within us My Lords The Loyal Subject of England is so well tuned in a sweet agreeing Harmony to the Person of his Prince that he is affected with the least Touch upon any part of the Princely String and Answers it instantly with a Sound proportionable If it be Good and Pleasant with Joy and Exultation if harsh and displeasant with Sorrow and Lamentation but a Sorrow not Womanish and Effeminate but accompanied with Indignation and vigorous magnanimous Resolution to be avenged upon whosoever dare give Offence to our Royal Sovereign This then is enough to make us zealous for the Redress of the Prince Electors Wrongs to desire with impatience to see him reinvested in his rightful Possessions were there nothing else to move us to it but our Love and Affection and our Duty to the King But My Lords There is yet another Motive which hath a strong irresistable Operation with us and it is the consideration how much this is of Importance to the good of Religion the advancement of the Protestant party and the redeeming many Souls from their Anti-Christian Bondage which hath a double Aspect and relates to us not only as we are Fellow-Members with them of the true Church which obliges us to a Care and Defence of them and gives us an assurance of a Reward in Heaven But doth more particularly concern us in point of Policy and Reason of State by supporting our Allies to advance this Kingdom to the highest pitch of Greatness and Reputation to make us formidable abroad to the Enemies of our Church and State and so injoy Peace and Safety and Tranquillity at Home For My Lords The Protestant Religion and this Kingdom are like Hippocrates's Twins that must both Live and Die together It is madness to think this State can subsist if Religion be subverted and as great a madness to think our Religion can continue here if we suffer it to be destroyed and eradicated out of our Neighbour Countries which can no more be that is our Religion and this Kingdom be preserved when our Neighbours of the same Religion and Belief with us be consumed then a Fort can hold out when all the Out-Works be taken or the Heart preserved when a Gangrene hath seized on the outward Parts of the Body My Lords As the true Religion is in the Truth the Heart of England which gives it Life and makes it flourish with Strength and Power so is England in Politick Respect the Heart of the Protestant Religion in all the other Parts of Christendom and upon Occasion must send out Supply into all the Neighbouring Countries professing the same Religion with it which to be themselves in safety must be under the Protection of this Fort under Contribution to this Garrison And on the other side if these Countries be one after another Invaded and Possessed by the Enemies of Religion that great Tye of Religion between us and those Bonds be Dissolved which only can Unite and Strengthen our mutual Affections and Relations as if they get one Part their Appetite will increase soon to swallow up another First The Palatinate then the other Parts of Germany afterwards the Low Countries and then Let us think in what Condition England will stand It will be left as a Cottage in a Vineyard as a Lodg in a Garden of Cucumbers as a besieged City when all the Defences are gone it will soon fall to be a Prey to the Enemy My Lords This Consideration likewise works with the Commons of England and as the Wise-Man is to have his Eyes in his Head and look before him so they do look before them and had rather see this Evil met half-way then stay till it come to them rather see the eating Gangrene of the Austrian Ambition stop'd in Germany then tarry till it seize upon the Vital Parts of this Island and the death of Religion inevitably follow Sir Benjamin Rudyard also at a Committee of the whole House Mr. Whitlock being in the Chair spoke to this business as follows Master Whitlock IF we may do the Prince Elector good by our good word Sir Benjamin Rudyard's Speech at a Committee of the whole House about the Palatine July 9. 1641. I hope we shall not stick to afford it him A word spoken in due Season is worth more then Gold and Silver at an other time His Majestie 's Ambassador is now at the Dyet at Ratisbon where the Emperor and other Princes are by Friendly Treaties endeavouring to make up the Breaches of Germany If this opportunity be omitted His Highness's Affairs will be exceedingly cast behind-hand It is true that our Treaties heretofore have not been prosperous the reason hath been because of the unhappy distance between the King and His People which brought a Disvalue upon this Kingdom abroad But now when the World shall take notice of the good understanding between His Majesty and His Subjects by an earnest and solemn joyning of the whole Parliament with His Majestie 's Declaration the Propositions coming from hence will carry with them more Weight more Authority which is the way to redeem our engagement at an easie rate to save those great charges which some do so much fear If we should be backward in this great work we shall cancel the obligations of Nature of Honour of Reason of State of Religion which
abound with Soldiers and such others as will be apt to be provoked to Tumults and Seditions especially in the time of the King's absence in Scotland III. That the House of Commons have received Information of great quantities of Treasure and Jewels Plate and Ready-mony packt up to be conveyed away with the Queen not only in such a proportion as the present occasions with due respect to Her Majesties honour may seem to require but a far greater quantity and that divers Papists and others under the pretence of Her Majesties Goods are like to convey great Sums of Mony and other Treasure beyond the Seas which will not only impoverish the State but may be employed to the somenting some mischievous attempts to the trouble of the publick Peace IV. hat as it will be a great dishonour to the State A pretty odd contradiction to the third Reason if her Majesty should not be Attended and Furnished suitably to her Quality so it will be a very heavy burden in this time of great Necessity and occasion of other publick Charges if she shall be provided in so Royal a manner as shall be fit for Her Majesty and the Honour of the King and Kingdom V. That because we understand by Sir Theodore Mayern that the chief cause of her Majesties Sickness and Distempers proceed from some discontent of her mind the House of Commons have thought good to declare That if any thing within the power of Parliament can give Her Majesty contentment they are so tender of her health both in due respect to His most Excellent Majesty and Her Self that they will be ready to further her satisfaction in all things so far as may stand with that Publick to which they are obliged VI. That the House of Commons conceive it will be some dishonour to this Nation if Her Majesty should at this unseasonable time go out of the Kingdom upon any Grief or Discontent received here and therefore they shall labour by all good means to take away and prevent all just occasion of Her Majesties trouble in such manner as may further Her Content and therein Her Health which will be a very great Joy and Comfort both to them and the rest of His Majesties loving Subjects to see All which they humbly recommend to Your Majesties Princely Wisdom beseeching Your Majesty that by Your allowance they may represent their humble desires at such time and with such number of both Houses as Her Majesty shall please to appoint Friday July 16. Six Lords and Twelve Commoners appointed to attend Her Majesty at Three of the Clock this Afternoon Mr. Hollis Reports the Conference with the Lords about what was to be offered to the Queen to put off her Journey which was as follows THe Lords and Commons taking notice of Your Majesties Intention to pass the Seas by reason of Your indisposition The Message spoken to the Queen about her Journey whereby the Kingdom will be deprived of Your Majesties presence and divers other great Inconveniences to the State may thereupon ensue which yesterday both Houses of Parliament did most humbly represent unto the King and withal Petitioned for this Access unto Your Majesty that so they might express unto Your Self their hearty sorrow for Your Majesties Sickness and most earnest desires to perform any Duty whereby they may be serviceable for the Recovery of Your Majesties Health And because they have been informed by Sir Theodore Mayern that this indisposition proceeds from some inward discontent of Mind the Lords and Commons have thought good to declare that if any thing within the Power of Parliament may give your Majesty contentment they are so tender of your Majesties Health both in due respect to His Majesty and Your Self that they will be ready to further your Majesties Satisfaction in all things so far as may stand with the Publick Trust to which they are obliged And besides they humbly conceive that it may be some dishonor to this Nation if your Majesty should in this unseasonable Time go out of the Kingdom upon any Grief or Discontent received here and therefore they shall labor by all good Means to take away and prevent all such just Occasions of your Majesties trouble in such manner as may farther your Majesties Contentment and therein your Health which will be a very great Comfort and Joy to themselves and the rest of His Majesties loving Subjects It was this day Ordered That Mr. Pym being sued for Tithe Wood Saturday July 17. Ordered to stop a Suit against Mr. Pym. shall have the Priviledge of Parliament and that Lewis Lushford and others the Solicitor and Attorney on the other side be hereby enjoyned to forbear to Prosecute or further to proceed in that Suit or any other that concerns the said Mr. Pym. Mr. Hollis Reports the Queen's Answer in haec verba I Give many Thanks to both Houses of Parliament The Queens Answer to the Lords and Commons for their great Care of my Health and their Affections to Me hoping I shall see the Effects of it Truely nothing but my Health could have made Me to resolve of this Journey and if I thought I could serve the King and this Kingdom with the hazzard of my Life I would do it and I hope you believe I have so much Interest in the Good of this Kingdom that I shall never wish any thing to the prejudice of it You will Pardon the imperfectness of my English I had rather have spoken in an other Language but I thought this would be most acceptable It was this Day in the House of Lords Ordered The Persons that pulled down the Railes in St. Saviors Church released That those Persons that were sentenced by the House for Violently breaking down the Railes in the Parish Church of St. Saviors Southwark shall upon their Petition to this House desiring their Lordships Favor and humbly acknowledging the Sentence of this House to be Just upon them their Misdemeanors in that Business be released out of their present Imprisonment for the same And in regard they are of that Poverty that they are not able to set up the Railes again at their own Charges this House doth remit that part of the Sentence A Message was brought from the House of Commons by Sir John Holland who presented three Bills which had passed that House 3 Bills brought up by Sir John Holland 1 for securing Protestant Religion c. 1 An Act for the Security of the true Religion which they desired Expedition of 2 An Act concerning the Limiting and bounding of Forrests 3 An Act for John Eggars Free-School at Acton in the County of Southampton And to desire a Conference by a Committee of both Houses at such time as their Lordships shall please touching the transmission of the Charge against Bishop Wren and concerning Inego Jones for pulling down St. Gregories Church Mr. Pym reports from the Committee for the 10 Propositions a Paper being a Message
flock over the Sea but went not himself Like Nimrod he hath invaded the Laws and Liberties of the Subject he hath been as great a Rober as ever was presented to your Lordships He hath Robbed the King of his Subjects the greatest glory of Kings the Kingdom of Trade of Tradesmen the Supporters of it He that deprives the King of one Subject you know his punishment and what shall be the punishment of him who hath Robbed the King of so many Subjects In the time of King Henry the Third 16 H. 3. F. wast 128. we find a Tenant in Dower punished in Action of Waste because she had destroyed two rich Villains and made them Beggers I appeal to your Lordships what is his offence who hath commmitted so much wilful Waste and Spoil Beggered Hundreds not Villains but Free-born Subjects He Robbed the Souls of that sweet Mannah which is pabulum animarum the Word of God My Lords I have not yet recounted all his Robberies he hath Robbed God of part of his Day makes part of that a Day of sports he hath Robbed his Subjects of their indubitable Birth-right the Laws of the Kingdom The Citizens of Norwich must pay Tithes for their Rents of Houses there 's no Law in England nor Custom in Norwich for it Nay that they may be sure to be Robbed of Justice too the suit for these Tithes must be in his own Consistory from whence there must be no Appeal no Prohibition The true Patrons of Churches they are Robbed of their Presentations others who had none or small pretence of right are admitted upon this unhallowed Maxim That if he should Institute those who had right the pretender was without remedy by this he inverted a Fundimental Law of this Nation to invest remediless Rights with unjust Possessions My Lords I cannot tell you all but you can measure a Lyon by the Paw I am commanded to lay this great Malefactor at your Doors one who hath been a great oppugner of the Life and Liberty of Religion and who set a Brand of Infamy to use his own words upon Ipswich Education In Summ one who is a compleat mirror of Innovation Superstition and Oppression he is now in the Snare of those Articles which were the works of his own Hands The Rod of Moses at a distance was a Serpent it was a Rod again when it was taken into his Hands this Bishop was a Serpent a devouring Serpent in the Diocess of Norwich your Lordships peradventure will by handling of him make him a Rod again or if not I doubt not but your Lordships will chastise him with such Rods as his Crimes shall deserve My Lords I am commanded by the House of Commons to desire your Lordships that this Bishop may be required to make answer to these Articles and that there may be such proceedings against him as the course and justice of Parliament doth admit Articles of Impeachment against Mathew Wren Doctor in Divinity late Bishop of Norwich and now Bishop of Ely THat the said Matthew Wren being Popishly and Superstitiously affected The Articles against the Bishop of Ely did at his first coming to be Bishop of Norwich which was in the year 1635. endeavour by sundry ways and means to suppress the powerful and painful Preaching of the Word of God did introduce divers Orders and Injunctions tending to Superstition and Idolatry did disturb and disquiet the orderly and setled Estate of the Ministers and People and Churches of that Diocess to the great prejudice of His Majesty the great grief and disquiet and hazard of the Estates Consciences and Lives of many of His Majesties Loyal Subjects there to the Manifest bringing in and encreasing of Prophaneness Ignorance and disobedience in the common People as by the particulars ensuing may appear I. Whereas many Chancells of Churches during all the time of Queen Elizabeth King James and of His Majesty that now is had laid and been continued even and flat without any steps ascending towards the East end of the same and are by the Rubrick in the Book of Common-Prayer ordered to continue as they were and so ought to have continued He of His own mind and will without any Lawful Warrant or Authority in the year 1636 being then Bishop of Norwich ordered and enjoyned that the same should be raised towards the East-end some two some three some four steps that so the Communion-Table there placed Altar-wise might be the better seen of the People II. He in the same year 1636. Ordered that the Communion-Table which is appointed by the same Rubrick at the time of the Celebration of the Holy Communion to be placed in the Body of the Church or Chancel where Divine Prayers are usually read and where the People might best hear should be set up close under the Wall at the East-end of the Chancel Altar-wise and not to be removed from thence whereby the Minister who is by the Law to Officiate at the North-side of the Table must either stand and Officiate at the North-end of the Table so standing Altar-wise or else after the Popish and Idolatrous manner stand and Officiate at the West-side of the Table with his Back towards the People III. He in the same year 1636. enjoyned that there should be a Rail set on the top of the new raised steps before the Communion-Table so set Altar-wise as aforesaid which Rail should reach from the South-side of the Chancel to the North within which the Minister only should enter as a place too Holy for the People and some of the People were punished for stepping into it as namely Daniel Whayman and others IV. The more to advance blind Superstition he in the same year 1636. Ordered that all the Pews in the Churches should be so altered that the People might kneel with their Faces Eastward towards the Communion-Table so set Altar-wise as aforesaid And that there should be no Seats in the Chancel above or on either side even up with the said Table V. He in the same year 1636. enjoyned that every Minister after he had finished the reading of some part of Morning Prayer at the Desk should go out from the same to the Holy Table set Altar-wise as to a more Holy place and there when no Communion was to be Administred Read at the said Table a part of the Communion Service now commonly called the second Service whereby the consciences both of the Minister and People have been not only very much offended and grieved but also the Service it self was made very unprofitable to the People who could not hear what was said or prayed in that place VI. That both he in his own Person his Chaplains and others of the Clergy as namely Mr. John Novell Mr. William Guest Mr. John Dunckon and others following his example did ever after the Table was so set Altar-wise use and perform such so many and so frequent bowings and adorations before and towards the said Table as have been
the honour and safety of the Kingdom This day the Bill Entituled An Act for the securing the True Religion The Bill for securing the true Religion c. rejected the Safety and Honour of His Majesties Person the just Rights of the Subject and the better discovery and punishment of Popish Recusants was read a Second time and after a long Debate of the House it was Resolved by the major part That this Bill be Rejected The Reader is to understand that under the glorious Title with which this Bill was guilded the main matter of it was the taking away the Peerage of the Bishops in Parliament which since they could not effect by the former Bill they thought to slide in under these specious pretences of preserving Religion c. but the House of Lords had too many Wise and Noble Just and Honourable Persons in it yet for the Faction to effect their Design After this the Lord Mayor of London and the Aldermen c. were called in to give an Answer to the Proposition for lending 40000 l. and the Lord Mayor signified That he hath already prepared 34500 l. part of the 40000 l. and the full Sum will be made up this night and further he acquainted the House that he hath received 18000 l. of the Poll-mony For which service and readiness in this business the Speaker gave the Lord Mayor and Aldermen and the rest thanks from this House The Earl of Bath reported the effect of the Conference about disbanding that the Commons delivered these four Resolutions Earl of Bath reports the Conference about disbanding 1. That the Ninth day of August next shall be the day appointed for the marching away of the Scots Army 2. That the mony due for relief of the Northern Counties is ready and that if they shall desire any reasonable assistance for the conveying of it they will be ready to assist them in the best manner they can 3. The House of Commons desires that the English Lords Commissioners may move the Scots Commissioners to put off the time for the payment of the 80000 l. part of the Brotherly Assistance till the first day of September next and that notwithstanding they will pay it sooner if they can 4. That after the Scots have declared their Assent of disbanding that then our Army shall be disbanded with all possible speed and the Horse to be first disbanded Upon which it was Ordered That this House doth agree with the House of Commons in all the aforesaid Resolutions and do further Order That the Lords Commissioners do resume the Treaty with the Scots Commissioners and prepare it for a Conclusion After the Conference with the Lords about the Disbanding the Commons fell into Debate concerning the Kings Journey into Scotland and it was Thursday July 29. Votes to desire a Vice-Roy during the King's absence in Scotland Resolved c. That the Lords be desired by this House in a Conference to joyn with this House in a Petition to His Majesty to appoint a Custos Regni or Locum tenens during his Absence out of this Kingdom and amongst other things in special to give him Power to give the Royal Assent in Parliament and to do such things as the King might do if he were present Resolved c. That His Majesty be likewise Petitioned That an Act of Parliament may pass to this Effect That such Commission shall not be repealed until His Majesties return from Scotland to the City of London or Westminster or be present in full Parliament Which two Resolves were communicated to the Lords at a Conference Upon Information this Day unto this House That Sir George Radcliff being now a Prisoner in the Gate-House Sir George Ratcliff has liberty to take the Air. was indisposed in his Health by reason of the closeness of the Place where he remaineth and that he was an humble Suitor to their Lordships that he might receive the Favor to go into the Fields with such Keepers as their Lordships should think fit It was Ordered That the said Sir George Radcliff shall have the Liberty by Virtue of this Order to go into Chelsey Fields or any other Fields near thereabout to take the Air for his Health at such times as he shall desire it The Earl of Bristol Reports the Scots Answer about the disbanding their Army which was read in haec verba Scots Commissioners Answer about disbanding the Army Whereas the Removal of the Scottish Army is desired against the 9th of August upon the Receipt of a Paper from your Lordships of the 22 of July we did immediately represent the same to the Lord General and Committees from whom we expect very satisfactory Answers by the Earl of Dumserling and Lord Lowdon and for hastning the disbanding we did in our Answer of the 21st of July desire that the Arrears might be then delivered and sent to New-Castle that we might finish our Accounts and pay our Debts in those Countries and be better prepared for our Disbanding but we conceive that the not timous delivery of the Arrears shall prove the greatest Impediment in our removal therefore We do remit to the Parliaments consideration to take some speedy course for sending of the whole Arrears As for the delay of the Payment of the 80000 l. we have also represented the same unto the General and Committees according to the days mentioned in our Paper of the 22 of July whereof we do expect an Answer by the Earl of Dumserling and the Lord Lowdon The Bill against Ship-Money being read a third Time this Day Act against Ship-Money passed the Lords Lord Majors Cause heard and referred and put to the Question it was resolved to pass for a Law After which the Lord Major and Aldermen and Commons of London were called in and asked Whether they had composed the Differences between themselves concerning the Election of the Sheriff But it being Answered That they had a meeting about it yet could not agree This House took the Cause into Consideration having heard the Objections on both Sides and at last appointed these Lords Committees viz. Lord Privy Seal Lord Chamberlain Earl of Bath Earl of Bedford Earl of Bristol to try if they could accommodate the difference between them and settle Peace amongst them if not to report the same to this House And their Lordships or any five or more to meet at 5 of the Clock this Afternoon in the Painted Chamber and the Lord Major and Aldermen and some of the Commons to be present Mr. Bagshaw Reports the Articles against the Bishop of Bath and Wells which were all read but are not entred in the Journal Friday July 30. But that the Reader may see they were of the same Leven with those against the Bishop of Ely and that indeed the Crime was being a Bishop I will subjoyn some Articles which an Informer one Mr. James a Minister in his Diocess exhibited against him whereby it will appear
Clerks under his Hand they could not judg of it till they had resorted to his Book where their Orders and their Votes are entred month July 1641. where they found their Votes concerning their late Protestation taken both by your Lordships and them and they found the contents of this Paper to agree in terminis with what is entred in their Clerks Book Then they called to mind what had passed in the House upon that occasion when those resolutions of theirs were Voted How they had considered of that Protestation that it bound all men to defend the Religion here Established c. This they conceived to be a true Test of every good Subject a Shibboleth to distinguish the Ephramites from the Gileadites that whosoever was well affected in Religion and to the good of the Common-wealth would make this Protestation and on the other side who would not make it was not well affected And such a man they held it their duties in discharge of the trust reposed in them by the whole Body of the Kingdom all the Commons of England who have sent them out as so many Sentinels to watch for them to give them notice of the good or the evil Friends or Enemies coming towards them they held it I say their duties to declare their Opinions that such a Man was not their Friend was unfit to bear Office either in Church or State and therefore they passed this Vote that it is a thing fit and necessary to be done by them and for such they do avow it And besides they thought it fit to give an account to those who had employed them the several Counties and Burroughs that sent them to give them a mark by which they might know who were good men lovers of their Countrey fit to be intrusted with Offices with the oversight of any part of Church or State and therefore they gave order this Vote should be sent down unto all the parts of this Kingdom And lastly that it might be done speedily and not stay the Writing out of so many Copies they gave order it should be Printed and be attested under the Clerks Hand with order c. The Copies of which three orders your Lordships have in this Printed Paper which the Commons assembled in Parliament have Commanded me to signifie unto your Lordships and that the passing of these Votes they do own they do avow they do justifie Mr. Serjeant Wild Reports from the Committee for the Impeachment of the Bishops for the New Canons c. But the further consideration of it was deferred till the next day and the House entred upon the further Debate of the Bill for abolishing Episcopacy Two Private Bills one for Mr. Byarley the other for Sir Alexander Denton were passed the House of Lords this Day Then a Letter dated the 27th of _____ 1641 was read Exceptions taken at a Letter from the Speaker of the Lords House in Ireland to the Speaker of the Lords House in England sent from the Speaker of the Lords House in Ireland to the Speaker of the Lords House in England and because the House conceived this Letter entrenched upon the Jurisdiction and Priviledge of this House therefore it is Ordered That the L Chamberlain E. March and E. Bristol Viscount Say and Seal do attend the King and shew him this Letter and desire him from this House that he will be pleased to make stay of the passing of those Acts of Grace and Favor that are in Treaty concerning the Kingdom of Ireland until this Business be determined in this House and further humbly to desire that the Levying of the 14 thousand Soldiers in Ireland may be stayed if it be not already done Then these Lords L. Privy Seal E. Bath E. Southampton Episcopus Lincoln were appointed to have power from this House to search Records Wednesday August 5. and Presidents concerning Ireland's dependency upon this Kingdom and to report the same to this House The House of Commons was informed that the E. of Warwick hath paid the Scots 50000 l. and will have to morrow 52300 l. more ready for them which is all the Arrear that is due to them Serjeant Wild Reports the remaining part of the impeachment of the Bishops concerning the New Canons which being read and assented to was immediately engrossed and by him sent up to the Lords where he delivered it in this manner at the Bar of the Lords House My Lords THe Knights The Impeachment of the Bishops for the New Canons Oath Aug. 4. 1641. Citizens and Burgesses of the Commons House of Parliament being sensible of the great infelicities and troubles which the Common-wealth hath sustained by the exorbitant courses of the Bishops and knowing well that the Wise man saith That if Sentence be not speedily executed against an evil Work the Hearts of the Sons of Men are set upon further mischief The timely redress whereof doth better become the Wisdom of Parliament then a too late woful repentance have commanded me to represent unto your Lordships That Walter Bishop of Winchester Robert Bishop of Coventrey and Lichfield Godrey Bishop of Gloucester Joseph Bishop of Exceter John Bishop of Asaph William Bishop of Bath and Wells George Bishop of Hereford Matthew Bishop of Ely William Bishop of Bangor Robert Bishop of Bristol John Bishop of Rochester John Bishop of Peterborough Morgan Bishop of Landaff together with William Arch-Bishop of Canterbury and others of the Clergy of that Province at a Convocation or Synod for the same Province begun at London in the year 1640 did contrive make and promulge several Constitutions and Canons Ecclesiastical containing in them divers matters contrary to the Kings Prerogative To the Fundamental Laws and Statutes of the Realm To the Rights of Parliament To the Propriety and Liberty of the Subjects and matters tending to Sedition and of dangerous consequence And to add the more weight and efficacy to this their monstrous design They did at the same Synod under a Specious and fair Title grant a Benevolence or Contribution to His Majesty to be paid by the Clergy of that Province contrary to Law It rested not there for though this had been enough to have affrighted and terrified the Kings People with strange apprehensions and fears yet that these might not seem to be contrivances of the Brain or Fancies only they were put in execution and were executed upon divers with animosity and rigour to the great oppression of the Clergy of this Realm and other His Majesties Subjects and in contempt of the King and of the Law Whether these Persons my Lords that are culpable of these offences shall be thought fit to have an Interest in the Legislative power your Lordships wisdom and justice is able to judg But for these matters and things the Knights Citizens and Burgesses of the Commons House in Parliament in the name of themselves and of all the Commons of England do Impeach the said Bishops before named of the Crime
Counties in this Kingdom but they conceive that their Names will be unacceptable and their Persons unwelcome and being thus Impeached to become Judges of Mens Lives and Estates will be a thing of great offence and distraction Therefore the House of Commons desired that all the Commissions granted to the Peccant Judges may be superseded and that their Names may be no more Vsed in Commissions and when the great Affairs now in agitation be dispatched they desired their Lordships to take their Impeachments into Consideration and proceed therein according to Justice Ordered That this House Consents to both these Requests of the House of Commons touching the aforesaid Judges This day the Lord Bruce was introducted with the usual Ceremonies his Patent bearing Date Aug. 2. 1641. Lord Bruce introducted The Earl of March reported to this House The Kings Answer about the Irish Acts. That His Majesty is pleased to like well of the Advice of this House concerning the staying of the Acts of Grace and Favour which were to be passed for the Kingdom of Ireland and will give order it shall be done accordingly until this House hath considered of the Letter sent to the Lord Keeper from the Speaker of the Lords House in Ireland Propositions of the Scots Commissioners and Answers of the English Lords Commissioners August 5. 1641. Propositions for the concluding the Peace with the Scots The Earl of Bristol reported the Propositions and Articles given in by the Scots Commissioners after the Lord Lowdon's return from the Parliament of Scotland which were read as followeth That the Treaty of Peace may be brought to a speedy and happy Close we do offer to your Lordships Consideration the following Particulars I. That as soon as the Scottish Army shall remove out of England to Scotland the English Garrisons of Berwick and Carlisle may remove simul semel II. Lest Malefactors who have committed Murder and the like Crimes crave the Benefit of the Act of Pacification and Oblivion for whom it is no ways intended there would be an Exception from the said Acts of all Legal pursuits intended or to be intended within the space of one year after the Date of the Treaty against Thieves * A Scotch word for Excommunicate Persons Horners Out-lawers Fugitives Murderers Broken men or their Receptaries for whatsoever Thefts Rifes Hardships Oppressions Depredations or Murders done or committed by them and all Lawful Decrets given or to be given by the Parliament or any Commissioners to be appointed by them for that effect who shall have power to Dignosce and take Cognition whether the same falls within the said Act of Pacification or Oblivion or not III. It is desired that the demand concerning the not making or denouncing War with Forreigners without consent of both Parliaments may be condescended unto by the King and the Parliament of England which is Ordained and Universally observed in all mutual Leagues which are both Offensive and Defensive and because the Wars denounced by one of the Kingdoms with Forreigners although made without consent of the other Kingdom will Engage them by necessary Consequence Or if the Consideration of this Proposition shall require longer time then the present Condition of the Important Affairs of the Parliament may permit and lest the speedy Close of the Treaty be thereby impeded it is desired that this Demand with the other Two Articles of the same Nature the one concerning Leagues and Confederations and the other concerning mutual Supply in case of Forreign Invasion may all three be remitted to Commissioners to be chosen by both Parliaments who shall have Power to Advise and Treat thereupon for the good of both Kingdoms and Report to the Parliament Respectively IV. It is desired That the Articles concerning Trade and Commerce Naturalization mutual Priviledge and Capacity and others of that nature already demanded may be condescended unto by the King and Parliament of England and namely that demand anent the Pressing of Men and Ships by Sea or Land Or if shortness of time may not permit the present determination of these Demands it is desired that the same except so many of them as are already agreed unto by the Commissioners for Trade may be remitted to Commissioners to be chosen by both Parliaments who shall have Power to Treat and Advise thereof for the good of both Kingdoms and to make Reports to the Parliament respectively and that the Charters or Warrants of the Scottish Nation for freedom of Shipping in England or Ireland from all Customs Imports Duties and Fees more then are paid by the Natives of England or Ireland granted by King James under the Great Seal of England upon the 11th day of April in the 13th year of his Reign and Confirmed by King Charles upon the 19th of April in the 8th year of his Reign may be Enacted and Ratified in this Parliament V. That the Extracts of Bonds and Decrets upon Record and Registers in Scotland may have the like Faith and Execution as the French Tabellons have in England and Ireland seeing they are of a like Nature and deserves more Credit and if this cannot be done at this time that it be remitted to the former Commission from both Parliaments VI. The manner of Safe Conduct for Transporting the Monys from England or Scotland by Sea or Land would be condescended unto in such way as the Charges be not Exorbitant and may be presently known VII The Tenor of the Commission for Conserving of Peace would be condescended unto together with the Times and Places of meeting and whole frame thereof the draught whereof when it is drawn up in England is to be represented to the Parliament of Scotland that they may make the like Commission and name their Commissioners for that effect VIII The Parliament of Scotland do join their earnest and hearty desires and craves the Parliament of England's Concurrence that none be placed about the Prince's Highness but such as are of the Reformed Religion IX That an Act of Parliament of Publick Faith for payment of the 220000 l. which is Arrear of the Brotherly assistance may be presently framed and expedited according to the Terms agreed upon X. It is desired that the Quorum to whom the Scots should Address themselves for payment of the 220000 l. be condescended upon XI That the Order for recalling all Proclamations made against His Majesties Subjects of Scotland be drawn up and intimate in due Form and Time with the Public Thanksgiving at all the Parish Churches of His Majesties Dominions XII It is desired That the Articles concerning the Castle of Edinburgh and other Strengths of that Kingdom may be understood to be that the same shall be disposed of for the Weal of the Kingdom as the King and Parliament shall think Expedient The English Lords Commissioners Answers THat upon the disbanding the Scottish Army the Garrisons of Berwick and Carlisle shall be removed according to the Articles of the Treaty in that
Regni or Locum Tenens 3. For to have a Limited Commission to pass particular Bills in certain matters wherein the Bills are not yet framed is without any President that they can find and may be subject to Dispute and Question and of dangerous Consequence Though the success did not Answer their Expectation yet it was fairly pusht by the Faction and had they gained this point they would by his Authority which they had not yet learnt to separate from his Person as afterwards they did have left him little besides the name of a King before his return out of Scotland But His Majesty began now though something with the latest to be assured of what before he had feared nor had he reason to repose such a Trust in any of their Favourites as his Royal Ancestors had done in their near Relations which were the Presidents they shewed during the Wars of our Kings with France when the Nation was Unanimous the Commons Peaceable and Obedient and the Parliaments Zealous of the Prerogative and Greatness of their Kings and the Glory of their Nation and not Fly-blown with Fears and Jealousies of Arbitrary Government even when they saw their Sovereigns at the Head of their Victorious Troops and had the King consented the Earl of Essex then their Darling had been the Man and how far Ambition and Revenge Armed with such Power and Supported with such a prevailing Faction might have transported him his future Actions do most evidently Demonstrate The Bill for assuring a Messuage called Duresm-House part of the Possession of the Bishop of Durham lying in the Parish of St. Martin's to Philip Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery and his Heirs Earl of Pembrokes Bill for Durham House passed the Lords Report of the Conference about the Treaty paying a yearly Rent of 200 l. to the said Bishop and his Successors in lieu thereof c. being read a third time and put to the Question it was Resolved by the major part to pass as a Law After which Sir John Culpeper reports the Conference with the Lords about the Treaty My Lord of Bristol began the discourse and said My Lord Lowdon was returned out of Scotland and had brought certain Explanations of the Treaty That the English Commissioners had looked them over and had presented them to the Lords who have approved thereof together with the Answers and had commanded him to present them to us My Lord Wharton read the Propositions and the other the Answers when these Papers were read he said The Lords desired they should be read in this House for form sake and agreed upon here and sent up with all speed to the Lords whereby it may be put into an Act of Parliament His Lordship went further and said he had something more to deliver concerning the Treaty at Rippon of the Reasons that moved those Commissioners to agree unto it and though it might not be accounted so full of Glory and Honour to the Nation as it had been in former times yet considering the strait that some persons have put this Kingdom into it is a happy Conclusion both for the King and Kingdom The Scots coming into this Kingdom cost the Nation 1100000 l. besides damages That it had cost the Kingdom 1100000. l besides Damages and that he thought it convenient that some Writing be drawn concerning this Treaty for satisfaction to Posterity of the Carriage of this Business My Lord Privy Seal then spoke concerning the Spanish Ambassador and said That the 12000 Men which the Spanish Ambassador did desire was an Army and that the King was now content he should accept of three or four thousand if the Parliament did advise him to which the Lords have assented and desired the advice of this House My Lord of Bristol said further That when the Spanish Ambassadour disbursed this Money it was an acceptable work to this Kingdom and therefore it was a great consideration to move their House unto it and considering how many thousand Pounds he hath disbursed about the same The House after the reading of them assented to the Articles proposed by the Scots at the Lord Lowdon's return I could heartily wish there had been such a writing drawn as my Lord of Bristol desired and thought fit for the satisfaction of Posterity and that I could have obliged them with a view of it But I fear our Grand-Children will blush to see the blood of their Ancestors so palled in their Veins as without a blow struck in a manner or any generous resistance made at the expence of 1100000 l. besides Damages to purchase an inglorious Peace from an invading Enemy Yet possibly something may be pleaded in mitigation when it shall appear that it ought not wholly to be attributed to the Body of the English Nation but to the Arts of the discontented Presbyterian Faction who first Invited then Courted and Caressed these friendly Enemies giving them the soft Title of their Brethren of Scotland and sweetning that heavy Imposition of mony which the whole Nation was to hear with the Title of the Brotherly Assistance that so by their help if the King should not comply with their desires they might obtain that from him by Force and Arms which they could not by all their Arts of Flattery and Dissimulation in which certainly they were the most accomplished Persons in the World Now that it may appear that there was a Foundation for this Invitation of the Scottish Army to invade England besides what I have seen in several Prints that Mr. Hambden and others principal Men of the Faction made frequent Journeys into Scotland and had many Meetings and Consultations how to carry on their Combination and joynt Concern I will give the Reader a short Account out of the Memoirs of the late Earl of Manchester then Lord Mandeville an Actor in this Affair which take in his own Words and as I have good Assurance written with his own Hand as follows WHen saith he the Commissioners were come to Rippon An Act out of the Lord Manchesters Memoires of the Invitation of the Scots to invade England all due Ceremonies and Civilities were performed each to other which ended the first Days meeting And here give me leave to make a necessary Digression for the Vindication of those Lords whom the * This Lords Savil was an Illegitimate slip of the Honorable Family of the Savils which makes it the less to be admired that he should do so base degenerate an Action Lord Savile had made Parties to the design of bringing in the Scotch Army When the Scotch Commissioners had passed the Ceremonies and General Civilities at the first meeting with the English Commissioners the Lord Lowdon and Sir Archibald Johnston applied themselves particularly to the Lord Mandeville desiring him to give them a private meeting that they might impart to him something of near concernment to himself and others of the Lords then present this was readily granted and they
recommend to the Parliament the Care of the Disbanding the Horse that the Soldiers may be repaid the Money which hath been taken from them for their Arms that so Armed Men may not disperse themselves to the disturbance of the Kingdom and that the Arms may be restored to the Magazins for the Defence of the King and Kingdom A Proclamation was accordingly issued out as follows By the King A Proclamation for the Peaceable and Quiet Passage of the Troops of Horse to be Disbanded in the North Parts WHereas His Majesty by the Advice of His Parliament His Majesties Proclamation about disbanding the Horse Aug. 8. 1641. hath given Order for the speedy Disbanding of the Troops of Horse that are or lately were part of His Majesties Army in the Northern Parts of the Kingdom His Majesty in his Princely Care of the Quiet and Safety of His Subjects doth by this His Proclamation strictly Charge and Command that none of those Troops or Souldiers after they are Disbanded do Travel together or gather or continue together above six in a Company under the Penalty of being proceeded with as Disturbers of the Publick Peace And doth hereby likewise straitly Charge and Command all Sheriffs and Iustices of Peace of the Counties thorow which they shall pass or whither they shall come that they fail not to take Care that the General peace and quiet of His Majesties Subjects be not disturbed by any of the said Troops or Souldiers And that none of the said Troops or Souldiers do stay or abide above one Night in a place unless it be in Case of Sickness or other great Necessity during the Time of their Travel Given at the Court at White-Hall the Eighth Day of August in the seventeenth Year of the Reign of Our Soveraign Lord CHARLES by the Grace of God King of England Scotland France and Ireland Defender of the Faith c. God save the KING The Lord Privy Seal Reported the Opinion of the Judges concerning the Custos Regni The Judges Opinion about a Custos Regni and the Commission to pass Bills in the King's absence 1. Concerning the Custos Regni they know not how to deliver any Opinion it being of so high a Consequence 2. Concerning the Commission they hold it good if it be fortified and backed with an Act of Parliament Whereupon it was Ordered to be communicated to the House of Commons at a Conference The ACT for the Confirmation of the Treaty of Pacification between the Two Kingdoms of England and Scotland The Act of Pacification passed the Lords House was read a third time and being put to the Question it was Resolved to pass as a Law And sent down to the Commons by Justice Forster and Justice Heath MEmorandum Thanks given to the Lord Commissioners and particularly the E. of Bristol for the Treaty Bill for taking away purveyance read the first Time This House this day gave Thanks to the Lords Commissioners for their great Pains and Care bestowed in the Treaty between Vs and the Scots and particular Thanks was given to the Earl of Bristol for his Service done to this Kingdom therein The Bill for taking away of all manner of Purveyance was read the first time The Commons then sent to desire a present Conference with the Lords about the King 's putting off his intended Journey into Scotland for 14 dayes longer At which Mr. Hollis delivered the Reasons of the Commons Desire in that particular in this manner My Lords I Am Commanded to put you in mind what hath passed upon this occasion before Reasons for the Kings deferring his Journey for 14 days at a Conference August 7. 1641. concerning the Kings Journey to Scotland That both Houses did Petition his Majesty not to begin his Journey till the Tenth of August and to acquaint the Scots Commissioners therewith who afterwards desired this House to express their Resolutions in the affirmative upon which the House of Commons passed a Resolution That then if his Majesty pleased to go they would submit unto it I am Commanded to declare unto your Lordships That the House of Commons is desirous to submit unto his Majesties good Pleasure in all things but such is the present condition of this business as it now standeth that they are enforced to present some further Considerations to your Lordships First That when they gave this Assent they were in hope both Armies would have been Disbanded by that time but though there hath been all possible means used to that end yet it could not be effected so the same Inconvenience doth still continue Secondly The Treaty cannot in so short a time be finished being returned from Scotland but three dayes since but since it is ready to be finished and Moneys are provided the Armies will be Disbanded by that time we desire his Majesty to take his Journey Thirdly The Distempers and Joalousies of the Kingdome are such that they cannot be composed by passing some Acts unless his Majesty stay the desired time Fourthly No course is yet taken for the Government of the Kingdom in his Majesties absence there being so many Weighty Things to be taken into Consideration Upon these Reasons the House of Commons have thought fit to move your Lordships to joyn with Us in a Petition to his Majesty to stay his Journey for 14 dayes longer and we make no doubt but our Brethren in Scotland will consider the Streight we are in and for our Safety condescend to our Desires And if his Majesty yield thereunto then we shall desire your Lordships to joyn with us by some express Messenger to the Parliament in Scotland for the King's stay for that time which we hope will give them Satisfaction After which Mr. Hollis reported the Conference from the Lords That the Lord Say told them They had taken into Consideration the Desires of this House and that the Lords would joyn with this House to Petition his Majesty to be pleased to stay yet 14 days if it may stand with the Ingagement he has made to that Kingdom however that he may stay till Tuesday Night 6. of the Clock which they are sure will stand with his Ingagement but they conclude nothing in this matter till they had first heard from this House This was not at all Satisfactory to the Commons who thereupon put it to the Vote it was Resolved c. That this House shall insist upon the former Desire for his Majesties stay for 14 dayes But while they were in this Debate and Messages went to and fro between the Two Houses the King came to the House of Lords and the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod was sent to give the Commons notice of the King 's being there in order to the passing several Bills The Publique Bills were Bills passed by the King 1. An Act against divers Incroachments and Oppressions in the Stannery Court 2. An Act for securing Money to the Northern Counties c. 3. An
Scottish Commissioners in a free and friendly manner to declare to them whether they have lately received any Instructions from the Parliament of Scotland to press His Majesty's present Repair thither in Person at the Parliament the 17th day of this present August Hereupon the Earl of Warwick Viscount Say and Seal Lord Wharton Lord Kimbolton and Lord Savile were appointed presently to go to the Scots Commissioners and desire from both Houses their Answer hereunto in writing The Lord Keeper reported That he had delivered the Reasons to the King in the name of both Houses concerning the staying of His Majesties Journey into Scotland for 14 days and his Majesty returns this Answer That the importance of your desires would require some time of deliberation The Kings Answer to the 4 Reasons for staying his Journey if the urgent Necessity of the business did not press the contrary and His Majesty said the same Necessity teacheth him to Answer the Necessity is two fold 1. The first and chiefest his Publick Faith given to his Kingdom to be present at the Parliament and His Majesty said That never any Prince was more strictly bound in Honour to perform any thing then he was to do this 2. The Vrgency of His Majesties Affairs there which indeed he said were very great To comply with both which he can stay no longer then Tuesday and so long he thought fit to stay that the Gentlemen of the House of Commons may so hasten the Scottish Treaty that he may give his Royal Assent thereunto some time to morrow for otherwise His Majesty shall be forced to pass it by that Commission which he leaves behind him but the earnest desire his Majesty hath of passing this Important Bill personally makes him stay thus long which he knows will be inconvenient unto him To conclude His Majesty desires your Lordships to remember That upon yoâ—r desires he hath already stayed one Month and that you by Publick Promises are engaged not to urge his stay longer then to morrow therefore remembring all engagements His Majesty expects that you press him no more in this for His Majesty said indeed he must go and for the Government of the Kingdom he hopes he shall leave behind him such Commissions as will serve especially since the Parliament is Sitting The Lord Brook was sent to find out the Scottish Commissioners and to desire them to expedite their Answer who presently returning brought it in writing which was read in these words AS we are very sensible of the great Care the Houses of Parliament have to keep a good Correspondency betwixt the two Nations Scottish Commishoners Answer to the 4 Reasons for the Rings stay and the Sense they have of the manifold Inconveniences which Scotland doth sustain by their frequent Meeting and Adjourning of the Parliament so we know nothing can more conduce for conserving that Correspondency and for removing these manifold prejudices we sustain through the frequent Prorogation of our Parliament then that the Treaty of Peace which by the blessing of God and His Majesties and the Parliaments Wisdom is now brought to a close may as a Sovereign Remedy of the great Evils which troubles both Kingdoms without further delay be Enacted here for the Peace and safety of both Kingdoms that the same may with all speed be Ratified in the Parliament of Scotland His Majesty hath by several Letters promised to hold the Parliament of Scotland in his own Royal Person and hath intimated the same by Publick Proclamation to all his Subjects there and although His Majesty by his Royal Letter of the 18th of May was obliged to have holden the Parliament of Scotland upon the 15th of July last in his own Royal Person or if any unexpected Occasion should happen to detain him that he would appoint a Commissioner for holding thereof at the day aforesaid to do every thing which might conduce to the Establishing of the True Religion Laws and Liberties of their Kingdom Yet such is the Affection and Respect of the Parliament of Scotland to the Parliament of England as notwithstanding their many pressing Difficulties they have condescended that his Majesty stay his Journey into Scotland until the 10th of August in respect that the Parliament of England did Assent to His Majesties going at that time which the Parliament of Scotland doth expect without any surther delay What may be the Condition or Importment of Affairs here or what Reason the Parliament hath which moveth them to Petition His Majesties stay is not proper for us we will therefore forbear to shew our selves beyond our Line but do remit the Consideration of this to the King and the Parliaments Wisdom And finally where it is desired by the Houses that we would in a friendly and free manner declare unto them whether we have lately received any Instructions from the Parliament of Scotland to press His Majesties repair thither in Person we do conceive that His Majesties former Promises of going thither in his own Person upon the 10th of August and the Assent of both Houses to his Journey and the Resolution of the Parliament of Scotland to prepare their business till the 17th of August and after that time that they will conclude and pass such Acts as they conceive necessary for the good of the Kingdom a sufficient Instruction for us both to press and expect His Majesties going against that time and the pressing necessity of the Affairs of that Kingdom as such cannot without danger of irreparable loss suffer longer delay This being read it was Communicated at a Conference to the House of Commons After a long Tugg the Commons finding the King resolute to pursue his Journey and the Lords unwilling to press His Majesty any further in the Matter they resolved to expedite matters so as if possible to settle them before His Majesty goes But lest this Sitting upon the Lords Day which the Presbyterians idolized even to down-right Judaism many of them thinking it unlawful even to dress Provision for their Families on that day should scandalize them the Commons were resolved to do something in Vindication of this so unusual a Sitting and to give the Nation the Reasons for it which Mr. Pym did in haec verba WHereas both Houses of Parliament found it fit to Sit in Parliament upon the 8th of August being the Lords Day The Reasons of the Sitting of the Parliament on the Lords Day for many urgent and unexpected Occasions concerning the Safety of the Kingdom and being so straitned in time by reason of his Majesties Resolution to begin his Journey towards Scotland on Monday following early in the morning it was not possible so to settle and order the Affairs of the Kingdom either for the Government thereof in the King's Absence or for the present Safety as was requisite upon these pressing Necessities though the Houses thought it necessary to Sit yet the Lords and Commons Assembled in Parliament think it meet to declare
That they would not have done this but upon inevitable Necessity the Peace and Safety of both the Church and State being so deeply concerned which they do however declare to the End that neither any other Inferior Court or Councel or any other Persons may draw this into Example or make use of it for their Encouragement in neglecting the due observance of the Lords Day Which being read Sir Jo. Culpeper Ordered to carry up this to the Lords for their Concurrence was assented to Nullo Contradicente Ordered That Sir John Culpeper carry up this Order to the Lords and to acquaint their Lordships how it past Nullo contradicente and that if it pass so in their House to desire it may be so entred that it may appear to Posterity with what Vnanimous Consent both Houses of Parliament are solicitous for the due Observation of the Lords Day and likewise to desire of their Lordships That it may be printed as the Declaration of both Houses To which the Lords also assented Nullo contradicente Which being done it was ordered to be entred in the Journals and printed for Satisfaction to Posterity A Proposition from the French Ambassador This day the Earl of Warwick reported that the French Ambassadour was with him and desired his Lordship That he would acquaint this House That he desired leave for the Raising and Transporting of a Regiment of English Souldiers for the Service of the French King and in particular the Earl of Carnarvan 's Troop of Horse and he said if occasion requires hereafter to imploy them in the Service of the Palatinate the French King would add Ten Thousand Foot to them in that design Hereupon the House thought fit that the French Ambassadour set down his Proposition in Writing Duke of Lenox made Duke of Richmond and Introducted Monday August 9. and then present it to this House This Day the Lord James Duke of Richmond was with the Usual Solemnity Introducted his Writ bearing Date 8th Aug. 1641. Ordered That the Gracious Answer from his Majesty be entered in the Journal of the House His Majesty sent this following Message to the House That his Majesty forgot to tell the Houses yesterday one Thing That his Businesses are so well prepared in Scotland that he shall make no long stay there and intends to be back before Michaelmas A Message from his Majesty and it may be by the midst of September Concerning the Army which he is sorry is not already disbanded but upon the Word of a Prince he will do his best and hopes not without good effects for the speedy Disbanding thereof That besides the Bill for the Scots Treaty another Bill will come down from the Lords for securing the Government in his Majesties absence And his Majesties Command at this time is to signify his desire to the House that they pass both these Bills some time this Day that so his Majesty may give his Assent unto them His Majesty desires the speedy passing of this last Bill conceiving that the passing thereof may assist his Majesty in the desired disbanding of the Armies And that when his Majesty upon Saturday bid the Lords severally Farewel his Intent then was to both Houses which if they did not so understand it his Majesty now commanded to signifie it as his Intention therein A Message was brought from the House of Commons by Mr. Message from the Commons to have E. Pembroke made L. Steward and E. Salisbury L. Treasurer Hollis to let their Lordships know That they understand that the Lord Steward is to go beyond the Seas with the Queen and so is to resign his Staff The House of Commons desires their Lordships to joyn with them to move his Majesty that he may resign his Staff to the Earl of Pembroke who is a very fit Person for that Place And further he was commanded by the House of Commons to signifie That they have taken into Consideration the setling of the King's Revenue and because it will be requisite to have a Lord Treasurer that is a Person of Honor and Abilities they have Voted Nemine contradicente the Earl of Salisbury to be a very fit Person for that Place therefore the House of Commons desires that their Lordships would joyn with them to recommend him to his Majesty for that Place The Bill for the Commission from his Majesty to give the Royal Assent to certain Bills c. was passed the Lords and carried down to the Commons A Message was brought from the House of Commons by Sir Arthur Haslerig Bill for publick Faith for Brotherly Assistance passed the Lords who delivered from the House of Commons the Bill of Publick Faith for securing by publick Faith the Remainder of the friendly Assistance and Relief promised to our Brethren of Scotland which was read immediately three times successively and being put to the Question and it was Consented to pass as a Law Nemine contradicente The Bill for Regulating and better Ordering the Clerks of the Market being read a third time passed the Lords House Tuesday August 10. Clerk of the Markets Bill passed the Lords House Conference about the Commission to pass Bills in the Kings Absence A Conference having been desired by the Commons concerning the Bill to strengthen the Kings Commission for passing Acts in his Absence it was thus reported by the Lord Keeper That the House of Commons had returned the Commission and the Act to enable the Commission with some Amendments and desired that some Additions might be made both to the Commission and to the Act for the Commons conceive that they are both too Particular and not General enough which may be very prejudicial For 1 They find no President that a Parliament was ever Sitting without a General Power 2 It might be a dangerous President to accept of a Limited Commission by an Act of Parliament 3 There may happen Emergent Occasions for the Safety of the Kingdom which cannot be foreseen therefore 't is dangerous to accept of such a Limited Commission by an Act of Parliament His Majesty being come to the House The King passes Bills in the Lords House for Pacification c. and the Commons with their Speaker being come up according to the usual manner these following Bills were passed 1 An Act for the Confirmation of the Treaty of Pacification between the Two Kingdoms of England and Scotland 2 An Act for securing by Publick Faith the Remainder of the Friendly Assistance and Relief promised to our Brethren of Scotland 3 An Act for the free bringing in of Gun-Powder and Sal-Petre from Forreign Parts and for the free making of Gun-Powder in this Realm Memorandum His Majesty said he hoped that the Parliament would consider of a Bill for making of good Gun-Powder and for preserving the Sal-Petre Works for the Defence of this Kingdom and if they did not He professeth Himself to be clear of the Inconveniences which else will follow 4 An
Act for prevention of vexatious Proceedings touching the Order of Knighthood 5 An Act for the better Ordering and Regulating of the Office of the Clerk of the Market allowed and confirmed by this Statute and for the Reformation of false Weights and Measures The Private Bill was An Act for the assuring a Messuage called Duresme House aliàs Durham House and certain Stables part of the Possessions of the Bishop of Duresme situate in the Parish of St. Martins in the Fields in the County of Middlesex unto the Right Honorable Philip Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery and his Heirs and of a yearly Rent of 200 l. per Annum to the said Bishop of Duresme and his Successors in lieu thereof Then his Majesty took his leave of the Parliament telling them He hoped to give good Expedition in disbanding both Armies and that he would make what haste he could if possible to return before Michaelmas Declared and Voted by this House Nemine contradicente Declaration of the Lords abount the choice of their Speaker That the certain and undoubted Right of this House to chuse their Speaker and that the Speaker is not to depart when this House sits without the leave of this House and that this Order be added to the standing Orders of this House The Lords Commissioners reported Propositions of the Scottish Commissioners about Difficulties of their Army marching away Aug. 10. 1641. That the Scottish Commissioners desire them to represent to the King's Majesty and the Parliament That in respect of the great Rain which hath fallen in the North whereby the Cannon cannot be carried through Kynsidmire nor can the Scottish Army cross the River Tweed his Majesty may be graciously pleased with consent of the Parliament to permit the Scottish Army to March through Berwick since there is no other Passage But for all they were our dear Brethren of Scotland neither the Lords nor Commons were without Jealousy of them as appears by these following Particulars The House of Lords taking this desire into Consideration did appoint the Lords Commissioners to speak with the Scots Commissioners and propose unto them the making of a Passage for their Army over the Tweed with a Bridge which the Lord General shall have Order to make The Old Proverb is Make a Retreating Enemy a Bridge of Gold they had made the Scots a Bridge of Silver which Cost England above a Million of Money and now they were very willing to see them gone To which purpose at a Conference this Day the Commons acquainted the Lords That whereas formerly it was intimated at a Conference Report of the Conference about the Scottish Army That the Scottish Commissioners declared that their Army would draw themselves into a Camp and begin to March away out of this Kingdom within 48 Hours after they had received the Monies of Arrears at New-Castle and the 80000 l. in part of the Brotherly Assistance and had Security for the Payment of the rest the House of Commons having now paid them all their Arrears at New-Castle and 80000 l. in London and have performed all that was agreed to be performed by them they desire that the Lords Commissioners may move the Scots Commissioners in the Name of both Houses of Parliament that their Army may march away according to their Promise And further that the House of Commons desires this House would joyn with them to write Letters to the Lord General of the Kings Army to disband the Horse and Foot presently that so Peace may be setled and all Jealousies removed Whereupon it was Ordered by the Lords Order of the Lords for Exemplifying the Acts for Pacification and Brotherly Assistance that this House will joyn with the Commons in the Desires of this whole Conference It was also this day Ordered That the two Acts of Parliament the one for the Brotherly Assistance the other for the Confirmation of the Treaty between the Two Kingdoms shall be transmitted into the Chancery by Writs of Certiorari directed to the Clerk of the Parliament and shall be Exemplified by the Clerks of the Petty Bagg in a Secretary Hand and this to be the Warrant in that behalf The House after their return from the Lords House Commissioners to be sent into Scotland fell into Debate about sending some Commissioners from either House into Scotland and accordingly it was Resolved c. That some Commissioners shall be sent into Scotland for these Purposes authorized by both Houses to see and take Care that the Acts that concern this Kingdom be perfected in the Parliament of Scotland and from time to time to give his Majesty a true understanding of the Proceedings of the Parliament here the Lords to be moved to joyn in Petition to move the King for it The Bill for Tonnage and Poundage passed and Mr. Solicitor was sent up with it to the Lords to desire That this Bill may pass by special Commission and that it may be so contrived that the Bill may pass before the King is gone out of the Kingdom And it was immediately read three times successively in the Lords House and passed as a Law Nemine contradicente This Day the King set forward in the Afternoon upon his Journey to Scotland accompanied with the Prince Elector the Duke of Lenox The King sets forward his Journey to Scotland Wednesday August 11. now created Duke of Richmond and the Marquiss Hamilton A Letter was this day read in the House of Commons to be sent to the Earl of Holland to give Order for the speedy disbanding of the rest of the Army both Horse and Foot Message to the Lords about the Bishops that were impeached A Message was sent to the Lords to desire That the Bishops may be put to a present Answer in the Presence of the Commons as was formerly desired the House of Commons being ready to make good their Accusation and Sir Arthur Haslerig to go up with this Message and to desire a Conference about it Mr. Glyn reports the Conference with the Lords about the Bishops That the Lord Privy Seal told them The Lords Answer about the Impeachment of the Bishops That some Daies since they had received an Impeachment against the Bishops delivered at the Bar by Word of Mouth accusing them of many great Crimes and Misdemeanors and that this House did desire that the Bishops may be put to a present Answer at the time when the Impeachment was delivered They were Matters of great Consequence and coming from the House of Commons they were very curious not to proceed but in a Parliamentary Way upon good Consideration whereas the Charges were in general only He said further There were two Ways of proceeding there by transmission from this House or by a Charge by Word of Mouth in this latter the Course is to appoint some of the Kings Council to draw up particular Charges out of the General that they would proceed no wayes till they had
of Parliament and is a restraint to the proceedings of other inferior Courts but is no restraint to the proceedings of Parliament and therefore seeing it may without in justice be denied this being the Case of the Common-wealth they conceive it ought not to be granted Whereupon it is desired that their Lordships will declare that all Priviledges shall be void in case of the Conviction or Disarming of Recusants and that all their Certioraris out of the King's Bench to hinder the Conviction of Recusants may be Superseeded That this direction may extend to Lords as well as to other Common Persons there being more cause of fear from them in regard of their Power and Greatness then from others That if any Popish Recusant of Quality shall be found not to be Convicted that such Pesons be commanded forthwith to attend the Parliament The Opinion of the House of Commons is That Popish Recusants as this Case is may be Disarmed by the Common-Law being Persons justly to be suspected for some dangerous design and that where there is cause of fear this may be extended to such Persons as have Wives Recusants or Children or any but considerable number of Servants as may give good Cause of Suspitions That in ordinary Cases if there be a Combination to do any mischief to commit a Riot Rob a House or hurt any private Person the Justices of the Peace may take security to prevent such damages much more in the Case where the danger of the Common-wealth is to be prevented Divers Presidents were remembred for the Disarming of Lords of Parliament the Marquess of Winchester Lord Peter Lord Vaux Lord Arundel of Wardour and divers others Then after some Consideration of this Conference It is Ordered That this House doth joyn with the House of Commons to send Commissioners to Disarm Recusants according to Law for the other part of it their Lordships will take it into consideration Sir William Armyn brings this Answer to the Message to the Lords The Lords Answer about the Commissioners for Scotland concerning the Commissioners designed for Scotland That the Lords are of Opinion that the Commission and Instructions be presently prepared together with a Petition to his Majesty and that this be sent away with all Speed and in the mean time the Commissioners may be going their Journey and those Instructions and Commission may meet them on the Way if this House thinks fit Mr. Pym reports the Petition and Instructions to the Commissioners for Scotland To the King 's Most Excellent Majesty The Humble Petition of your Majesties Loyal Subjects the Lords and Commons now Assembled in Parliament Most Gracious Sovereign YOur Majesties Absence at this time the Parliament sitting The Petition to the King concerning the Commissioners for Scotland doth not only afflict us with much Grief but hinders us in making such Provision for the Public Necessities and Dangers of the Kingdom as we desired to do for the Safety whereof We shall be often forced to resort to your Majesties Wisdom and Goodness Whereupon both Houses of Parliament have agreed to send William Earl of Bedford Edward Lord Howard Nathaniel Fiennes Esquire Sir William Armyn Baronet Sir Philip Stapleton Knight and John Hambden Esquire to attend your Majesty to convey to us your Majesties Commands and Directions and to present to your Majesty our Humble Petitions and Desires and likewise to see the Expediting of such Acts in the Parliament of Scotland and other Affairs as by the late Treaty or otherwise concern the Kingdom Wherefore our most Humble Suit to your Majesty is That you will be graciously pleased to admit the said William Earl of Bedford Edward Lord Howard Nathaniel Fiennes Sir William Armyn Sir Philip Stapleton and John Hambden Esquire to be your Majesties Commissioners for the dispatch of the Affairs aforementioned according to such Instructions as they have now received or shall from time to time receive from both Houses of Parliament with your Majesties Consent and Approbation The Instructions for the said Commissioners follow I. YOV shall take care that all those Acts that concern both Kingdoms of England and Scotland The Instructions for the Commissioners and are already agreed upon in the Treaty between the Commissioners of both Nations and which are Confirmed by an Act of Parliament passed in this present Session shall likewise be confirmed and ratified in the Parliament in Scotland and You shall take an authentique Exemplification thereof to bring home with you II. You are to take Care that the Commissions agreed upon in the same Treaty concerning the Trade of both Kingdoms and concerning the Publique Peace and Correspondency betwixt the Two Nations may be settled and dispatched accordingly III. You are to demand Satisfaction of such Debts as shall remain due to the Northern Counties of England for any Money or Provision taken up by the Scottish Army IV. You shall be Careful to clear the Proceedings of the Parliament of England towards the Scots if you find any false Reports or Imputations cast on those Proceedings by persons ill-affected to the Peace of both Kingdoms V. You shall upon all fit Occasions assure the Parliament of Scotland of the good Affections of his Majesties Subjects of the Parliament of England and all things which shall concern the Service of his Majesty and the Peace and Prosperity of both Nations VI. You shall be Careful to certify the Lords and Commons in this present Parliament from time to time of all Proceedings therein and of all Occurrences which shall concern the good of this Kingdom VII You shall put in Execution such further Instructions as you shall receive from the Lords and Commons in this present Parliament with his Majesties Approbation and Consent signified under his Royal Hand It was Ordered Mr. Nichols to go with the Petition c. 1000 l. advanced for the Charges of the Commissioners That Mr. Anthony Nichols a Member of this House shall go to his Majesty from this House with the Petition and Instructions It was likewise Ordered That a Thousand pounds shall be advanced by Sir Robert Pye Mr. Wheeler and the Treasurers of Money for Westminster for the Commissioners Charges and their Acquittance or any two of them to be a Discharge Sir Philip Stapleton and Mr. Hollis were also Ordered to attend Her Majesty Sir Ph. Stapleton and Mr. Hollis to attend the Q. before they go for Scotland to know what Commands her Majesty will lay upon the Members of this House that are to go to His Majesty in Scotland The Lord General as indeed any person moderately skilled in Martial Affairs would have done made some difficulty it seems of letting so powerful an Army though of our Dear Brethren of Scotland March through so Important a Pass as the Town of Barwick and upon this wrote to the Parliament concerning it Whereupon the Lord Keeper Littleton returned this Answer My Lord I Have received your Letter dated the 16th of this
as well by the Lord General as by all other Commanders Officers and Soldiers of the Army whereof they expect a strict and speedy Account After which Mr. Pym and Sir John Culpeper were Ordered to draw a Letter to be sent to the Lord General and Mr. Rushworth Clerk Assistant of the House of Commons to ride Post with it and the House will take it into Consideration to requite him for his Pains and Charges This Day Sir William Bringhurst Mr. Wilson Mr. Broadgate Mr. Friday August 20. Diverse Persons Bailed The first Ordinance of the Lords and and Commons about Commissioners to go to Scotland Slany Mr. Gardner and Mr. Inego Jones were Ordered to be Bailed and 10000 l. for the Principals and 5000 l. for each of the Sureties The Ordinance of the Lords and Commons for the Commissioners for Scotland was read in the Commons House in these Words THe Lords and Commons in this present Parliament Assembled do hereby Order and Appoint William Earl of Bedford Edward Lord Howard two of the Peers of the Lords House Nathanel Fiennes Esquire Sir William Armyn Baronet Sir Philip Stapleton Knight and John Hambden Esquire Members of the House of Commons to be Committees for both Houses of Parliament to attend the Kings Majesty during his Absence in the Kingdom of Scotland and do hereby Authorize them or any three or more of them from time to time to present to his Most Excellent Majesty the humble desires Counsel and Advice of his Majesties most Loyal Subjects the Lords and Commons in Parliament according to such Instructions and Directions as are hereunto annexed or shall at any time hereafter be sent unto them by the Order and Consent of both Houses The Commissioners Instructions I. Instructions for the Commissioners for Scotland YOV shall humbly desire his Majesty That the Treaty agreed upon between the Commissioners of England and Scotland confirmed and ratified in this present Parliament may likewise be confirmed and ratified in the Parliament in Scotland II. You shall present to his Majesty the just Demands of any of his Loyal Subjests of England concerning a due Satisfaction to be made of all Debts due to them for Mony Arms or Provisions taken up by the Scottish Army III. If you shall understand that the Army of Scotland is not returned back or the Army of England not disbanded according to the Articles of the Treaty and Order of Parliament you shall be very instant and earnest in Petitioning his Majesty that all Obstacles and Impediments taken away the Kingdom may be freed from that great Charge this might have been done with half the Charges if the E. Strafford's Advice had been taken and those Mischiefs under which it groans by reason of those Armies IV. You shall by all fit ways of Petition and Intercession to his Majesty further and preserve the Peace and good Correspondency betwixt the two Kingdoms of England and Scotland V. You shall from time to time Certifie both Houses of Parliament of such Accidents and Occurrences as may concern the good of the Kingdom Which Ordinance and Instructions were agreed to by the Lords at a Conference this Day The great Obstacle to the disbanding the Army Mony Ordered disbanding the Army though it filled the Heads of the Party with Fears and Jealousies which from them was diffused through the whole Nation was perfectly the want of Money and not such Designs of dangerous Consequence as were pretended to amuse the People this they well knew and therefore Ordered thirty thousand Pound to be sent down to Pay and Disband the Army A Message was brought from her Majesty to the House The Qs. Answer to the Commons about the Commissioners carrying any Message to the King Order about the L. Major and Commonalty of London about the choice of one Sheriff That her Majesty returns her Thanks for the Respects of this House but She hath lately sent to His Majesty and hath nothing at this time to write This Morning the Lord Privy Seal Reported That the Lords Committees meet Yesterday to see if they could Mediate and Compose the Differences between the Lord Mayor of London and the Commonalty touching the Election of one Sheriff but they could have no success in it and so left it to the Consideration of this House Hereupon the Lord Viscount Say and Seal and the Lord Bishop of Lincoln were appointed to withdraw and consider of an Order for setling the Election of the Sheriff pro hac vicê with a Salvo on both Parts which Order is to be entred in the Books of the Chamber of London the Order was in these Words IN the Cause depending between the Commons and Citizens and the Lord Major of the City of London about the Nominating and Electing of one of the Sheriffs of the said City for this Year ensueing their Lordships taking it into their Consideration that the Election should have been dispatched upon Mid-Summer day last past and finding that upon Omission of performing the Election as upon that Day Devolutions have ensued pro tali vicé to the Commonalty of London do Order that for this time the said Commonalty shall forthwith proceed to the Nomination and Election of both their Sheriffs for the Year following hoping that for the first of the two Sheriffs they will make choice of that Party that was Nominated by the Lord Major and their Lordships do further declare That this Order shall be no way prejudicial to any Right and Prerogative claimed by the Lords the Majors of the City of London for the time being nor yet to any Right or Claim made by the Commons or Citizens in this matter now in Question amongst them It was also Ordered That those Lords that are to go into Scotland with some of the Members of the House of Commons shall go to the Lord General in their Passage The Commissioners for Scotland to quicken the Disbanding Order to stop proceedings upon the Conviction of the Lady Wotton a Recusant to desire that the Order of both Houses may be put into speedy Execution for the disbanding of the Horse and they are to give an Account of the Lord Generals Answer Upon signification this day made unto the Lords House that an Indictment and Conviction in London against the Lady Margaret Wotton for Recusancy is returned into the Treasurers and Remembrancers Office of the Court of Exchequer and the Pipe contrary to former Orders of this House in that behalf and against the Priviledges of the same It is Ordered That no further Proceedings shall from henceforth be had in the said Treasurers Remembrancers or Pipe Offices against the said Lady upon the said Conviction nor any Process shall be thence made or issue thereupon until this House shall give further Order in this Matter Upon a former Information to the Commons by one Sewer Saturday August 21. Disarming of Recusants that he had seen a great quantity of Arms in the Marquiss
of Winchester's House the Commons desired a Conference with the Lords about it which Conference was thus Reported by Mr. Pym. That the Earl of Warwick said That whereas this House had propounded the Disarming of Recusants their Lordships agreed with them in the matter but desired a free Conference concerning the manner but it was remembred by another Lord that the manner was likewise propounded which was to send down Commissioners into all Counties to see it done upon which the Lords desired of this House to consider what men to send down and they did fully agree to the manner This Day the Lord Keeper signified to the House A Message from the King about Soldiers for the Spanish Ambassador That His Majesty hath Commanded Mr. Nicholas the Clerk of the Council to let their Lordships know That His Majesty is so far now engaged to the Spanish Ambassador for four Regiments of Irish That His Majesty cannot go back now and that it was assured His Majesty before he went from London that both Houses were content only it wanted the formality of Voting whereupon His Majesty gave an absolute Order for the Levying and Transporting of those Men and reiterated His Majesties promises to the Ambassador wherefore His Majesty would have the Houses acquainted herewith that those Levies may not be stopt Which was afterwards at a Conference communicated to the House of Commons Monday August 23. Letters from the E. of Holland and Sir William Udal about disbanding A Letter from the Lord General the Earl of Holland was this Day Read informing the Lords That he had not been wanting in diligence to fulfil their Orders and Commands in Disbanding the Army and that it was an affliction to him that the best Service he was able to perform was not better accepted by their Lordships That he had done all that lay in his Power and that as soon as the Accounts for Billetting could be stated they should be discharged but till Money came to them they could not do it This was seconded by a Letter from Sir William Vdal informing That they can proceed no further in the Disbanding till there be a Supply of Money and that he hath not above 200 l. in his hands Tuesday August 24. Whereupon It was Ordered That the Gentlemen that serve for the City of London shall endeavour to Borrow 40000 l. of the City upon the Credit of the Two last Bills of 4 Subsidies and the Poll-Bill without which the Army cannot be Disbanded The Speaker of the House of Commons was likewise Ordered to write a Letter in the Name of the House to those Sheriffs who were thought deficient in gathering the Poll-Money to quicken them in the Collecting and sending of it to the Army The Copy of which Letter was thus SIR THE House of Commons did hope The Speakers Letter to the Sheriffs about the Poll Mony that in so great a time and so visible a Necessity of present Money no private person much less any Publique Officers would have been so slow in contributing their Assistance to the getting in of the Poll-Money but by the not coming in of this from the slow and slender coming of it from others together with more particular Informations this House is forced to believe that both Payers Assessors Collectors and Returners are in fault concerning it I am therefore Commanded to let you know from the House That as you tender your Own or the Publique Good you make all possible hast in returning such Money as you have ready and that you will make known to the Commissoners That if we be not by them prevented the House intends to make a review of the Assessments to the End that wherein the Assessors through partiality shall be found either to have left any uncharged whom the Act chargeth or to have charged any lower than they are charged by the Act those that shall be found faulty may incur both the ill Opinion and severe Punishment of Parliament as Contemners of the greatest Authority in a time of greatest Necessity and by that Contempt being Causes of the Armies less speedy Disbanding to the Danger as well as the unsupportable and unnecessary Expence of the Kingdom An Order was likewise drawn up and presented to the Lords at a Conference by Mr. Pym with the Reasons of it the Necessity of present Money for the several Counties therein mentioned to pay in their Poll-Money at York See the Order it self August 24. 1641. An Order of the Lords and Commons in Parliament The Order of both Houses for paying in the Poll-Mony at York to Expedite the Disbanding Aug. 24. 1641. concerning the more speedy Transportation of the Poll-Mony to York for Disbanding of His Majesties Army WHereas it is Enacted that the Sheriffs of the Counties and Cities hereafter named shall amongst others pay such Summs of money as they shall receive for Poll-money to the Treasurer in the Act named in the Chamberlains Office within the City of London Now forasmuch as their long delay and slow payment is very burthensom and dangerous to the Kingdom because the Kings Army in the North by this means remains un-disbanded to the insupportable Charge of the Common-wealth For the more speedy relief of the Kingdom the Lords and Commons in this Parliament assembled do hereby order and ordain that the several Sheriffs of Worcester Cambridge Huntington Leicester Northampton Rutland Warwick and of the Cities that are Counties within those Countries and every of them respectively shall forthwith on notice of this Order send such Monies now in their hands or shall come to his Hand or any of their Hands respectively or to the Hands of his Under-Sheriff or Deputy or to the Hands of any of their Under-Sheriffs or Deputies respectively under a sufficient Guard and Convoy to the City of York to pay the same to Sir William Vdall Knight Treasurer of His Majesties Army now there residing takeing his acquittance for the same which acquittance the said several Sheriffs respectively shall send to the Chamber of London and that the said Treasurer in the Act named shall accept of the same as if so much Money were paid in specie and shall deliver an Acquittance or Acquittances for the same which shall be as sufficient a discharge to the said several Sheriffs as if the Mony had been paid there And the said Treasurer of the Army is hereby required that he shall as speedily as he may after the receipt of any such Summs from any of the Sheriffs afore-mentioned send up to the said Treasurer of the Chamber of London present and distinct Certificates of the same It is further Ordered that the several Sheriffs of the Counties through which these Moneys do pass shall provide a sufficient Convoy to Guard the same through the several Counties and that the Sheriffs under whose charge the Money is shall have allowance for Transportation thereof in their several Accounts Lastly it is ordered that a strict account
which moved them to desire the Horse might be first Disbanded was of very special Importance and still inclineth them to continue the same expectation for those who are yet undisbanded but for the time past they rest satisfied in the answer and proceedings of your Excellency assuring themselves That though there was some difference in the way yet you fully agreed with them in the end which is to ease the Common-wealth and settle the publick Peace with as much expedition as may be for the more speedy effecting whereof there is already 23000 l. on the way and Order given for 27000 l. more to be sent with all speed and a Course taken by the House of Commons to quicken the payments of the Poll Money in the Nine Shires adjoyning to York and both Houses of Parliament have by an express Ordinance commanded the Sheriffs of eight other Counties to bring all their Money immediately to York whereby the House conceiveth and hopeth your Excellency will be supplied with Treasure sufficient to Disband the remainder of the Army at the time prescribed or sooner if it may be and that by your prudent and faithful effecting thereof the heavy burthen of Care and Pains which lies upon you in the discharge of this great Trust will be removed and shall end in the thanks and obligations of this House and of the whole Kingdom producing to your Excellency such an Increase of Honor and happiness as shall be suitable to your own Merit and the desires of Your Excellency's humble Servant Edward Littleton Custos Sigilli To stir up the City to lend more money the Commons fell upon the Debate of the Case of London-Derry and thereupon Mr. Whistler Reports from the Committee appointed to examin that matter the Case of London-Derry upon which it was 1 Resolved upon the Question Votes about London-Derry in Ireland That it is the Opinion of this House that the Citizens of London were sollicited and pressed to the under taking of the Plantation of London-Derry 2 Resolved c. That the Copy attested with Mr. Soams his Hand is a true Copy of the Sentence in the Star-Chamber given against the Mayor and Commonalty of the City of London and the Society of the Governor and Assistants of London of the new Plantation of Vlster in the Kingdom of Ireland 3 Resolved c. That the Order made in the Court of Star-Chamber Dated 8. May 8 Car. is unlawful both for the Matter Persons and time therein prefixed 4 Resolved c. That the King was not deceived in the Grant which he made unto the Society of Governors and Assistants of London of the new Plantation of Vlster in the Kingdom of Ireland in particular not in creating a new Corporation called the Society of the Governor and Assistants of London of the new Plantation of Vlster in the Kingdom of Ireland 5 Resolved c. That in creating the new Corporation of the Society of the Governor c. The King did not by that Patent grant more Lands then was by him intended to be granted nor was therein deceived 6 Resolved c. That it doth not appear by sufficient Proof that the Citizens of London were tyed to perform the Printed Articles and consequently not bound to plant with English and Scots nor restrained from planting with Natives 6 Resolved c. That though by the 27 Article the City was to build 200 Houses in Derry and 100 Houses at Colerain by the first Day of November 1611 admitting the Houses were not Built nor the Castle of Culmore repaired by the time prefixed yet this is no Crime nor cause for giving Damages in regard the City had not their Patent until the 29th of March 1613. 8 Resolved c. That there is no proof that the Governor and Assistants of London of the new Plantations or any of the twelve Companies did make any Lease unto any Popish Recusant nor of any decay of Religion there by default of the Planters 9 Resolved c. That there is no proof of any default in the Planters for not making of a sufficient number of Free-holders nor any Article that doth tye them thereunto 10 Resolved c. That there is no proof that the City of London or their Governor of the new Plantation have felled any Trees in the Woods called Glancanking and Killitrough contrary to their Covenant 11 Resolved c. That the not conveying of Glebe-Lands to the several Incumbents of the several Parish Churches in regard they did not enjoy the Lands is no Crime punishable nor cause of Seizure of their Lands 12 Resolved c. That the breach of Covenant if any such were is no sufficient cause to forfeit Lands 13 Resolved c. That the breach of Covenant is no Crime but Tryable in the ordinary Courts of Justice 14 Resolved c. That the Court of Star-Chamber whil'st it stood as a Court had not any power to examin or determin breach of Covenant or Trust 15 Resolved c. That the Court of Star-Chamber while it stood a Court had no power to examin Free-hold Inheritance 16 Resolved c. That the Sentence upon these two Corporations aggregate no particular Person being Guilty is against Law 17 Resolved c. That in all the proof of this cause there doth not appear matter sufficient to convince the City of London of any Crime 18 Resolved c. That upon the whole matter this Sentence in the Star-Chamber was unlawful and unjust 19 Resolved c. That this composition and agreement made with the City upon these Terms in this time of extremity ought not to bind the City 20 Resolved c. That this House is of Opinion that when the King shall be pleased to repay those Monies which he hath received upon this composition and such Rents as he hath received by colour of this Sentence that then His Majesty shall be restored to the same State he was in and the Patent thereupon gotten shall be cancelled or surrendred 21 Resolved c. That the Citizens of London and all those against whom the Judgment is given in the Scire facias shall be discharged of that Judgment 22 Resolved c. That the Opinion of this House is That they think fit that both the Citizens of London and those of the new Plantation and all under Tennants and all those put out of possession by the Sequestration or Kings Commissioners shall be restored to the same State they were in before the Sentence in the Star-Chamber The Plague which had for some time visited the City of London The Plague in London City Petition for a Fast began now to spread and increase upon which there was a Petition from the Magistrates Ministers and People of the City of London for a Day to be set apart for Solemn Humiliation and Fasting to implore the Divine Majesty to avert the impending Judgment of the Pestilence from the City and Nation This day it was moved Friday August 27.
inconstancy in him but it was certainly out of a true and peculiar understanding his power The present State of Christendom is apparent That the House of Austria begins to diminish as in Spain so consequently in Germany That the French do swell and enlarge themselves if they grow and hold they will be to us but Spain nearer hand Alliances do serve well to make up a present Breach or mutually to strengthen those States who have the same ends but politick Bodies have no Natural affections they are guided by particular interest and beyond that are not to be trusted Although it may be good Policy to breed a Militia at the charge of other States abroad for our own use and occasions at home yet that ought rather to be done amongst Friends of the same way and so the Low-Countries have been an Academy to us His Majesty hath now an Ambassador Treating with the Emperor about the Palatinate If we send away our Men it will so damp and discountenance the affairs of the Prince Elector as the World will believe we never had nor ever shall have any intentions to assist him at all I have observed for divers years That England is not so well Peopled but we do want Work-folks to bring in Harvest our Disbanded Soldiers will least dislike that kind of Work and if they be speedily Dissolved that employment will entertain them for the present and inure them to labour for hereafter Upon these considerations Mr. Speaker I cannot give my advice to add more strength to France by weakning both our selves and our Friends As for sending the Irish into Spain truly Sir I have been long of Opinion that it was never fit to suffer the Irish to be promiscuously made Soldiers abroad because it may make them abler to trouble the State when they come Home Their intelligence and practice with the Princes whom they shall serve may prove dangerous to that Kingdom They may more profitably be employed upon Husbandry whereof that Kingdom hath great need Besides it will be exceeding prejudicial to us and to our Religion if the Spaniard should prevail against the Portuguez It were better for us he should be broken into lesser Pieces his Power shivered If the King of Portugal had desired these Irish I should rather have given my Vote for him then for the King of Spain because it will keep the Ballance more even Spain hath had too much of our Assistance and Connivence heretofore I am sure it lost us the Palatinate Now that it is come to our turn to advise I hope we shall not do over other mens faults again If the present Government of Ireland be not able to restrain their disordered People there is a Noble Lord already designed to that Charge who by his knowledge in Martial Affairs and other his great Abilities will be no doubt abundantly capable to reduce them to a due obedience Wherefore Mr. Speaker upon the whole matter My Opinion is that we should not be forward to spend our Men but rather to preserve and husband them for our own use and employments for our Friends for our Religion Whether the Close of this Speech did not cast an Ominous Aspect upon the succeeding Actions of this Parliament what ever the Speaker meant let the Reader judge However there is no doubt but this Prohibiting the Irish Army to pass into the Service of the King of Spain had a most direful Influence upon all the following Miseries which befell these Kingdoms After which the House came to these Votes Resolved upon the Question That this House holds it not fit nor gives Assent that there should be any levies of Men in Ireland for the service of the King of Spain Resolved c. That this House thinks it not fit nor gives Assent that there should be any levies of Men in any of his Majesties Dominions for the French King's Service Upon this a Conference was desired with the Lords which was to this Effect Conference about Soldiers for Forreign Ambassadors That the Spanish Ambassador formerly did move the King that he might have leave to Levy and Transport four Regiments of Soldiers in Ireland for the Service of the King of Spain his Majesty was pleased to declare that he would do nothing herein without the Advice of both Houses of Parliament and since they understand his Majesty hath been informed that the Parliament did Assent to the Levying and Transporting of the said Soldiers to the end that it may appear that the House of Commons are far from giving their Assent therein they have resolved and declared that they hold it not fit nor give Assent that there be any Levies of Men in Ireland for the Service of the King of Spain and hold it fit that there be a suddain stop made of the Ships contracted for by the Spanish Ambassador for the Transporting of the Soldiers out of Ireland And further they hold it not fit nor give Assent that there should be any Levies of Men for the French King's Service within any of his Majesties Dominions for that they know not what Vse this Kingdom may have of Men. Upon which the Lords having debated the Matter passed the same Votes with the Commons and further Ordered Sir John Pennington should stay all the Ships in the Downes which were hired by the Spanish Ambassador to transport these Men as also to stop such Ships as were riding in the River of Thames till the further pleasure of the House be known An Order was also sent to the Lord Newport Constable of the Tower to tender the Protestation to all such Persons as he takes into the Tower for the Guard and Defence of it and if any of them refuse not to admit them to be of the Guard A further Order was this Day pass'd both Houses Monday August 30. concerning the Thanksgiving for the Pacification the Scots it seems being not content after having invaded England in a Hostile manner put the Nation to above a Million of Mony through the Interest they had in the Presbyterian Faction to purchase a Peace even upon their own Conditions unless they might be publickly declared Loyal and Faithful Subjects to such hard Terms did the Obstinate Faction drive his Majesty even while they made him all the Protestations of Humility Duty Loyalty and Allegiance which certainly to a great Monarch who by Proclamation had justly stiled them Rebels and had lead an Army against them was a severe Request not to call it an Imposition and which none but Presbyterians or their Off-Spring would have attempted but such was the Fury and Violence of the Current that there was no stopping or stemming of it and his Majesty found himself under such hard Circumstances and Difficulties that he was even compelled to yield to this most extravagant Request See here the Order WHereas according to the Act of this present Parliament for Confirmation of the Treaty of Pacification An Order to declare the Scots
c. Next the Bishop of Linclon reported that at the same Conference Mr. Nichols that was sent into Scotland to his Majesty from both Houses reported That he had delivered the Petition and the Draught of the Commission to his Majesty but his Majesty thought not fit to sign it for these Reasons which he commanded him to signify to the Parliament 1 That his Majesty conceives the Treaty of Pacification The King's Reasons for not signing the Commission sent into Scotland by Mr. Nichols from both Houses between the two Kingdoms is already ratified by the Parliament of Scotland 2 If this Commission should be granted it would beget new Matter 3 It would be a means to keep his Majesty longer there then he intended to stay 4 That the Scots Army is over the Tweed and that the Lord General hath almost Disbanded all Our Army and hath begun with the House A Letter from the Lord General was read declaring Contents of a Letter from the Lord General That he will pursue the Orders of Parliament in disbanding the Army but he understands that the Scots will keep 5000 Men undisbanded until our Army be all disbanded and our Fortifications at Barwick and Carlisle slighted and that to this purpose he had received Directions from his Majesty to demolish the Fortifications and remove the Ordnance and Munition from thence The Bishop of Lincoln Reported the Conference with the Commons concerning Disarming Recusants to this Effect THat the House of Commons had taken into consideration the Store of Arms in this Kingdom and they find The Conference about disarming Recusants Aug. 30. 1641. that there are many Arms in the hands of Popish Recusants for disarming of whom the House of Commons have frequently recommended to this House the disarming of them according to the Stat. of 3 Jac. but they have found that the good came not by this Statute as was intended for upon Indictments for Recusancy there were Certioraris's granted Therefore the House of Commons have taken these things into consideration again and the rather because of the Kings absence at this time in Scotland and that the time of the Recess draws nigh and considering the late Troubles of this Kingdom whch are not yet settled the House of Commons have considered of an Ordnance of Parliament and some Instructions to be given unto such Commissioners as they have named to see to the disarming of Popish Recusants according to the Statute of 3 Jacobi which Ordinance and Instruction they present to their Lordships desiring them to joyn with them herein Then the aforesaid Ordinance and Instructions were read in haec verba An Ordinance made and agreed by the Lords and Commons in Parliament for the speedy disarming of Popish Recusants and other dangerous Persons The Ordinance of Parliament for Disarming Recusants WHereas for the preventing and avoiding of dangers that might grow by Popish Recusants Provision hath been heretofore made by Act of Parliament for the disarming of all Popish Recusants convicted within this Realm which said Law hath not taken so good effect as was intended by Reason such Recusants and Persons Popishly affected have by subtle practices and indirect means kept themselves from being convicted or being outwardly conformable have caused or suffered their Children Grand-children and Servants to be bred up and maintained up in the Popish Religion and have otherways hindred the due Execution of the said Law to the great danger and grievance of the Common-wealth And for that it is too manifest that the said Popish Recusants have always had and still have and do practise most dangerous and pernicious designs against the Church and State and by the Laws of this Realm in times of imminent danger or of any forcible Attempts Designs or Practises against the Peace and Safety thereof all Armor Weapons and other Provisions that may tend or be imployed to the effecting of such mischievous Designs ought timely to be removed and taken away and all fit means used for the securing of the Peace and safety of the Realm And for the preventing of such further mischiefs as may happen by any Outrage or Violence to be offered It is therefore Ordained and Provided by the Lords and Commons in this present Parliament Assembled That all such Arms Gun-powder and Munition of what kind soever as any Popish Recusant convicted or any Person or other which is or shall be Indicted for such Recusancy and such Indictments either are or shall be removed by Certiorari or being not removed shall not by Appearance and Traverse or otherwise be Legally discharged before this Ordinance be put in execution or which shall not have repaired to Church more then once in every Month or shall not have received the Holy Communion according to the Rites of the Church of England within one whole year next before the making hereof and which shall refuse to take the Oaths of Supremacy or Allegiance upon Lawful Tender thereof made or whose Children or Grand-children or any of them being at his or her dispose or living in the House with them is or shall be bred up in the Popish Religion or have not repaired to Church within one year next before the making of this Ordinance according to the Laws and Statutes of this Realm or whose Houshold Servants or any two or more of them is or shall be of the Popish Religion hath or shall have in his and their House or Houses or elsewhere or in the hands and possession of any other to his or their use or at his or their disposition other then such necessary Weapons as shall be thought fit by the Persons Authorized to take and Seize the said Munition to remain and be allowed Arms for the defence of the Person or House of such Recusant or Person aforesaid shall forthwith be taken from every such Popish Recusant or Person as aforesaid and from all others which shall have the same to the use of any such Popish Recusant or Person by such Person and Persons as are and shall be by this Ordinance appointed and authorized in that behalf for every Shire County and Riding within this Realm and Dominion of Wales that is to say For the County of Bedford Sir Oliver Luke Sir Beuchamp St. John Sir Roger Burgoigne Knight For the County of Lancaster John Moor Alexander Rigby Esquire Members of the House of Commons and the two Knights that Serve for that County For Cheshire Sir William Brereton Baronet Peter Vennables Esquire For the City of Chester Francis Gamull Esquire the Major for the time being For the County of Stafford Sir Edward Littleton and Sir Richard Levison For the County of Derby Sir John Curson William Allestre Esquire For the County of Nottingham Sir Thomas Hutchinson Robert Sutton Esquire For the Town and County of Nottingham Sir Thomas Hutchinson Robert Sutton Esquire and the Major for the time being For the County of Lincoln Thomas Hatcher Thomas Grantham and John Broxholm Esquires
Councel for his necessary Defence in Point of Law which may happen upon the Matter of High Treason of which he is impeached and in Point of Law and Fact upon the Matters of Misdemeanors of which he is Impeached That for the few Daies until the time of his Tryal he may remain in the Custody of the Sheriff of London where he hath remained a true Prisoner for almost three Quarters of a Year in whose House all his Collections and Papers are for his Defence And that he may have your Lordships License to go with a Keeper to Serjeants Inn to look out some Papers which he hath there and shall have Occasion to produce at his Tryal as also there to Confer and Advise with such Councel as your Lordships shall please to admit or Assign unto him And your Petitioner according to his bounden Duty shall allways pray for the continuance of your Lordships Honor and Happiness c. The Names of such Councel as your Petitioner most humbly desires are The Princes Attorney Mr. Recorder of London Mr. Herne Mr. Thorp Mr. Fountain Mr. Bierley Mr. Lightfoot Mr. Brome Subscribed Robert Berkley Before the House resolved of any Answer herein The Bishops withdraw being a mixt Charge the House was Adjourned into a Committee to consider whether the Bishops should not withdraw during the Agitation of this Business it being a mixt Charge of Treason as well as Misdemeanor after a long Debate the House was resumed and it was agreed That the Matter of Treason should be first Ordered at which the Bishops are to withdraw and when the Matter of Misdemanor come into Agitation they are to come into this House again to their Places Hereupon the Bishops withdrew themselves and after a long Debate it was Ordered That Mr. Justice Berkley shall have a Warrant for to bring such Witnesses as he shall have Occasion for to testifie for him at his Trial in Matters of Misdemeanors but not in Matters of Treason Then the Lords the Bishops were called in and the Lord Keeper declaring unto them the Sense of this Order they gave their Consents thereunto And further it was Ordered That the Princes Attorney Mr. Recorder of London Mr. Herne Mr. Bierly Mr. Thorp shall be assigned of Council for Mr. Justice Berkley in Point of Law which may happen upon the Matter of Treason and in Point of Law and Fact upon the Matters of Misdemeanor at his Trial the second of November next And that the said Justice Berkley shall still remain in the Custody of George Clerk Esquire one of the Sheriffs of the City of London where he is now and that he have Liberty to go to Serjeants Inn in Fleet Street one Day when he shall think good with his Keeper to look out some Papers which he hath there and shall have Occasion to use at his Tryal Then Mr. Justice Berkley was called in and the Lord Keeper pronounced the aforesaid Order to him for which he gave their Lordships most humble Thanks Mr. Warwick Reports Five Conge de Estires for new Bishops to be petitioned to be stayed That there were Directions given from his Majesty for the drawing up of Five Conge d' Eslires for the making of Five New Bishops viz. Dr. Prideaux Dr. Brownrick Dr. Holdsworth Dr. Winniff and Doctor King Upon which Mr. Strode moves the House to send up a Message to the Lords to desire them to joyn in Petitioning his Majesty for the staying the making of these new Bishops till the Charge against the other Bishops was dispatched This day Information was given into the House of Lords that since the Act for bounding the Forrest many Riots were committed upon the occasion of killing of Deer pretending they were not within the Bounds of the Forrest and that in Oxfordshire in one of those Fraies a Keeper was killed It was also moved that the Bill for disabling Persons in Holy Orders from exercising Temporal Jurisdiction might not be read at present it having been voted against as to the Substance in a former Bill this Sessions but it was Ordered to be read a second time to morrow Morning peremptorily Mr. Pym Reports the Reasons for Excluding the Thirteen Bishops Wednesday October 27 in Order to the delivering them at a Conference with the Lords and desires that Mr Solicitor may have the mannaging of the Business On the other Side Mr. Solicitor excused himself and desired that Mr. Pym might manage it whereupon it was to end the Contest Ordered That Mr. Pym and Mr. Solicitor should have the mannaging of the whole Business concerning the Bishops and accordingly they did so at a Conference with the Lords upon this Subject The Lord Privy Seal Reported the Conference yesterday with the House of Commons concerning Bishops viz. Mr. Mr. Pym's Speech at the Conference about Excluding the Bishops from Voting in the Case of the 13 Bishops impeached Oct. 27. 1641. Pym declared from the House of Commons That there is nothing of greater importance to the safety and good of the Kingdom then that this High Court of Parliament which is the Fountain of Justice and Government should be kept pure and uncorrupted from Corruption free from Partiality and by-respects this will not only add Lustre and Reputation but Strength and Authority to all our Actions Herein he said your Lordships are specially interessed as you are a Third Estate by Inheritance and Birth-right so the Commons are publickly interessed by Representation of the whole Body of the Commons of this Kingdom whose Lives Fortunes and Liberties are deposited under the Custody and Trust of the Parliament He said The Commons have commanded him and his Colleague Mr. Solicitor General to present to your Lordships two Propositions which they thought very necessary to be observed and put in Execution at this time 1. That the 13 Bishops which stand accused before your Lordships for making the late pretended Canons and Constitutions may be Excluded from their Votes in Parliament 2. That all the Bishops may be suspended from their Votes upon that Bill intituled An Act to disable all Persons in Holy Orders to exercise any Jurisdiction or Authority Temporal The first of these is committed to his Charge and he said he was commanded to support it with three Reasons First That the 13 Bishops have broken that Trust to which every Member of Parliament is obliged which Trust is to maintain 1. The Prerogative of the King 2. The Priviledge of Parliaments 3. The Propriety of the Subject 4. The Peace of the Kingdom And this Trust they have broken not by one Transient Act but by setting up Canons in Nature of Laws to bind the Kingdom for ever That the Canons are of this Nature appears by the Votes of both Houses and that they were all Parties to the making thereof appears by the Acts of that Synod The Book it self the Commons cannot tender to your Lordships because they sent for it but he that hath the Book in Custody
auxi mesmes les Communes remercierment les seigneurs Espirituelx Temporelx de lour bon droiturell Jugment quils auoint fait come Piers du Parlement That the said Commons returned thanks to the Lords Temporal and Spiritual for the good and upright Judgment which they had made as Peers of Parliament In the 2 of H. 6 John Lord Talbot accused James Boteler Earl of Ormond Rot. Par. n. 9. 2 H. 6. in Parliament of sundry Treasons and the Record saith That De avisamento assensu Dominorum Spiritualium Temporalium ac Communitatis Regni Angliae in eodem Parliamento existent ' facta fuit quaedam Abolitio delationis nunciatonis Detectionis predict ' c. By the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons of England there was made a certain abolition of the said Accusation Relation and Discovery From which Presidents it is evident that the Lords the Bishops did Sit and Debate Vote and Determin in Causes Capital as well as the other Temporal Lords The third Position is that they are a third Estate in Parliament Which is proved both by undeniable Reason and undoubted Presidents and Records That there are three Estates in the Parliament of England is a matter on all hands allowed But some Persons who would bring down the Soveraignty to a Coordinacy do affirm that the King is the third Estate the Lords making one and the Commons the other which dangerous Position as it doth submit the Monarchy to great hazzards so it gave occasion and colour to the taking away of the Peerage of the Bishops the third Estate notwithstanding their Exclusion being according to this principle left as Intire in the Lords House as it was upon the Exclusion of the Lord Abbots in the time of King Henry the Eighth Now that the King is not one of the three Estates and consequently that the Lords the Bishops must be so and were ever accounted so evidently appears by the Records of our Parliaments which are cited to this purpose as follows In the Parliament of 1. H. 4. By the Roll it appears that King Richard the Second appointed two Procurators to declare his Resignation of the Crown coram omnibus Statibus Regni before all the States of the Realm and one of the Articles against him was concerning his Impeachment of Thomas Arch-Bishop of Canterbury coram Rege omnibus Statibus Regni before the King and all the Estates of the Realm And who all these Estates of the Realm were it most fully appears in that the Commissioners for the Sentence of this unfortunate Kings deposition are said to be appointed Per Pares Proceres Regni Anglia Spirituales Temporales ejusdem Regni Communitates omnes status ejusdem Regni representantes By the Peers and Nobility of the Kingdom of England Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons of the same representing all the Estates of the said Realm So that First the Bishops are declared Peers of the Realm in Parliament Secondly The Estates of the Parliament are to represent all the Estates of the Kingdom Clergy Nobility and Commons Thirdly The three Estates in Parliament are the Lords Spiritual the Lords Temporal and the Commons of the Realm In the Roll of Parliament Rot. Parl. 1. R. 3. 1. R. 3. it is Recorded That whereas before his Coronation certain Articles were delivered unto him in the name of the three Estates of the Realm that is to say of the Lords Spiritual Lords Temporal and of the Commons by name c. Now forasmuch as neither the said three Estates neither the said Persons which in their name presented and delivered as it is aforesaid the said Roll unto our Soveraign Lord the King were Assembled in Form of Parliament divers doubts have been moved c. Now by the said three Estates Assembled in this present Parliament and by Authority of the same be ratified and Enrolled c. Upon which Record Mr. Prinn himself makes this Marginal Note The three Estates must concur to make a Parliament no one or two of them being a full or Real Parliament but all conjoyned In the 3. H. 6. it is said in the Record Prinn Abridgments of Records p. 710. 714. the three Estates Assembled in this present Parliament In the Explanation of the Duke of Bedford's Power as Protector It is said it was advised and appointed by the Authority of the King Assenting the three Estates of this Realm so that it is plain that the King was not then accounted one of them Rot. Par. 3. H. 6. n. 19. 6. H. 6. n. 24. In the 11. H. 6. The Duke of Bedford appeared in Parliament and declared the Reason of his coming coram Domino Rege tribus Statibus Regni before the King and the three Estates of the Realm 11. Hen. 6. n. 10. and n. 2. n. 2. N. 11. Domino Rege tribus Regni Statibus in presenti Parliamento Existentibus Our Lord the King and the three Estates in Parliament being present where the King is plainly distinct from the three Estates 11. H. 6. N. 2. The Lord Cromwell Lord Treasurer Exhibits a Petition in Parliament wherein he saith that the Estate and necessity of the King and of the Realm have been notified to the three Estates of the Land Assembled in Parliament In the Appendix to the Rolls of Parliament that Year the Duke of Bedford saith in his Petition to the King How that in your last Parliament yit lyked your Hyghness by yaduis of three Estates of yis Land to will me c. 23. H. 6. N. 11. Presente Domino Rege 23. H. 6. n. 11. tribus Statibus in presenti Parliamento Existentibus c. Our Lord the King being present and the three Estates in the present Parliament Assembled 28. H. 6. N. 9. Domino Rege 28. H. 6. n. 9. tribus Regni Statibus in pleno Parliamento comparentibus c. Our Lord the King and the three Estates in full Parliament appearing c. 1. H. 6. 1. H. 6. The Queen Dowager in her Petition mentioning the Ratification made in Parliament 9. H. 5. saith it was not only sworn by the King but by the three Estates of the Kingdom of England Cest assavoir Les Prelatz Nobles Grands per les Comuns de mesm le Royalm Dengleterre That is to say by the Prelats Nobles and Great Men and by the Commons of the said Realm of England And since the Reformation In the 8 of Eliz. 1. 8. Eliz. 1. The Bishops are in Parliament called one of the greatest States of this Realm From all which Instances it plainly appears First That there are three Estates in the Fundamental Constitution of every Parliament Secondly That there are three Estates besides the King and consequently that he cannot be one of the three Thirdly that the Lords Spiritual the Bishops are a Third Estate of the Realm in Parliament
Quod erat probandum Object 1. It remains now to answer some Objections which are made against these Positions And First a Canon which they urge was made at Westminster by Richard Arch-Bishop of Canterbury that Persons in Holy-Orders should not agitare Judicium sanguinis To which it is Answered That this is part of one of the Canons of Toledo which never were any part of the Common or Statute Law of this Land even in times of Popery much less obliging now since the Reformation but however the very Canon it self is perverted for the Prohibition explains it self unde prohibemus ne aut per se Membrorum truncationes faciant aut inferendas Judicent they were prohibited personally to be the Executioners in dismembring or to pronounce the Judgment or Sentence in Cases of that Nature Two Offices of which neither the Lords the Bishops nor the most inferior of the Clergy will at this time contend for or be ambitious of Object 2. It is Objected Secondly that in the 11. of Richard the Second the Bishops in Cases of Blood entred a Solemn Protestation in Parliament which was Assented to by the King the Lords Temporal and Commons with these words Non licet nobis aut alicui eorum juxta Sacrorum Canonum instituta quomodolibet interesse That according to the Canon Law it was not lawful for them or any of them in any manner to be present To this it is answered That the Protestation saith as Peers they had Right as per Baroniam de Domino Rege tenentes in Parliamentis Regis quibuscunque personaliter interesse cum caeteris Paribus aliis de Regni negotiis consulere Tractare Ordinare Statuere definire ac caetera facere quae Parliamenti tempore ibidem imminent facienda holding of our Lord the King by Baronage to be personally present in all Parliaments of the King together with the rest of the Barons and others to Consult Treat Order Appoint and Determin of the Affairs of the Kingdom and to do all other things which in the time of Parliament were there to be done And it is plain the King Temporal Barons and Commons allowed they had this Right But it being a troublesome time the Kings Ministers being to be Impeached in that Parliament which was called Parliamentum sine Misericordia because the King gave up all his Court Ministers to be Sacrificed to the Animosities of the Potent Faction of the Lords binding himself not to pardon any without their consent the Bishops were willing to get out of harms way and therefore pleaded the Canons in excuse And possibly both sides might have their several ends in consenting to this protestation the King that so he might call in Question the Acts done without them as it happened 21. R. 2. when all done in this Parliament was Repealed and made void for this Reason the Lords might consent to the Bishops withdrawing that so their Affairs might proceed without opposition against the Kings Ministers But however as before these Canons being not the Law of the Land neither then nor now could be no real Barr to their Right Nor did they upon other occasions think them so as appears by several Instances beforementioned upon the second Position It is Objected in the third place Object 3 That there was a Parliament held 25 E. 1. at St. Edmonds-Bury Excluso clero And notwithstanding many good Laws were there made and that upon this Case in Kelway's Reports it is said to be the Opinion of the Judges that the King may hold his Parliament without the Bishops To this it is answered First That it is but one single Instance and an Extraordinary Case and that it is not only ill but dangerous arguing and concluding universally from one single president for if a Parliament may be good without one Estate why not without another and according to their Position who make the King Lords and Commons the three Estates any one of the three may be Excluded upon the same reason Secondly The Bishops in this Parliament were not Excluded by the King and the other two Estates but by their own voluntary action And the occasion of it was a Bull of Pope Boniface the 8. prohibiting the Clergy to give any more Subsidies which whatever Influence it had then can have none upon the Bishops since the Reformation And whereas it is said many good Laws were made in that Parliament never since questioned it is evident by the Rolls that all that was done in that Parliament was the granting of a 12th by the Laity to the King As for Kelway's reason in his Reports that they might be excluded because they have no places in Parliament by reason of their Spiritualty but only by reason of their Temporal Baronies it will hold as well against the other Barons And that this is but one President of a Parliament without Bishops agaâ—nst a Multiutde of others wherein they were present Et consuetudo Parlamenti est Lex Parlamenti and that Law is the Law of the Land It is Objected Object 4 That if they were a distinct Estate they would have a distinct-Negative I think the best answer to this is the former that Consuetudo Parlamenti est lex Parlamenti and though former Parliaments have ever owned them a distinct Estate yet as the Author observes they sit there now not in their Spiritual Capacity as formerly in the Saxon times before Baronies but in their Temporal Capacities as Barons by Tenures and they have ever Voted in Common with the other Lords according to Custom of Parliament which is the Law of Parliament In the last place it is Objected Object 5 if they were Peers of the Realm they would according to Magna Charta be tried by their Peers but they are in Capital Cases tried by Juries of the Commons To this it is answered First That they have challenged and had this Priviledg in Parliament So John Stratford Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Antiq. Brit. p. 223. Rot. Par. 15. E. 3. n. 7. tanquam major par Regni post Regem vocem primam in Parliamento habere debens put himself upon Trial by his Peers and after great debate it was at length resolved that the Peers should be tried only by Peers in Parliament and he had appointed to examin the Articles against him 4 Bishops viz. London Hereford Bath and Exceter 4 Earls Arundel Salisbury Huntington and Suffolk 4 Barons Percy Wake Basset and Nevil After which he was admitted to answer for himself in Parliament devant les Piers before his Peers 21. R. 2. Tho. 21. R. 2. Arundel Arch-Bishop of Canterbury was Impeached of High-Treason before the King and Lords in Parliament The Kings answer was that forasmuch as this Impeachment did concern so High a Person Pier de Son Roialm a Peer of the Realm he would be advised But soon after he was condemned for Treason by the House the Proxy of the Bishops Sir Thomas Percy giving his
disguising himself yet he could not get forth of the City so surely Guarded were all the Gates There was found at his Lodging hidden some Hatchets with the Helves newly cut off close to the Hatchets and many Skenes and some Hammers In the end the Sheriffs of the City who were imployed in a strict search of his Lordship found him hidden in a Cock-loft in an obscure House far from his Lodging where they apprehended him and brought him before us He denied all yet so as he could not deny but he had heard of it in the Country though he would not tell us when or from whom and confessed that he had not advertised us thereof as in duty he ought to have done But we were so well satisfied of his Guilt by all Circumstances as we doubted not upon further Examination when we could be able to spare time for it to find it apparent Wherefore we held it of absolute necessity to commit him close Prisoner as we had formerly done Mac-Mahon and others where we left them on the 23 of this Month in the morning about the same hour they intended to have been Masters of that Place and the City That morning we laid wait for all those strangers that came the night before to Town and so many were apprehended whom we find reason to believe to have hands in this Conspiracy that we were forced to disperse them into several Goals and since we found that there came many Horsemen into the Suburbs that night who finding the Plot discovered dispersed themselves immediately When the hour approached which was designed for the surprising the Castle great numbers of Strangers were observed to come to the Town in great Parties several Ways who not finding admittance at the Gates stayed in the Suburbs and there grew so numerous to the Terror of the Inhabitants We therefore to help that drew up and instantly Signed a Proclamation Commanding all Men not dwellers in the City or Suburbs to depart within an hour upon pain of Death and made it Paenal to those that should harbour them which Proclamation the Sheriffs immediately Proclaimed in all the Suburbs by our Commandment which being accompanied with the Committal of those two Eminent Men and others occasioned the departure of these multitudes and in this case all our Lives and Fortunes and above all His Majesties Regal Power and Authority being still at stake we must vary from ordinary Proceedings not only in Executing Martial Law as we see Cause but also in putting some to the Rack to find out the Bottom of this Treason and the contrivers thereof which we foresee will not otherwise be done On that 23 of this Month we conceiving that as soon as it should be known that the Plot for seizing the Castle of Dublin was disappointed all the Conspirators in remote Parts might be somewhat disheartned as on the other side the good Subjects would be comforted and would then with the more Confidence stand on their Guard did prepare to send abroad to all Parts of the Kingdom this Proclamation which we send you here inclosed and so having provided that the City and Castle should be so well Guarded as upon the sudden we could we concluded that long Council On Saturday Twelve of the Clock at night the Lord Blaney came to Town and brought us the ill news of the Rebels seizing with two hundred Men his House at Castle-Blaney in the County of Monoghan as also a House of the Earl of Essex's called Carrick-Macross with 200 Men and a House of Sir Henry Spotwood's in the same County with 200 Men where there being a little Plantation of British they plundered the Town and burnt divers Houses and since it appears that they burnt divers other Villages and robbed and spoiled many English and none but Protestants leaving the English Papists untouched as well as the Irish On Sunday morning at three of the Clock we had intelligence from Sir Arthur Terringham that the Irish in the Town had that day also broken up the King's Store of Arms and Munition at Newry where the Store for Arms hath been ever since the Peace where they found 70 Barrels of Powder and Armed themselves and put them under the Command of Sir Con Magenis Knight and one Creedly a Monk and plundered the English there and disarmed the Garrison And this though too much is all that we yet hear is done by them However we shall stand upon our Guard the best we may to defend the Castle and City principally those being the places of most importance But if the Conspiracy be so universal as Mr. Mahon saith in his Examination it is namely That all the Counties of the Kingdom have Conspired in it which we admire should so fall out in this time of universal Peace and carried with that secresie that none of the English could have any Friend among them to disclose it then indeed we shall be in high Extremity and the Kingdom in the greatest danger that ever it underwent considering our want of Men Mony and Arms to enable us to encounter so great multitudes as they can make if all should so joyn against us the rather because we have pregnant cause to doubt that the Combination hath taken force by the incitement of the Jesuits Priests and Friars All the hope we have here is That the English of the Pale and some other Parts will continue constant to the King in their Fidelity as they did in former Rebellions And now in these straits we must under God depend on Aid forth of England for our present supply with all speed especially Mony we having none and Arms which we shall exceedingly want without which we are very doubtful what account we shall give to the King of this Kingdom But if the Conspiracy be only of Maguire and some other Irish of the Kindred and Friends of the Rebel Tyrone and other Irish of the Counties of Down Monogham Cavan Fermanagh and Armagh and no general Revolt following thereupon we hope then to make Head against them in a reasonable Measure if we be inabled with Money against them in a reasonable Measure if we be inabled with Money from thence without which we can raise no Forces so great is our want of Mony as we formerly have Written and our Debt so great to the Army nor is Money to be borrowed here and if it were we would Engage all our Estates for it neither have we any hope to get in his Majesties Rents and Subsidies in these Disturbances which adds extremely to our Necessities On Sunday Morning the 24th we met again in Council and sent to all parts of the Kingdom the inclosed Proclamation and Issued Patents to draw hither seven Horse Troops as a further strength to this Place and to be with us in case the Rebels shall make Head and march hitherward so as we may be necessitated to give them Battel We also then sent away our Letters to the Presidents of both the
Provinces of Munster and Connaght as also to the Sheriffs of five Counties of the Pale to consult the best way and means of their own preservation That day the Lord Viscount Gormanstoun the Lord Viscount Netterville the Lord Viscount Fitz-Williams and the Lord of Lowth and since the Earls of Kildare and Fingal and the Lords of Dunsany and Slane all Noblemen of the English Pale came unto us declaring That they then and not before heard of the matter and professed all Loyalty to His Majesty and Concurrence with the State but said they wanted Arms whereof they desired to be supplied by us which we told them we would willingly do as relying much on their faithfulness to the Crown but we were not yet certain whether or no we had enough to Arm our strengths for the guarding of our City and Castle yet we supplied such of them as lay in most danger with a small proportion of Arms and Ammunition for their Houses lest they should conceive we apprehended any Jealousie of them and we commanded them to be very diligent in sending out Watches and making all the Discoveries they could and thereof to advertise us which they readily promised to do And if it fall out that the Irish generally rise which we have cause to suspect then we must of necessity put Arms into the hands of the English Pale in present and others as fast as we can to fight for the defence of the State and themselves Your Lordship now sees the Condition wherein we stand and how necessary it is first That we enjoy your Presence speedily for the better guiding of these and other Publick Affairs of the King and Kingdom And secondly That the Parliament of England be moved immediately to advance to us a good Sum of Mony which being now speedily sent hither may prevent the expence of very much Treasure and Blood in a long continued War And if your Lordship shall happen to stay on that side any long time we must then desire your Lordship to appoint a Lieutenant General to discharge the great and weighty burthen of commanding the Forces here Amidst these confusions and disorders fallen upon us we bethought us of the Parliament which was formerly Adjourned to November next and the Term now also at hand which will draw such a concourse of People hither and give opportunity under that pretence of Assembling and taking new Councils seeing the former seems to be in some part disappointed and of contriving further danger to this State and People We therefore found it of unavoidable necessity to Prorogue the Parliament to the 24th day of February next and therefore we did by Proclamation Prorogue it accordingly and do direct the Term to be Adjourned to the first of Hillary Term excepting only the Court of Exchequer for the hastening in the King's Money We desire that upon this occasion your Lordship will be pleased to view our Letters concerning the Plantation of Connaght dated the 24th of April last directed to Mr. Secretary Vane in that part thereof which concerns the County of Monoghan where now these fires do first break out In the last place we must make known to your Lordship That the Army we have consisting but of 2000 Foot and 1000 Horse are so dispersed in Garrisons in several Parts of the four Provinces for the security of those Parts as continually they have been since they were reduced as if they be all sent for to be drawn together not only the Places where they are to be drawn from and for whose safety they lye there must be by their absence distressed but also the Companies themselves coming in so small numbers may be in danger to be cut off in their march nor indeed have we any mony to pay the Soldiers to enable them to march And so we take leave and remain From His Majesties Castle of Dublin 25 Oct. 1641. Your Lordships to be Commanded William Parsons John Borlase Robert Boulton Canc. J. Dillon Anth. Midensis Jo. Raphoe Thomas Rotherham Fra. Willougbly Jo. Ware Ro. Digby Adam Loftus Jo. Temple Gerrard Lowther George Wentworth Ro. Meredith Postscript The said Owen Connelly who revealed this Conspiracy is worthy of great Consideration to Recompence that Faith and Loyalty which he hath so extremely to his own danger expressed in this business whereby under God there is yet hope left us of Deliverance of this State and Kingdom from the wicked purposes of those Conspirators And therefore we beseech your Lordship that it be taken into Consideration there so as he may have a mark of His Majesties most Royal Bounty which may largely extend to him and his Posterity we being not now able here to do it for him William Parsons As we were making up these our Letters the Sheriff of the County of Monoghan and Dr. Teale having fled came unto us and informed us of much more Spoil committed by the Rebels in the Counties of Monoghan and Cavan and that the Sheriff of the County of Cavan joyns with the Rebels being a Papist and Prime Manof the Irish William Parsons Robert Digby John Dillon Adam Loftus Then Sir William Cole's Letter which had given some Light to the Conspiracy was read as followeth Right Honorable UPon Friday last Two of the Natives of this County Sir William Cole's Letter to the Lord Justices of Ireland just before the discovery of the Rebellion Men of good Credit came to my House and informed me that Hugh Boy Mr. Tirlagh Mr. Henry O Neal a Captain which came from Flanders about May last hath since that time had the chiefest part of his Residence in Tyrone at or near Sir Phelem Roe O Neal 's House to which Place it hath been observed there hath been more then an Ordinary or former Vsual resort of People so frequent that it hath bred some Suspition of Evil Intendments in the Minds of sundry Men of honest Inclinations and these Gentlemen my Authors do say that they do hold no good Opinion of it rather construing an evil Intention to be the Cause thereof For my own part I cannot tell what to make or think of it The Lord Maguire in all that time as they inform me also hath been noted to have very many private Journeys to Dublin to the Pale into Tyrone to Sir Phelim O Neals and many other Places this Year which likewise gives diverse of the Country Cause to doubt that something is in Agitation tending to no good Ends. Vpon Saturday last one of the same Gentlemen came again to me and told me that as he was going Home the Day before he sent his Footman a nearer Way then the Horse Way who met with one of the Lord Inskillins Footmen and demanded of him from whence he came Who made Answer That he came from Home that Morning and the other replying said You have made good hast to be here so soon to which he answered That his Lord came Home late last Night and writ Letters all
annum Pension untill Provision be made of Inheritance of a greater Value and to be recommended to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland for some Preferment there A Message was then carried up from the House of Commons by Sir John Clotworthy Knight to desire a present Conference by a Committee of both Houses if it may stand with their Lordships Convenience touching the Troubles in Ireland and the Security of this Kingdom To which the Lords immediately consented and the Lord Keeper was Ordered to Report the Conference which he did to this Effect Mr. Report of the Conference about the troubles in Ireland Nov. 1. 1641. Pym said he was Commanded by the House of Commons to desire their Lordships to let the Earl of Leicester Lord Lieutenant of Ireland know That they take his Diligent and Timely acquainting the Parliament with his Intelligence concerning the Rebellion and Treason in Ireland very well for which he was Commanded to give his Lordship Thanks from the House of Commons for his good Service done therein to the King and Kingdome He said He was further to Acquaint their Lordships with some Resolutions which the House of Commons have made concerning the Affairs and the Securing of this Kingdom To which purpose they Resolved That 50000 l. shall be forthwith provided and they desire that a Select Committee of the Members of both Houses may be appointed to go to the City of London and to make a Declaration unto them of the State of the Business in Ireland and to acquaint them That it will be an Acceptable Service to the Commonwealth to Lend Money and that the Committees propose to the City the Loan of 50000 l and to assure them That they shall be Secured both for the Principal and Interest by Act of Parliament 2. That the House of Commons desires That a Select Committee of both Houses may be appointed to consider of the Affairs of Ireland and of the raising and sending of Men and Ammunition from hence into Ireland and of the Repair of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland thither and of a Declaration of both Houses of Parliament to be sent into Ireland and that Committee to have power from time to time to open Pacquets sent into Ireland or from Ireland 3. For a Reward for Owen Connelly ut supra in the Vote 4. That a Committee of Lords may be nominated to take the further Examination of Owen Connelly upon Oath upon such Interrogatories as shall be Offered by a Committee of the House of Commons and in the presence of that Committee 5. That the Custody of the Isle of Wight for the present may be sequestred into another hand 6. That the Persons of Papists of Quality in the several Counties where they reside may be secured and such English Papists as within one Year last past have removed themselves into Ireland Except the Earl of St. Albanes and such other Persons as have their Ancient Estates and Habitations there may by Proclamation be Commanded to return hither within one Month after the Proclamation there made or otherwise some Course to be taken by Act of Parliament for Confiscation of their Estates The Lords taking these Propositions into Consideration severally The Lords Answers to the Commons Propositions concerning Ireland c. Resolved as followeth 1. To the First It was Agreed That a Select Committee of Lords should joyn with a proportionable Number of the Commons to go to the City of London to Borrow 50000 l. for the Irish Affairs and the Lord Privy Seal Lord Admiral Earl of Warwick Earl of Bristol Lord Bishop of Winton Lord Bishop of Lincoln Lord Bishop of Glocester c. were named and Ordered to go to Morrow at 4 a Clock in the Afternoon 2. To the Second It was Agreed and the same Committee appointed this Day for Opening of Letters were Ordered to seâ—â—e for this matter 3. To the Third concerning a Reward to be given to Owen Connelly Agreed to 4. To the Fourth Agreed that the same Committee for opening Letters shall Examine Connelly with this Liberty That any Peer may be present unless he be forbidden by this House 5. The Fifth Proposition concerning the Isle of Wight laid aside for the present 6. Concerning the 6th Proposition It is agreed That such as are Convicted Recusants shall be secured according as the Law hath appointed for such as are not convicted Recusants it is referred to the Select Committee of both Houses to consider what Course is fit to be taken to secure their persons in those Cases where the Law is defective Concerning the Proclamation the Lords think fit That the Minutes or Draught of a Proclamation be sent to the King in Scotland that so he may from thence send his Warrants and Directions for issuing out a Proclamation to that Purpose in Ireland After which the Lord Keeper by Command gave Thanks in the Name of the House to the Earl of Leicester Lord Lieutenant of Ireland as before Mr. Pym had done in the Name of the Commons And he was further desired speedily to write to the King and acquaint him with the Affairs of Ireland and the Danger that Kingdom is now in and to let His Majesty know What Course the Parliament here hath taken for to give Supply and Aid for the Reducing of the Rebels And also the Lord Lieutenant was commanded to write to the Lords Justices of Ireland and the Council there to let them know That the Parliament hath taken into their Care to send them a Supply of Men and of Money with all convenient speed and are Resolved to give them Assistance in this great Defection wishing them to persist in their Diligence and Care in defending that Kingdom against the Rebels until Succours can be sent them And that they give Intelligence with the first Opportunities how the State of that Kingdom is and how the Rebels behave themselves Before we proceed any further in this Parliamentary Account of these Transactions concerning this dismal Tragedy and Infamous Conspiracy acted by these Irish Papists I think it will be no less than both the Readers Curiosity and the Nature of the Matter obliges me to give a Succinct account of the Occasions Reasons and Grounds of this Horrid Treason and Rebellion leaving the following Series of it to be interwoven with the other Matters which will compose these Historical Collections and this I will endeavour with all the Truth and Impartiality I am capable of according to the best of my Judgment and the Sentiments of such Authorities as having been Actors in or at least Eye and Ear witnesses of the Management of the Affairs of Ireland during this Calamitous Storm or rather Hurricane of that Rebellion wherein whole Rivers of humane Blood were most inhumanely shed and the Fields of that Island formerly for its Renowned Piety called the Island of Saints blushed with so many Carnages as were capable of changing the name into the Island of Devils were it not that the better
of the Low-Countreys by Colonel O Neal who was sent after the Messenger sent by us formerly to the said Colonel was by him disappointed with his Answer to encourage us in our Resolution and to speedy Performance with assurance of Succour which he said would not fail of the Colonel's behalf and for the more certainty of help from him and to assure us that the Colonel had good hopes to procure Aid from others he said that it was he himself that was imployed from him to Cardinal Richelieu twice that some men who gave very fair promises to assure the Colonel's expectations with which he said that the said Colonel was really with himself assured of the Cardinal's Aid and that he was likewise commanded by the Colonel upon our Resolution of the day to give notice thereof to him and that he would be within 14 days over with them with Aid but he landed 9 or 10 days before and meeting with Captain Brian O Neal who made him acquainted with what was Resolved he did write all the matter to Colonel O Neal so as he was sure of his speedy coming And so that Evening he and I came to meet the other Gentlemen and there were met Mr. Moore Colonel Bourne Colonel Plunkett Captain Fox and other Lemster Gentlemen a Captain I think of the Bournes but I am not sure whether a Bourne or a Toole and Captain Brian O Neale and taking an account of those that should have been there it was found that Sir Phelim O Neale Mr. Collo mac Mahone did fail of sending their Men and Colonel Bourne did miss Sir Morgan Cavanagh that had promised him to be there but he said he was sure he would not fail to be that Night or the next Morning in Town And of the two hundred men that were appointed there were only eighty present yet notwithstanding they were resolved to go on in their Resolution and all the difference was at what time of the day they would set on the Castle and after some debate it was resolved in the Afternoon and the rather hoping to meet the Colonel there then for they said if they should take the Castle and be enforced by any extremity for not receiving timely succour out of the Country having them they could not want and so parted that Night but to meet in the Morning to see further what was to be done and immediately thereupon I came to my Chamber and about Nine of the Clock Mr. Moore and Captain Fox came to me and told me all was discovered and that the City was in Arms and the Gates were shut up and so departed from me And what became of them and of the rest I know not nor think that they escaped but how and at what time I do not know because I my self was taken that Morning But how long soever this Plot was contriving and how much soever the Parliament by their Papers Answers and Declarations indeavoured secretly to reflect upon the King and by the Mercenary Tongues and Pens of their Infamous Agents more openly that the Rebellion began by his Knowledge and Connivance and by that wicked Calumny laid all the Massacres and Murthers which they heightned to the utmost at His Majesties door thereby to dispossess him of the Allegiances and Affections of his Subjects yet it is more then probable the Rebellion would not have broke out then if ever had not the Committee of the Parliament of Ireland some of which were the Continuers of and Actors in it had too near a prospect of a Rupture between the King and the Two Houses and that it would inevitably and quickly come to a War for all other Circumstances in that Juncture threatned their unavoidable Ruine in the Attempt unless England and Scotland were Embroiled so as not to be able to suppress them as if it had not been for the succeeding Rebellion in England they could not but know would be very easily done and none but people mad and senseless would without such almost a certain prospect of the English Rebellion have been tempted to forfeit not only the Extraordinary Graces they had newly received from the King and the Indulgence afforded them in the Exercise of their Religion but their Lives and Fortunes also And for any hopes of Foreign Assistance the French and the Spaniard were at War and under all the Consequences of it necessity of Men and Money to supply their own Affairs and as the Reader may remember both the Ambassadors of those Princes were pressing both the King and Parliament for Men out of Ireland so far were they from supplying the Trish with any And for the Pope besides that he is never over liberal of the Temporal Treasure of the Church he was at a Distance too Remote and too impotent in Shipping to give them any Assistance indeed he might probably be very Prodigal of those cheap and useless Spiritual Treasures of the Church Indulgences Blessings Reliques and promises of Miracles in their Favour but had he imployed both the Swords and unlocked all the Treasures with St. Peter's Keys yet could he not without a real Miracle nay many have saved them from most unavoidable Ruine and Destruction had England and Scotland continued in Peace so that it will plainly appear that if not the Design yet the Execution of it at that time depended wholly upon the certain expectations of a Civil War and the Confusions that attend it which it was not difficult for the Irish Committees who were upon the Earl of Strafford's account very intimate with the Faction of the Parliament to discover and foresee And this is most certain that the Rebels of each side made great advantages of the Rebellion and as in probability the Irish had not then broke out but that they had the English Rebellion in view so the English Rebels made their first Levies of Men and Money with which they fought against the King under colour of suppressing the Irish Rebellion And this is most certain That had Ireland continued in Peace Scotland darest not have stirred as they did to give assistance to the English Rebels and indeed to give the Fatal Turn to the ballance of the War which then seemed to incline to the Royal Party and the great things Montross did there with a handful of Men easily shew what might have been done to the King's Assistance if Ireland had been in Peace So that if these Rebellions did not beget one another as 't is very probable they did 't is certain they fed and supported each others Flames and betwixt them burnt down both Church and State in these three miserable Kingdoms And that the Reader may see what the Irish Rebels said for themselves I have here subjoyned the Remonstrance which they published for their Vindication a Copy of which was procured from one Mr. Wentworth who had it from them while he was Prisoner among them and being Printed I find it among the Collection of the Prints of that
Time The Parliament indeed had one sent over from the Lords Justices in Ireland and I find in the Journal of the Lords that it was read in their House but in regard though it had some Scandalous Reflections upon the King as being willing to favour their Religion which in due time we shall prove utterly false and that in this common Calumny they agreed with the English Rebels yet in regard it seemed and that not without great probability to charge the Rebellion upon the Parliament and their present Proceedings and future Intentions the thing was at that time smothered for it is neither Entred in the Journal as usually Papers of that Importance were wont to be nor can I find any Order for the Printing or Publishing of it or for any Answer to take off the Charge of the Rebels against the Parliament Take it however as I find it in Print The Remonstrance of the Rebels in Ireland WHEREAS we the Roman Catholicks of this Kingdom of Ireland The Remonstrance of the Irish Rebels Oct. 23. 1641. have been continual Loving and Faithful Subjects to his Sacred Majesty and notwithstanding the General and Hard Oppressions suffered by Subordinate Governors to the Ruine of our Lives Honors and Estates Yet having some Liberty of Religion from his Majesty out of the Effluence of his Princely Love unto Vs We weighing no Corporal Loss in respect of that great Immunity of the Soul are inviolably resolved to infix our Selves in an immutable and pure Allegiance for ever to his said Royal Majesty and his Successors Now so it is That the Parliament of England Maligning and Envying any Graces received from his Majesty by our Nation and knowing none so desired by us as that of Religion And likewise perceiving his Majesty to be inclining to give us the Liberty of the same drew his Majesties Prerogative out of his Hands thereby largely pretending the General Good of his Majesties Kingdoms But We the said Catholicks and Loyal Subjects to his Majesty do probably find as well by some Acts to pass by them the said Parliament touching our Religion in which the Catholicks of England and Scotland did suffer as also by Threat to send over the Scottish Army with the Sword and Bible in Hand against us that this whole and studied Plot was and is not only to extinguish Religion by which we altogether live Happy but likewise to supplant us and raze the Name of Catholick Irish out of the whole Kingdom And seeing this Surprize so dangerous tending absolutely to the overthrow of the Liberty of our Consciences and Country and also our Gracious King's Power forced from him in which and in whose prudent Care over us our sole Quiet and Comfort consisted and without the which the Fear of our present Ruines did prescribe the Opinion and premonish us to save our Selves We therefore as well to regain his Excellent Majesties said Prerogative being only due to him and his Successors and being the Essence and Life of Monarchy hoping thereby to Confirme a Strong and Invincible Vnity between his Royal and ever happy Love unto us and our faithful Duty and Loyalty to his incomparable Majesty have taken Arms and possessed our Selves of the best and strongest Forts of this Kingdom to enable us to serve his Majesty and defend us from the Tyrannous Resolutions of our Enemies Thus our Consciences as we wish the Peace of the same to our selves and our Posterity is the Pretence and true Cause of our present Rising in Arms by which we are resolved to perfect the Advancement of the Truth and the Safety of our King and Country Thus much we thought in General fitting to publish unto the World to set forth our Innocent and just Cause the particular whereof shall be speedily declared Dated 23 October 1641. We do declare unto God and the World That what we do or have done is for the Maintenance of the Kings and our Religion and for fear these our Doings should be misconstrued We thought good to make known unto the World by this our Declaration and Remonstrance 1 The several private Meetings of Factious and Ill-disposed People unto our Government and Common-Wealth at several Places Plotting and Devising our utter Ruine and the Extirpation of our Religion 2 Several Men imployed by them with Instruments ready drawn for to get Hands thereunto to be preferred to the Parliament of England whereby they would have the Papists as they call them and the Protestant Bishops of the Kingdom whom they joyn with the Papists and hate as they hate the Papists the Bishops to be deposed and the Papists banished or otherwise rooted out of this Kingdom 3 The Government of this Kingdom successively put into the hands of so many Needy and Poor Ministers who for raising of themselves have by scruing Inventions Poll'd the Gentry and Commons of this Kingdom that no Man was secured of any thing he had 4 We saw his Majesty to whom we thought to Address our selves was so oppressed by the Arrogancy of such Faithless and Disloyal Subjects and as it were cut off from all Prerogative that we could not expect any Redress as long as they ruled in his Kingdom as now they do All which we taking into our serious Consideration did fear we should be circumvented on the suddain and for our Security did think fit to arm our Selves for our own Defence and Safety of his Majesty from such wicked Perturbers of all Common-Wealths where they get any Superiority that they will not admit either of the Kings or Bishops as well Witness Germany and for the Places we have taken we will yield them up when his Majesty pleaseth to Command us and takes a Course for Securing of us and the Protestants of this Kingdom who are only his true and obedient Subjects against such Factious and Seditious Puritanes the Disturbers of all States as had brought the like Misery on Queen Elizabeth and King James had they not been by them and their wise Councels prevented which we thought fit to intimate unto the good Subjects that they may the more willingly assist us until we be at better leisure to make our great Grievances known unto his Majesty and he have more power to relieve us And because they nor any others shall have any reason to accuse me with Partiality I here present the Reader with a Narrative which I find Printed in P. W.'s Answer to the Lord Orrery as follows THey therefore meaning the English Nation and the whole World A Narrative of some things done in the beginning of the Rebellion which Irish Papists plead in mitigation of their taking Arms. may be pleased to know That We speaking of the Irish are so far from justifying any horrid Actions perpetrated at that time when but a few of any Quality raised a Rebellion in the North as we have and still make it our request That those Crimes and all Massacres and Murthers then or after committed whoever shall be
grants and otherwise And that all His Majesties debts then due in this Kingdom were satisfied out of the said Subsidies and yet His Majesty is of late as the Petitioners have been informed in the House of Commons become indebted in this Kingdom in great Sums And they do therefore humbly beseech that an exact accompt may be sent to His Majesty how and in what manner his Treasure issued 12. The Petitioners do humbly conceive just and great fears at a Proclamation published in this Kingdom in Anno Domini 1635. Prohibiting Men of Quality or Estates to depart this Kingdom into England without the Lord Deputies License wherein the Subjects of this Kingdom are hindred and interrupted from free access to Address to His Sacred Majesty and Privy Council of England to declare their just Grievances or to obtain Remedies for them in such sort as their Ancestors have done in all Ages since the Reign of King Henry the Second and great Fees exacted for every of the said Licenses 13. That of late His Majesties late Attorney General hath exhibited Informations against many Boroughs of this Kingdom into His Majesty's Court of Exchequer to shew cause by what Warrant the said Burgesses who heretofore sent Burgesses to the Parliament should send the Burgesses to the Parliament and thereupon for want of an Answer the said Priviledges of sending Burgesses was seised by the said Court which proceedings were altogether Coram non Judice and contrary to the Laws and Priviledges of the House of Parliament and if way should be given thereunto would tend to the Subversion of Parliaments and by consequence to the ruine and destruction of the Common-wealth And that the House of Commons hath hitherto in this present Parliament been deprived of the Advice and Counsel of many profitable and good Members by means thereof 14. By the powerfulness of some Ministers of State in this Kingdom the Parliament in its Members and Actions hath not his natural Freedom 15. And lastly That the Gentry and Merchants and other His Majesty's Subjects of this Kingdom are of late by the Grievances and Pressures beforesaid and other the like brought very near to Ruine and Destruction And Farmers of Customs Customers Waiters Searchers Clerks of unwarrantable proceedings Pursivants and Goalers and sundry others very much enriched whereby and by the slow Redress of the Petitioners His Majesties most Faithful and Dutiful People of this Kingdom do conceive great fears that their readiness approved upon all occasions hath not been of late presented to his Sacred Majesty For remedy whereof the said Petitioners do humbly and of right beseech your Lordship that the said Grievances and Pressures may be speedily redressed and if your Lordship shall not think fit to afford present relief that your Lordship might admit a select Committee of this House of Persons uninteressed in the benefit arising of the aforesaid Grievances to be licensed by your Lordship to repair to his Sacred Majesty in England for to pursue the same and to obtain fitting remedy for their aforesaid and other just Grievances and Oppressions and upon all just and honourable occasions they will without respect of particular interest or profit to be raised thereby most humbly and readily in Parliament extend their uttermost endeavour to serve His Majesty and comply with his Royal and Princely occasions And shall pray c. Not long after the Lord Deputy Wendesford died Lord Deputy Wendesford dies viz. the Third of December following whereupon Robert Lord Dillon of Kilkenny-west and Sir William Parsons Knight and Baronet Master of the Court of Wards L. Dillon and Sir William Parsons made Lords Justices were Constituted Lords Justices of Ireland and were accordingly Sworn the 30th of December 1640. But the Lord Dillon whose Son had married the Earl of Strafford's Sister and who being a Person of great Parts and Abilities and passionately devoted to the Earl's Interests both by Alliance and Inclination was no way grateful to the Faction it was not long therefore before the King who in all things endeavoured to sweeten them by gratifying them in whatever they desired was prevailed with L. Dillon displaced and Sir John Borlase substituted in his room at the Importunities of the Irish Committees then at the Court to displace the Lord Dillon and appoint the aforesaid Sir William Parsons and Sir John Borlase to be Lords Justices of the Kingdom of Ireland These Gentlemen by His Majesties Command applied themselves to give such satisfaction to His Majesties Subjects of Ireland as in reason they could desire and among other things His Majesty was pleased to reduce the Subsidies from 40000 l. a Subsidy to 12000 a piece and all things seemed to be in a most quiet and peaceable Posture and Condition of Settlement But yet even then which seems much to confirm the Lord Macguire's Confession this Rebellion was upon the Anvil for about the latter end of the year 1640 the King received some advertisements of a Design then on Foot to raise some Commotions in Ireland whereupon the King whose care for the Security of his Kingdom and Protestant Subjects of Ireland was always awake caused Sir Henry Vane his Principal Secretary of Estate to advertise the Lords Justices Parsons and Borlase of it and to Command them to take care therein The Letter which I find in Dr. Borlase's History was delivered to the Lord Parsons and found after his Death in his Study by Sir James Barry Lord Baron of Santry and presented to His present Majesty and was in these Terms Right Honourable HIS Majesty hath Commanded me to acquaint your Lordships with an Advice given him from abroad Sir H. Vane's Letter to the Lords Justices concerning some Informations of danger in Ireland and confirm'd by his Ministers in Spain and elsewhere which in this Distemper'd Time and Conjuncture of Affairs deserves to be seriously consider'd and an especial care and watchfulness to be had therein which is That of late there have passed from Spain and the like may well have been from other Parts an unspeakable number of Irish Church-men for England and Ireland and some good old Soldiers under pretext of asking leave to raise Men for the King of Spain whereas it is observed among the Irish Friars there a whisper runs as if they expected a Rebellion in Ireland and particularly in Connaght Wherefore His Majesty thought fit to give your Lordships this notice that in your Wisdoms you might manage the same with that Dexterity and Secresie as to Discover and Prevent so pernicious a Design if any such there should be and to have a watchful Eye on the Proceedings and Actions of those who come thither from abroad on what pretext soever and so herewith I rest Your Lordships most Humble Servant Henry Vane White-Hall March the 16 th 1640. The preservation of this Letter appears very uncommon and looks as if Providence interessed in the Vindication of Oppressed Innocence had reserved it to clear the
Illustrious Memory of the Royal Martyr from the Barbarous Calumny which the wickedest of Mankind indeavoured to fix upon him as being conscious of and favouring this Execrable Rebellion in Ireland Whereas this makes it evident beyond the possibility of contradiction that His Majesty took all the care imaginable to suppress the very first beginnings and motions towards an Insurrection And from hence one may also very probably conjecture at the reason why his Majesty was so willing to comply with the Desire of the Spanish Ambassador to Transport such a Number of the Irish for the Service of the King his Master and possibly this very information might be the great inducement which moved his Majesty to consent to their Transportation for rationally speaking had these Levies gone forward and the Military men of that Nation been sent abroad into the Service of Forreign Princes there could have been no Rebellion or at least nothing so formidable as it proved and that which seems to confirm the Conjecture is That the Roman Catholick Members of the House of Commons in Ireland who were acquainted with the Conspiracy did with all the Artifice and Industry imaginable as well as the English Parliament indeavour to obstruct the Transportation of the disbanded and discontented Souldiers among other Specious and Colourable Arguments * Vide Dr. Borlase's History p. 8. insinuating That the Spaniards having long born ill-will to England they did not know how soon those very Regiments acquainted with every Creek of the Kingdom might be returned on their own Bowels having naturally a love to their Religion which such an Incendiary as the King of Spain might soon inflame to the highest prejudice But however this Intimation given to the Lords Justices by Secretary Vane's Letter doth abundantly clear his Majesty from the least degree of Suspition of contriving fomenting or conniving at this Irish Rebellion so it will fix a blemish either upon the Integrity or Abilities of Sir William Parsons at least after having so fair Warning given that he should never be able to penetrate into the Plot of the Irish which sure a Chief Governor of Ireland could not want Means and Instruments to do till it was so ripe for Execution as to be impossible to prevent it and which is worse to be in no tolerable posture of Provision to Suppress and Extinguish it upon the first Eruption Nor did the Conspirators in Ireland fail to Use the same Arts and Methods which those of Scotland and England and indeed all Conspirators are wont to make Use of to raise up Fears and Animosities Jealousies and pretended Grievances to unhinge the People from their Allegiance by complaining of the Mal-Administration of the Government and Publick Affairs Salust in Conjur Catal. This the Historian tells us was one of the Master-Pieces of Cataline and his Associates illis quieta movere magna merces videbatur And thus did the Irish Conspirators for at the meeting of the Parliament the great business was complaints of Grievances and Impeachments of High Treason against the Prime Ministers of State Sir Richard Bolton Lord Chancellor of Ireland and others were Impeached of High Treason and the Bishop of Derry though contrary to all presidents of that Nature as was certified by the Lords Justices to the principal Secretary upon Search made by his Majesties Commands for that purpose but as Sir John Temple observes they had a design to draw the Government wholly into the hands of Natives thereby to facilitate the intended Alteration of the Constitution And upon this occasion the Popular Men displayed their Talents in aggravating Speeches to make things little in themselves swell and appear bulky and grievous Upon the Impeachment of Sir Richard Bolton c. Mr. Audley Mervin made this following Speech My Lords I Am commanded by the Knights Mr. Audley Mervin's Speech at the Exhibiting the Articles of High Treason against Sir Richard Bolton c. March 4. 1640. Citizens and Burgesses of the Commons House to present unto you Ireland's Tragedy the Gray-Headed Common Laws Funeral and the Active Statutes Death and Obsequies This dejected Spectacle Answers but the prefiguring Type of Caesar's Murther wounded to the Death in the Senate and by Brutus his Bosom Friend our Caesar's Image by Reflection even the Fundamental Laws and Statutes of this Kingdom the sole Means by which our Estates are confirmed our Liberties preserved our Lives secured are Wounded to Death in the Senate I mean in the Courts of Justice and by Brutus too even by those Persons that have received their Beings and Subsistance from them so that here enters those inseperable first Twins Treasons and Ingratitude In a plain Phrase My Lords I tender unto you Treason High Treason such a Treason that wants nothing but Words to express it To Counterfeit the King's Seal to Counterfeit the King's Money it is Treason but this dies with the individual Party To betray a Fort is Treason but it dies with a few Men. To betray an Army is a Treason but it dies with a Limited Number which may be reinforced again by Politick Industry To blow up both Houses of Parliament is Treason but succeeding Ages may replant Branches by a fruitful Posterity but this High Treason which I do now in the Name of the Houses of Commons charge and impeach Sir Richard Boulton Knight Lord Chancellor of Ireland and Sir Gerard Lowther Knight Lord Chief Justice of the Common-Pleas John Lord Bishop of Derry Sir George Ratcliffe Knight is in its Nature so far transcending any of the former that the rest seem to be but petty Larcenies in respect of this What is it to Subvert the Fundamental Laws of this Kingdom High Treason What is it with a contumacious Malice to Trample under Feet the rich Legacies of our Fore-Fathers purchased with Sweat and Expence I mean the Statute Laws what is it but High Treason What is it through an Innate Antipathy to the Publick Good to Incarcerate the Liberty of the Subject under the Iron and Weighty Chains of an Arbitrary Government High Treason What is it since his Majesty the most amiable and delightful Portraiture of Flourishing and Indulgent Justice to his Subjects to present him Personated in their Extrajudicial Censures and Judgments but to possess if possible the Hearts of his Loyal Subjects of this Kingdom That he is a Bloody and Devouring Tyrant and to provoke their never Dying Allegiance into a Fatal and Desperate Rebellion What is it to Violate the Sacred Grants of many of his Majesties Progenitors Kings and Queens of England Confirmed under the Broad Seal being the Publick Faith of this Kingdom by an Extrajudicial Breath grounded upon no Record What is it to Insert a Surreptitious Clause forged by some Servile Brain in the Preamble of our last Act of Subsidies by which the King 's Most Excellent Majesty and the Earl of Strafford are placed in one and the same Sphear allowing them but equal Influences to nourish the
Parliament Assembled not for any Doubt or Ambiguity which may be conceived or thought of for or concerning the Premisses nor of the ensuing Questions But for the manifestation and declaration of the Clear Truth and of the said Laws and Statutes already planted and for many Ages past settled in this Kingdom the said Knights Citizens and Burgesses do therefore pray That the House of the Lords may be pleased to Command the Judges of this Kingdom forthwith to declare in Writing their Resolutions of and unto the ensuing Questions and subscribe to the same Quest 1. WHether the Subjects of this Kingdom be a Free People and to be Governed only by the Common Laws of England and Statutes of Force in this Kingdom 2. Whether the Judges of this Land do take the Oath of Judges And if so Whether under pretext of any Act of State Proclamation Writ Letter or Direction under the Great or Privy Seal or Privy Signet or Letter or other Commandment from the Lord Lieutenant Lord Deputy Justice Justices or other Governor or Governors of this Kingdom they may hinder stay or delay the Suit of any Subject or his Judgment or Execution thereupon If so in what Cases And whether if they do hinder stay or delay such Suit Judgment or Execution thereupon what Punishment did they incur for their deviation or transgression therein 3. Whether the Kings Majesties Privy Council either with the Chief Governor or Governors of this Kingdom or without him or them be a Place of Judicature by the Common Laws and wherein Causes between Party and Party for Debts Trespasses Accompts Possessions or Title of Lands or any of them And which of them may be heard and determined and of what Civil Causes they have Jurisdiction and by what Law And of what Force is their Order or Decree in such Cases or any of them 4. The Like of the Chief Governor alone 5. Whether Grants of Monopolies be warranted by the Law and of what and in what Cases and how and where and by whom are the pretended Transgressors against such Grants punishable and whether by Fine Mutilation of Members Imprisonment Loss and Forfeiture of Goods or otherwise and which of them 6. In what Cases the Lord Lieutenant Lord Deputy or other Chief Governor or Governors of this Kingdom and Council may punish by Fine Imprisonment Mutilation of Members Pillory or otherwise And whether they may Sentence any to such the same or the like punishment for infringing the Commands of or concerning any Proclamation of and concerning Monopolies and what punishment do they incur that Vote for them 7. Of what Force is an Act of State or Proclamation in this Kingdom to bind the Liberties Goods Possessions or Inheritance of the Natives thereof whether or any of them can alter the Common Law or the Infringers of them loose their Goods Chattels or Leases or forfeit the same by Infringing any such Act of State or Proclamation or both And what punishment do the sworn Judges of the Law that are Privy Councellors incur that Vote for such Act and Execution thereof 8. Are the Subjects of this Kingdom subject to the Martial Law And whether any man in time of Peace no Enemy being in the Field with Banners displayed can be Sentenced to death If so by whom and in what Cases If not What Punishments do they incur that in time of Peace execute Martial Law 9. Whether Voluntary Oaths taken freely before Arbitrators for Affirmance or Disaffirmance of any thing or for the true performance of any thing be punishable in the Castle-Chamber or any other Court and why and wherefore 10. Why and by what Law or by what Rule of Policy is it that none is admitted to Reducement of Fines or other Penalties in the Castle-Chamber or Council Table untill he confess the Offence for which he is Censured when as Revera he might be innocent thereof tho suborned Proofs or Circumstances might induce the Censure 11. Whether the Judges of the Kings-Bench or any other Judge of Gaol-Delivery or of any other Court and by what Law do or can deny Copies of Indictment of Felony or Treason to the Parties accused contrary to Law 12. What Power have the Barons of the Court of Exchequer to raise the Respite of Homage arbitrarily to what Rate they please to what Value they may raise it by what Law they may distinguish between the Respit of Homage upon the diversity of the true value of the Fees when as Escuage is the same for great and small Fees and are apportionable by Parliament 13. Whether it be Censurable in the Subjects of this Kingdom to repair into England to appeal to his Majesty for Redress of Injuries or other Lawful Occasions If so why and in what Condition of Persons and by what Law 14. Whether Deans or other Dignitaries of Cathedral Churches be properly and de Mero jure Donative by the King and not Elective or Collative If so Why and by what Law And whether the Confirmation of a Dean de Facto of the Bishops Grant be good or valid in Law or no If not by what Law 15. Whether the issuing of Quo Warranto's out of the Kings-Bench or Exchequer against Boroughs that antiently and recently sent Burgesses to the Parliament to shew Cause why they sent Burgesses to the Parliament be Legal If not what punishment ought to be inflicted upon those that are or have been the Occasioners Procurers and Judges of and in such Quo Warranto's 16. By what Law are Jurors that give Verdict according to their Conscience and are the sole Judges of the Fact Censured in the Castle-Chamber in great Fines and sometime Pillored with loss of Ears and bored through the Tongue and marked sometimes in the Forehead with an Hot Iron and other like Infamous Punishments 17. By what Law are men Censurable in the Castle-Chamber with the Mutilation of Members or any other Brand of Infamy and in what Cases and what punishment in each Case there is due without Respect to the quality of the Person or Persons 18. Whether in the Censure in the Castle-Chamber Regard be to be had to the words of the Great Charter viz. Salvo Contenemento c. 19. Whether if one that steals a Sheep or commits any other Felony and after flyeth the Course of Justice or lyeth in Woods or Mountains upon his keeping be a Traytor If not whether a Proclamation can make him so 20. Whether the Testimony or Evidence of Rebels Traytors Protected Thieves or other infamous Persons be good Evidence in Law to be pressed upon the Tryals of Men for their Lives or whether the Judge or Jurors ought to be Judge of the matter in Fact 21. By what Law are Fairs and Markets to be held in Capite when no other express Tenure is mentioned in his Majesties Letters Patents or Grants of the same Fairs and Markets Altho the Rent or Yearly Sum be reserved thereout 22. Whether it stands with the Integrity of the
and the Statute of 20 E. 3. 3. To the Third they say That it is part of their said Oath as Judges that they shall not Counsel or assent to any thing that may turn to the damage or disherison of our Soveraign Lord the Kings most Excellent Majesty by any manner of way or colour And that they give no Advice or Counsel to any man great or small in no Case wherein the King is a Party And that they shall do and procure the Profit of the King and his Crown in all Things where they may reasonably do the same And that in the Explanation of their said Oaths by the Statute of 20 E. 3. c. 1. It is declared That they shall give no Counsel to great Men nor small in case where the King is Party or which doth or may touch the King in any point And as your Lordships have been honourably pleased by an Order of this Honourable House bearing date the first of March Anno Domini 1640. Annoque Regni Regis Caroli 16. to give way That they should not be Compelled to Answer any part of the said Questions which did concern his Majesties Prerogative or were against their Oaths so they humbly represent unto your Lordships That they conceive that the Answering of the Particulars of this Question doth concern both for that the King 's Privy Council as the Questions terms it or Council Board is a Court of his Majesties high Prerogative where all Proceedings are before him and his Council or before his Governor who immediately to many Purposes represent his Majesties Person and the Council And where the great Affairs of State concerning his Majesties Honor Government Profit and of great Persons and Causes concerning the Common-Wealth which may not be conveniently remedied by the ordinary Rules of the Common-Law and many other Cases have been Treated of and managed And as his Majesty is the Fountain of all Justice within this Kingdom and may grant Cognizances of Pleas unto his Subjects and Corporations and may by his Commissions Authorize whom he shall think fit to Execute many Branches of his Authority so We humbly conceive That it doth not stand with our Oathes or Duties of our Places who are but Judges of the ordinary Courts of Justice before his Majesties Pleasure signified in that behalf to seek into the Commissions or Instructions of the Chief Governor and Council or to give any Opinion concerning the Limits Jurisdictions Orders Decrees Proceedings or Members of that High Court And that the King hath a Prerogative for hearing some of the Matters in this Question specified before his Chief Governor We beseech your Lordships to cast your Eyes on the Statute of 28 H. 6. c. 2. in this Kingdom where after Matters are directed to be sent to the Ordinary Courts yet the King's Prerogative is expresly saved notwithstanding all which his Gracious Majesty for whom it is most proper hath of late been pleased to Limit the Proceedings of that Board by his Instructions in Print 4. To the fourth they Answer as to the Third 5. To the fifth they say That generally all Grants of Monopolies whereby Trading Manufacture or Commerce is restrained and the Profit which should go to many is hindred and brought into a few Hands are against Law and the Liberty of the Subject and the Good of the Commonwealth tho they carry never so fair a pretence of Reforming Abuses And that the pretended Transgressors against such Grants are not at all punishable by any Rule of Law that they know of And yet they say That they conceive That his Majesty that is the Head and Father of the Commonwealth may restrain the Use and Importation and Exportation of certain Commodities or restrain the same into a few Hands for a time where there may be a likelyhood of his Majesties Profit which is the profit of the Commonwealth and no apparent prejudice to the Commonwealth doth appear And that when time shall discover such Prejudice then such Restraint ought to Cease So if a man by his own Invention at home or Travel Observation or Charge abroad doth introduce a new profitable or useful Trade or Profession into the Commonwealth in such Cases his Majesty may lawfully Grant and License the only making of such Commodity or teaching or using of such Trade for a certain time and the Transgressors against such Warrantable Grants may be punished by paying of Damages unto the Patentee in an ordinary Course of Justice or otherwise as the nature of the Offence and Matter doth deserve and as the Consequence and Importance of the matter may be to the King State or Commonwealth And they say That the Matter Manner Restrictions Limitations Reservations and other Clauses contained in such Grants or Licenses and the Commissions or Proclamations thereupon and undue Execution thereof and several Circumstances may make the same Lawful or Unlawful whereof they are not able to give any Certain Resolution before some Particular comes in Judgment before them neither are they otherwise able to answer the Generals in the Particulars of the said Question Of what in what Cases how where and by whom or which of them wherein whosoever desires further satisfaction he may please to have Recourse to the known Cases of Monopolies in printed Authorities and written Records and unto the Statute of 21 Jac. in Engl. concerning Monopolies and their several Exceptions and Limitations therein 6. To the Sixth they say They can no otherwise answer then they have already in their Answer to the Third Question for the Reasons therein set forth 7. To the Seventh they say That a Proclamation or Act of State cannot alter the Common Law and that Proclamations are Acts of his Majesties Prerogative and are and always have been of great use and that the Contemners of such of them as are not against the Law are and by the constant Practise of the Star-Chamber in England have been punished according to the Nature of the Contempt and Course of the said Court And although Acts of State are not of Force to bind the Goods Possessions and Inheritance of the Subject yet they have been of great use for setling of the Estates of very many Subjects in this Kingdom as may appear in the Report of the Case of Irish Gavil-Kind in Print And further to that Question they cannot Answer for the Reasons in their Answer unto the third Question set forth 8. To the Eighth they say That they know no ordinary Rule of Law by the which the Subjects of this Kingdom are made Subject to Martial Law in time of Peace and that they find the use thereof in the time of Peace in England complained of in the Petition of Right exhibited unto his Majesty in the third year of his Reign and that they conceive That the Granting of Authority and Commission for execution thereof is derived out of his Majesties Regal and Prerogative Power for suppressing of sudden and great Insolencies Insurrections among
Estates which may come Judicially before them 15. To the Fifteenth they say That they conceive that where Priviledges are claimed by any Body Politic or other the King's Council may exhibit a Quo Warranto to cause the Parties claiming such Priviledges to set forth and shew by what Warrant they claim the same and that the Court cannot hinder the issuing of Process at the Instance of the King's Attorney to exhibit such Information But when the Case shall upon the Proceedings be brought to Judgment then and not before the Court is to take notice and give Judgment upon the Merit and Circumstances of the Cause as upon due consideration shall be conceived to be according to Law in which Case the Judges nor the King's Attorney as they conceive ought to be punished by any ordinary Rule of Law or Statute that they know But for this particular Question of Quo Warranto for that it hath been a great Question in this present Parliament and concerns the highest Court of Justice in this Kingdom and also concerns two other of His Majesties Courts of Justice and therein His Majesties Prerogative in those Courts they cannot safely deliver any Opinion therein before it comes Judicially before them and that they hear it argued and debated by Learned Councel on both sides 16. To the Sixteenth they say That although the Jurors be the sole Judges of the matter of Fact yet the Judges of the Court are Judges of the Validity of the Evidence and of the matters of Law arising out of the same wherein the Jury ought to be guided by them And if the Jury in any Criminal Cause between the King and Party give their Verdict contrary to clear and apparent Evidence delivered in Court they have been constantly and still ought to be Censured in the Star-Chamber in England and Castle-Chamber here for this misdemeanour in perverting the right Course of Justice in such Fines and other punishment as the Merits and Circumstances of the Cause doth deserve according to the Course of the said Courts For that their Consciences ought to be directed by the Evidence and not be misguided by their Wills and Affections and if the Jury know any matter of Fact which may either better or blemish their Evidence they may take advantage thereof but they ought to discover the same to the Judges And they say That this proceeding in the Court of Castle-Chamber is out of the same ground that Writs of Attaint are against a Jury that gives a false Verdict in a Court of Record at the Common Law betwixt Party and Party which false Verdict being found by a Jury of 24 notwithstanding that the first Jurors were Judges of the Fact yet that infamous Judgment was pronounced against the first Jury which is next or rather worse then Judgment of Death and lay a perpetual brand of Perjury upon them for which reason it was Antiently called the Villainous Judgment And they say That the Law to direct the punishment for such Offence is the course of the said Court which is a Law as to that purpose and the Statute of 3 H. 7. cap. 1 2. and other Statutes of Force in this Kingdom 17. To the Seventeenth they say They can answer no otherwise then they have in their Answer to the next precedent Question 18. To the Eighteenth they say That in a Legal Construction the Statute of Magna Charta in which the words of Salvo Contenemento are mentioned is only to be understood of Amerciaments and not of Fines Yet where great Fines are imposed in Terrorem upon the reducement of them regard is to be had to the Ability of the Persons 19. To the Nineteenth they say That if one doth steal a Sheep or commit other Felony and after flyeth the Course of Justice or lyeth in Woods or Mountains upon his Keeping Yet he doth not thereby become a Traytor neither doth a Proclamation make him so the Chief use whereof in such a case is to invite the Party so standing out to submit himself to Justice or to forewarn others of the danger they may run into by Keeping him Company or giving him Maintenance or Relief whereby he may the Rather submit to Justice 20. To the Twentieth they say That the Testimony or Evidence of Rebels or Traytors under Protection or Thieves or other Infamous persons is not to be used or pressed as Convincing Evidence upon the Tryal of any man for his Life And so is his Majesties printed Instructions as to persons Condemned or under Protection yet the Testimony of such persons not condemned may be given in Evidence at the Tryal and being fortified with other Concurring Proof or Apparent Circumstances may be pressed upon any Tryal and for discovering their Fellows or Abettors or Relievers as the Circumstances may offer themselves in their Examination especially if before they Confess themselves guilty of the Offence in Imitation of the Approver at the Common Law whereof no Certain Rule may be given And it needs not be made a Question here Whether the Jurors or Judges ought to be Judges of the matter of Fact It being positively laid down in the 16th Question that they are and tho their false Verdict doth convince or not convince the Prisoner yet they may be questioned and punish'd for a false Verdict as in their Answer to the 16th is already declared 21. To the Twenty first they say That that Question is now judicially depending and hath been already solemnly argued in his Majesties Court of Wards in which Court their Assistance for declaration of the Law therein is already required And therefore they humbly desire they may not be compelled to give any Opinion touching that Point until it be resolved there 22. To the Two and twentieth they say That they do conceive there is no matter of Law contained in the said Question yet for further satisfaction of your Lordships they say That upon View of an Act of State bearing date at his Majesties Castle of Dublin the 24th of December 1636. grounded upon his Majesties Letters of the 5th of July last past it appears unto them that Four shillings in the pound as of his Majesties free Gift and Reward out of the first payment of the Increase of Rent reserved to his Majesty was allow'd unto the Judges that were Commissioners and attended that Service And they humbly conceive That the receiving of that Four shillings in the pound of his Majesties Bounty stands well with the Integrity of a Judge And those Judges did inform them That they did not avoid any Letters Patents upon those Commissions of Defective Titles but receive such to Compound as submitted for the strengthening of their defective Patents and Titles And such as would stand upon the Validity of their Grants were left to the Tryal of Law And that the Compositions made after the said Grants of 4 s. in the pound were made according to Rules and Rates agreed upon by all the Commissioners before his
Majesty's said Letters or the said Act of State and not otherwise The Commons not being satisfied with these Sober and Calm Resolutions of the Judges fell to Voting their own Sense and to make Declarations of the Law upon their former Queries as followeth Questions propounded in Parliament And Declarations of the Law thereupon in Parliament Quest 1. The Declaration of the Commons in Ireland upon the Queries propounded to the Judges WHether the Subjects of this Kingdom be a Free People and to be Governed only by the Common Laws of England and Statutes of Force in this Kingdom Declarat The Subjects of this his Majesties Kingdom of Ireland are a free People and to be Governed only according the Common Law of England and Statutes made and established by Parliament in this Kingdom of Ireland and according to the Lawful Customs used in the same 2. Quest Whether the Judges of this Land do take the Oath of Judges And if so Whether under pretext of any Act of State Proclamation Writ Letter or Direction under the Seal or Privy Seal Signet or Letter or other Commandment from the Lord Lieutenant Lord Deputy Justice Justices or other Chief Governor or Governors of this Kingdom they may hinder stay or delay the Suit of any Subject or his Judgment or Execution thereupon If so in what Cases And whether if they do hinder stay or delay such Suit or Judgment or Execution thereupon what Punishment do they incur for their deviation and transgression therein Declarat That Judges in Ireland ought to take the Oath of the Justices or Judges declared and established in several Parliaments of Force in this Kingdom and the said Judges or any of them by Color or under Pretext of any Act of State or Proclamation or under Color or Protext of any Writ Letter or Direction under the Great Seal Privy Seal or Privy Signet from the King 's Most Excellent Majesty or by Color or Pretext of any Letter or Commandment from the Chief Governor or Governors of this Kingdom ought not to hinder or delay the Suit of any Subject or his Judgment or Execution thereupon and if any Letters Writs or Commands come from his Majesty or from any other or for any other Cause to the Justices or to the other deputed to do the Law and right according to the Usage of the Realm in disturbance of the Law or of the Execution of the same or of Right to the Party the Justices and others aforesaid ought to proceed and hold their Courts and Processes where the Pleas and Matters be depending before them as if no such Letters Writs or Commandments were come to them And in case any Judge or Judges Justice or Justices be found in default therein he or they so found in default ought to incur and undergo due Punishment according to the Law and former Declarations and Provisions in Parliament in that Case made and of Force in this Kingdom or as shall be Ordered Adjudged or Declared in Parliament And the Barons of the Exchequer Justices of the Assize and Goal-delivery if they be found in default as aforesaid It is hereby declared That they ought to undergo the Punishment aforesaid 3. Quest Whether the Kings Majesties Privy Council either with the Chief Governor or Governors of this Kingdom or without him or them be a Place of Judicature by the Commons Laws and wherein Causes between Party and Party for Debts Trespasses Accompts Possessions or Title of Lands or any of them or which of them may be heard and determined and of what Civil Causes they have Jurisdiction and by what Law And of what Force is their Order or Decree in such Cases or any of them Declarat The Council Table of this Realm either with the Chief Governor or Governors or without the Chief Governor or Governors is no Judicatory wherein any Action Real Personal Popular or Mixt or any Suit in the Nature of the said Actions or any of them can or ought to be Commenced Heard or Determined and all Proceedings at the Council Table in any Suit in the nature of any of the said Actions are void especially Causes particularly provided for by express Acts of Parliament of Force in this Kingdom only excepted 4. Quest The Like of the Chief Governor alone Declarat The Proceedings before the Chief Governor or Governors alone in any Action Real Personal Popular or Mixt or in any Suit in the Nature of any of the said Actions are Coram non Judice and void 5. Quest Whether Grants of Monopolies be warranted by the Law and of what and in what Cases and how and where and by whom are the pretended Transgressors against such Grants punishable and whether by Fine Mutilation of Members Imprisonment Loss and Forfeiture of Goods or otherwise and which of them Declarat All Grants of Monopolies are contrary to the Laws of this Realm and therefore void and no Subject of the said Realm ought to be Fined Imprisoned or otherwise Punished for exercising or using the Lawful Liberty of a Subject contrary to such Grants 6. Quest In what Cases the Lord Lieutenant Lord Deputy or other Chief Governor or Governors of this Kingdom and Council may punish by Fine Imprisonment Mutilation of Members Pillory or otherwise And whether they may Sentence any to such the same or the like punishment for infringing the Commands of or concerning any Proclamation of and concerning Monopolies and what punishment do they incur that Vote for the same Declarat The Lord Lieutenant Lord Deputy or other Chief Governor or Governors and Council of this Realm or any of them ought not to imprison any of his Majesties Subjects but only in Cases where the Common Laws or Statutes of the Realm do inable and warrant them so to do and they ought not to Fine or to Consure any Subject in mutilation of Member standing on the Pillory or other shameful Punishment in any Case at the Council Table and no Subject ought to be Imprisoned Fined or otherwise Punished for Infringing any Commands or Proclamation for the support or Countenance of Monopolies and if in any Case any Person or Persons shall be committed by the Command or Warrant of the Chief Governor or Governors and Privy Council of this Realm or any of them That in every such Case every Person or Persons so Committed restrained of his or their Liberty or suffering Imprisonment upon Demand or Motion made by his or their Counsel or other imployed by him or them for that purpose unto the Judges of the Court of Kings-Bench or Common-Pleas in open Court shall without delay upon any Pretence whatsoever for the ordinary Fees usually paid for the same have forthwith granted unto him or them a Writ or Writs of Habeas Corpus to be directed generally unto all and every Sheriff Goaler Minister Officer or other Person in whose Custody the Party or Parties so Committed or Restrained shall be shall at the Return of the said Writ or Writs and
before been said concerning the beginning of this Execrable and Unparallel'd Rebellion take the Words of an * Excellent and Noble Author upon that Subject THe Irish Nation A M. S. S. in the custody of his Grace the Duke of Ormond written by the Right Honourable the Earl of Clarendon saith he was possessed of the most blessed and happy Condition before their own to say no worse unskilful Rage and Fury brought this War upon them and they have since had leisure enough thoroughly to consider and value the wonderful Plenty Peace and security which they enjoyed till the year 1641 when they wantonly and disdainfully flung those Blessings from them They were arrived to a mighty increase of Traffick Improvement of Land Erection of Buildings and whatever else might be profitable or pleasant to any People and these desirable Advantages and Ornaments the Policy and Industry of that Nation was utterly unacquainted with till they were brought to them by the skill and labour of the English planting and living Charitably Friendly and Hospitably among them Taxes and Tillages and other Contributions were things hardly known to them so much as by their Names whatever their Lands Labour or Industry produced was their own and they were not only free from the fear of having it taken from them by the King upon any pretence whatsoever without their own consents but also so secured against Thieves and Robbers by the Execution of good Laws that Men might and did Travel over all Parts of the Kingdom with considerable Sums of Money unguarded and unconcealed If this happy posture of Affairs It were well if our English Non-conformists would look in this Glass they would see their own pourtaict exactly and may by timely consideration avoid the same destiny was undervalued under the Notion of being but Temporal Blessings and the want of Freedom be alledged as to the Exercise of the Romish Religion to which that Nation was generally addicted it cannot be denied but that though by the Laws and Constitutions of that Kingdom the Power and Authority of the Bishop of Rome is not in any degree allowed or submitted to by the Government yet by connivance the whole Catholique Body of that Nation enjoyed an undisturbed Exercise of that Religion and even at Dublin where the Seat of the King 's chief Governour was such was the indulgence of Authority then towards them that they went as uninterruptedly to their Devotions as the Governor did to his Bishops Priests and all Degrees and Orders of the Secular and Regular Clergy lived and exercised their Functions among them And though there were some Laws against them still in force which the Necessity and Wisdom of former Ages had caused to be Enacted to suppress those acts of Treason and Rebellion which that People frequently fell into and the Policy of the present Times kept unrepealed to prevent the like Distempers and Designs yet the Edge of those Laws was so totally rebated by the Clemency and Compassion of the King that no Man could say he had suffered prejudice or disturbance in or for his Religion which is another kind of indulgence then the Subjects professing a faith contrary to that which is Established by the Laws of the Land can boast of in any other Kingdom in the World When in the Year 1640 they discerned some Distempers arising in England upon the Scots Invasion and perceived the Support and Countenance that People then found in both Houses of Parliament in England they would likewise bear a part and bring in their Contribution to the work in hand then they began to Transplant those dangerous humors of Jealousies and Discontents which they found springing up Seditiously in the Parliament at Westminster into Ireland and with the same Passion and Distemper cherished them in the Parliament at Dublin They fell to Accusing upon general and unreasonable Imputations the principal Councellors and Ministers of State who were intrusted by the Crown in that Kingdom impeaching them of High Treason and thereby according to the Rule unjustly then prescribed at Westminster they removed those Persons from any Power in Publick Affairs there whose wisdom might probably otherwise have prevented the mischiefs which have since ensued Then did they most weakly and childishly concur with the greatest Enemies their Nation or Religion had in the Conspiracy against the life of the Earl of Strafford Lord Lieutenant of that Kingdom by whose Wisdom and most prudent Government that Nation had reaped great advantages and was daily receiving greater and sent a Committee from Dublin to Westminster to join in the Prosecution of him and having in the end procured the miserable and never enough lamented Ruin of that great Person they powerfully opposed and hindred the conferring of that charge upon any of those His Majesty had designed to undertake it and at the last by their repeated importunities they got it devolved into such hands as were most unlike to grapple with the difficulties which they were sure to meet with and having thus to their uttermost power fomented the divisions in England and discountenanced and weakened the Regal Power in Ireland by raising the same Factions against it there on the sudden upon the 23d day of October 1641 without the least pretence of Quarrel or Hostility so much as apprehended by the Protestants great multitudes of Irish Roman Catholicks in the Province of Vlster and shortly after in other Provinces and parts of the Kingdom Tumultuously assembled together put themselves in Arms seised upon the Forts Castles Towns and Houses belonging to the Protestants which by their force they could possess themselves of and with most Barbarous Circumstances of Cruelty within the space of a few days murthered an incredible number of Protestants Men Women and Children promiscuously and without distinction of Age or Sex and of all those who were within the reach of their Power they who escaped best were robbed of all that they had to their very skins and so turned naked to indure the sharpness of that Season and by that means and for want of Relief many thousands of them perished by hunger and cold the Design which was at the same time laid for the surprise of the Castle of Dublin the Residence of the King 's chief Governors and His Majesties principal Magazine of Arms and Ammunition wherewith it was then plentifully stored being discovered by a person trusted and thereby disappointed that place was left singly to consult of the best means to oppose the Torrent which was like to overwhelm the whole Kingdom and for a Refuge to the poor Protestants who from all parts of the Kingdom flocked thither Despoiled Robbed and Stripped with the sad Relations of the most inhumane Cruelties and Murthers exercised upon their Friends Kindred and Neighbours which have been ever heard of amongst Christians It is not All the Irish not Guilty of the Rebellion adds he the purpose of this Discourse to lay any imputations of this Rebellion and
Savage Cruelty upon the whole Irish Nation and all the Catholicks of that Kingdom many Persons of Honour were never in the least degree tainted with that Contagion but on the contrary have always given as signal Testimonies of their Affection and Duty to the King and of their detestation of that Odious and Bloody defection as any of his Subjects of either of his other Kingdoms have done whose memories must with equal justice and care be transmitted to Posterity as pretious Examples of Honour and Integrity others there were who by the Passion and Rigour of those who were then in Authority and had power enough to destroy whom they had inclination to suspect or accuse were driven to put themselves into the Protection of those whose ways and courses they totally disapproved and hated and many who were by mis-information and mis-belief ingaged in the carrying on and possibly contriving the War and Insurrection yet were mortally averse to those barbarous actions of Blood Rapine and Inhumanity which dishonour even the most just and lawful War One Circumstance of unhappy and impious Policy must not be forgotten by which the Bold Authors of that unnatural War in the first entrance into it promised to themselves notable advantages and which in truth as most of the policies of that kind brought unspeakable misery and devastation upon that Nation for the better seducing the People who having lived so long in Peace and Amity with the English were not without some Reverence to that Government and so could not in plain and direct terms be easily led into an avowed Rebellion against their King they not only declared and with great skill and industry published throughout the Kingdom that they took Arms for the King and the Defence of his Lawful Prerogative against the Puritanical Parliament of England which they said invaded it in many Parts and that what they did was by His Majesties Approbation and Authority And to gain Credit to that Fiction they produced and shewed a Commission to which they had fastened an impression of the Great Seal of England which they had taken off from some Grant or Patent which had Regularly and Legally passed the Seal and so it was not difficult to perswade weak and unexperienced Persons to believe that it was a true Seal The Rebels of Ireland counterfeit the King's Commission and Great Seal prejudicial to the King but Ruinous to them and real Commission from the King And by this Fatal Stratagem they cast so Odious an Imputation upon the King and upon those Persons who were worthily nearest him in his Affection and Councils that the Seditious Party in England who were then contriving all the Mischief they afterwards brought to pass used all their Arts to propagate those horrible Calumnies and to infuse into the Hearts of the People an Irreverence and Jealousy of the King Queen and those of nearest Trust to either of them so that his Majesty was even compelled for his own Vindication and lest he might be thought too faint a Prosecutor of an Enemy whose Insurrection it was said he himself had fomented to commit the whole Management of that War to the two Houses of Parliament and they having obtained this Power Interessed and trusted such Members of their own Body with the Ordering and Directing of the same as were resolved with most Passion Uncharitableness and Violence to Prosecute that whole Nation and the Religion that was most generally Exercised there and by this means all Persons who were to conduct both the Civil and Military Affairs in Ireland were drawn to a Dependence upon the Two Houses of Parliament at Westminster all Officers and Commanders for that War were Nominated and approved by them all Monies raised for that Service was Issued and Disposed only by their Orders from whence it came to pass that they who craftily intended to derive a Support and Countenance to themselves by using the King's Name to Purposes which he abhorred foolishly thereby defrauded and deprived themselves of that Protection and Mercy which his Majesty might have vouchsafed to them for their Reduction and Preservation for from this time when any thing was proposed of Extravagancy or overmuch Rigor which the Proposers said was necessary for the Carrying on of that War or if the King made any Scruple or Pause in giving his Consent to the same they straight declared That they were obstructed in sending Relief to the Poor Protestants in Ireland and then they published some particular Relations of the lamentable and inhumane Massacre made there by the Irish which were confirmed by Multitudes of miserable undone People who landed from thence in the several Parts of England who likewise reported the Rebels Discourse of executing all their Villainies by the King's Direction so that indeed it was not in his Power to deny any thing which they thought fit to say was necessary to the good Work in Hand Thus he was compelled to put all the Strong-Holds Towns and Castles in the Province of Vlster into the Possession of the Scots who were at that time by the greatest Managers believed to be more worthy to be trusted then the English with unusual Circumstances of Power and even an independency upon the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and when his Majesty did but desire them to re-consider their own Proposition and reflect how much it might Trench upon the English Interest they suriously Voted That whosoever Advised his Majesty to that delay was an Enemy to the Kingdom and a Promoter of the Rebellion in Ireland thus his Majesty was necessitated to Consent to that Bill by which so great a Latitude was given to the disposal of Lands in the several Provinces of that Kingdom to those who adventured Mony in the War as that without the Interposition Shelter and Mercy of the Soveraign Power almost that whole People and their Fortunes were given up to the Disposal of their most Cruel and Mortal Enemies And lastly by this groundless and accursed Calumny thus raised upon the King full Power was devolved into their Hands who too much imitated the Fury and Inhumanity of the Irish in carrying on the War and proceeded with that Rigor and Cruelty in the shedding of Blood as was most detested by his Majesties Gracious and Mercisul Disposition Thus far this Excellent Author whose Words thô not Exactly accommodated to the Period of Time I have thought fit to insert here because they give the Reader a Landscape or short Map of all the Tragical Actions which filled the Scene of Ireland with Blood and Desolation and will be of excellent Use to the understanding of many future Passages in the Historical Account both of that and our own Miserable and Bleeding Nation Having given this Account of the beginning of the horrid Rebellion in Ireland Tuesday Novem. 2. the Reader must expect the continuation of it to be interwoven with the other great Affairs which were the misfortune of the present and will be the Wonder
a Convenient time to be declared by the Lord Lieutenant Lord Deputy or Lords Justices and Councel of that Kingdom shall return to their due Obedience the greatest part whereof they conceive have been seduced upon false Grounds by cunning and subtile Practices of some of the most malignant Rebels Enemies to this State and to the Reformed Religion and likewise to bestow such Rewards as shall be thought fit and published by the Lord Lieutenant Lord Deputy or Lords Justices and Council upon all those who shall arrest the persons or bring in the Heads of such Traytors as shall be personally named in any Proclamation published by the State there And they do hereby Exhort and Require all his Majesties loving Subjects both in this and that Kingdom to remember their Duty and Conscience to God and his Religion and the great and Eminent Danger which will involve this whole Kingdom in General and themselves in Particular if this abominable Treason be not timely suppressed and therefore with all Readiness Bounty and Chearfulness to confer their Assistance in their Persons or Estates to this so important and necessary a Service for the Common Good of all The Letter to be sent along with this Declaration was in these words MY Lords Justices The Letter from the Speakers of both Houses to the Lords Justices of Ireland and the rest of his Majesties Council of his Majesties Kingdom of Ireland I have received a Command from the Lords House in this present Parliament to send unto you this inclosed Declaration of the Lords and Commons in Parliament for the better Encouragement of his Majesties Faithful Subjects to unite and imploy themselves in opposing and suppressing the Rebels of this and that Kingdom the publishing whereof I am to commend to your Care and Wisdom and rest c. The Resolutions being again read over the House consented to them and ordered the Lord Keeper to take Care to see them sent to Ireland as also to send Copies of them to his Majesty that he may see the Care of his Parliament in his absence concerning the Affairs of Ireland The Lord Admiral was also Ordered to give Command for the stoping of the Posts towards Ireland Order to stop the Posts towards Ireland upon such as are now going from Flanders into the Kingdom of Ireland It was also Ordered Order to take Care to guard the City against Tumults That the Lord Chamberlain of his Majesties Household Captain General of the South Parts of this Kingdom during his Majesties being out of this Kingdom shall give Order to the Lord Mayor of the City of London to safe guard the said City as there shall be Cause against all Tumults and Disorders that shall happen in or about the said City and the Liberties of the same upon any occasion whatsoever In the Commons House it was upon the Question Resolved That the Conference with the Lords shall be renewed concerning the securing of the Persons of Papists It was also Ordered That a Warrant be drawn to pass both Houses to the Master of the Ordnance for the delivery of the Arms and Powder and Ammunition at Carlisle to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland or such as he shall appoint This day the Lord Keeper signified to the House of Lords Friday Novemb. 5. That he had received a Letter from the Lord Howard at Edenburgh dated the 30th of October 1641 which was commanded to be read the Effect whereof was THat meeting with the Instructions of the Parliament beyond Anwick in his return to London his Lordship and Mr. Fiennes returned back again to Edenburgh to present them to his Majesty which having done his Majesty told them That for the Business of Barwick be hoped by this time the Parliament had received Satisfaction Concerning the Rebellion in Ireland his Majesty upon the first Notice thereof moved the Parliament of Scotland to take this business into Consideration which accordingly they did and appointed a Committee for this very purpose which made Report whereof a Copy is Enclosed together with a Ratification thereof in Parliament wherein they have testified their Affection and respect to this Kingdom The Report of the Committee in the Parliament of Scotland Rege praesente 28 Octobris 1641. HIS Majesty produced a Letter written to him by the Lord Viscount Chichester anent some Commotions in Ireland The Resolutions of Scottish Parliament concerning the Irish Rebellion which was publiquely read in Audience of the Kings Majesty and Parliament And his Majesty desired that some may be appointed to think upon the Business so far as may concern his Majesty and the Kingdom And the Estates nominated the Lord Chancellor Lord General Lord Lothian Lord Amond the Lardis of Wedderburn Kinhault and Murthill the Commissioners of Edinburgh Glascow and Aire to think upon some Course necessary to be done anent the said Letters and what is incumbent to be done by this Kingdom thereupon and Report again to the Parliament To meet in the General his House this Afternoon at two Hours 28 Octobris 1641. This Day in the Afternoon the Committee above nominated appointed for taking into Consideration the Report of the Commotions in Ireland being met in the Lord Generals House and having read the Letter directed to the King's Majesty from the Lord Chichester Dated at Belfast the 24th of October 1641 hath Considered That his Majesty out of His Wisdom and Royal Care of the Peace of His Kingdoms hath already acquainted the Parliament of England with the Intelligence from Ireland and has sent to Ireland to know the certainty of the Commotions and of the Affairs of that Combination which till it be perfectly known there can be no particular Course taken for Suppressing thereof and the Kingdom of Ireland being dependant upon the Crown and Kingdom of England the English may conceive Jealousies and mistake our Forwardness when they shall hear of our Preparations without thair Knowledg in this whairin they are first and more properly concerned And if the Insurrections be of that Importaince as the British within Ireland are not Powerful enough to Suppress it without Assistance of greater Forces * * Scotish for than nor thair Allies and that his Majesty and Parliament of England shall think our Aid necessary to joyn with thaim We conceive That the Assistance which we can contribute may be in readiness as soon as England and if after Resolution taken by his Majesty with Advice of both Parliaments it shall be found necessary that we give our present Assistance we shall go about it with that speed which may Witness our dutiful Respects to his Majesties Service and our Affections to our Brethren his Majesties Loyal Subjects of England and Ireland 29 Die Octob. 1641. Read in Audience of his Majesty and Estates of Parliament ad futuram rei memoriam as ane Testimony of their Affections to his Majesties Service and the Good of the Neighbor Kingdoms and appoints thrie of the Baronis
in England shall be dissolved Concerning the sending of the Capuchins out of the Kingdom The Votes of the Lords upon these Eight Propositions this House will suspend giving any Resolution therein until a List of the Queens Priests and Servants is brought in Resolved upon the Question That the Ambassadors be desired from the Parliament to dismiss out of their Houses such Priests as are the Kings Native born Subjects and in case they shall hereafter be found abroad they shall not have any protection but be proceeded in according to the Laws of this Kingdom Resolved c. That the Lord Chamberlain of the Queen shall bring in a List of the Queens Priests and Servants and the Lord Chamberlain of his Majesties Houshold shall bring in a List of the Names of the Servants belonging to the King Prince and the rest of the King's Children 4. To the Fourth It is Ordered That this House agrees to this Resolution but do refer the manner of issuing out the Proclamation until the Commission given to the Lords of the Councel for issuing out Proclamations be perused 6. Concerning the sequestring of the Isle of Wight into another Hand this House thought fit to return this Answer to the House of Commons That in regard they have offered no Reasons for the same their Lordships know not how to give an Answer But when they shall shew their Lordships Reasons for so doing they will take the business into Consideration 7. Concerning the securing the persons of Recusants It is Ordered To be debated on Monday Morning next 8. Concerning the Earl of Essex 's having Power over the Trained Bands this House defers their Resolutions concerning it until the Commission of the Earl of Essex for Captain General of the South be brought into this House and perused which is to be done on Munday next In the Commons House It was Ordered Connelly Ordered to have 500 l. paid presently That whereas Owen O Connelly who discovered the Treason in Ireland had 500 l. appointed him in part of Recompence that Sir Robert Pye and Mr. Wheeler the Treasurers for the Poll-money of Westminster do forthwith pay unto the said Connelly the said 500 l. The greatest part of the Morning was spent in preparing the Heads for the fore-mentioned Conference with the Lords But among all these great Affairs which were before them the Faction in the House was still at Leisure to fall upon the Loyal and Orthodox Clergy against whom they had a most irreconcileable Animosity For upon a Complaint and Information given in to the House by some of the Zealots without Doors who made it a great part of their Religion to Inform and Article against the Loyal and Orthodox Clergy It was this day Ordered That Dr. Fuller Dr. Fuller Dean of Ely sent for as a Delinquent for his Sermons Dean of Ely shall be sent for as a Delinquent for divers dangerous and scandalous matters delivered by him in several Sermons Thus did these persons who would not permit the Clergy to intermeddle in Secular Affairs boldly thrust their Sickle into the harvest of Spiritual Matters though by the Confession of One of their own Members in a Speech he saith he intended to have spoken as this day to arraign the Order of the 8th of September they were not Idonei Competentes Judices This day it seems was fixed for the Debating the Validity of that Order but by the intervening of other business it was put off and so lay sine die however I think it is not fit to let the Speech sleep so too which it may be was the best that Unfortunate Gentleman ever made or intended to speak in that place where swimming down the rapid Torrent of General Accusations of Fears and Jealousies he so far lost himself that when he would have done something to the stopping the Breaches in the Banks of the Government which he had helped to cut he found it as many others did out of his power to Effect and was himself in danger of being presently drowned in the Deluge which he had helped to raise with the Wind of Popular breath The Speech as I find it in his own Collections pag. 37. was in these Words Master Speaker ME thinks A Speech of Sir Edward Deering's about the Order of the Commons of Sept. 8. 1641. I am now going to Walk upon the Ridge of a House a dangerous Praecipice on either Hand On the one side I must take heed that I speak neither more nor less than the inward Dictate of my own Conscience on the other Hand I shall be afraid to presume above your better Judgments My Path is narrow I must look to my Footing Dixi custodiam vias meas c. I said I will look to my Waies that I Offend not in my Tongue Thus I preface because I foreknow that I shall speak to the dislike of some Worthy Members of this Honorable House Sir Two Questions are before us First in General how far an Order of this House is binding de foris not upon our own Members here but upon the People the King's Subjects abroad Secondly the Validity and Invalidity of your particular Order of the Eighth and Declaration of the ninth of September last For the First I am clear in this Opinion That we may enforce any thing that is undoubtedly grounded upon the Law of the Land Shew me that Foundation and I will concur with you in any Resolution We may also declare against any Thing that is introduced contrary to our Laws Farther than this I know no Way unless it be by Bill and then I know no Limitation no bound Thus in brief for the General I come now to your particular Order Master Speaker I shall be afraid to arraign your Orders I have already been Controlled not for doing so but as if I had done so yet Sir I have often heard it in this House that We are Masters of our own Orders and then I think we may in this Place arraign them that is Question them Try them Approve Alter Reject or Condemn them Was not our Protestation more sacred than an Order yet that was revised and to stop some Objections new Senced by us And I take it lawful in this Place to arraign if that be the Word even an Act of Parliament and then a fortiori an Order of this House Surely Sir I shall speak reverently of all your Orders when I am abroad I have done so of this I am resolved that my Obedience shall therein be found good although my particular Reason be rebellant to your Conclusions This is my Duty abroad but here in this House within these Walls freedome is my Inheritance and give me lieve I pray at this time to use a part of my Birth-right The Seasonableness and the Equity of your Order both are controverted You all know that this is a dangerous time to make any determinations in Matter of Religion whether it be in the
and Boats they have to Transport Men in and what Number of Men they are able to send over if need he and they find that they are able to Land a considerable number of Men in the North of Ireland and that with more speed and less charge then it can be done from any other part of the Kings Dominions and their Highlanders are conceived proper to fight with the Irish in their own Kind and Country amongst Hills and Boggs An Information was given in by one Col. Hunkes That two disbanded Troopers Moor and Mac-Miller had listed about 40 Men who were lodged near the Iron Gate of the Tower in St. Katharines and that one Bourk an Irish-man of Lincolns-Inn paid them 14 d. per diem that according to the Order of the House he had taken care to disarm them Whereupon Bourk being sent for and Examined confessed that he was an Irish-man and a Roman Catholique That he did this to advance his Fortunes being to Command them in the Service of the King of Spain against Portugal That he received Money from the Spanish Ambassador to pay them and that he did it upon the Order of the House of Commons dated the 26th of October last which gave Licence to Transport the disbanded Soldiers It appearing to the Lords that the Order did Expresly prohibit the Transporting of any of the Kings Subjects Natives of England or Ireland Bourk was committed to the Custody of the Gentleman Usher during the Pleasure of the House Moor and Mac-Miller were for a former misdemeanor in abusing the Lord General Sir John Conyers and assaulting and sending a Challenge to one Captain Trist committed before to Newgate Hereupon Order was sent to the Constable of the Tower to keep diligent Watch for the Safeguard of it The Justices of the Peace for Middlesex and the City of Westminster were also Ordered to make speedy and diligent search in and about the Suburbs of London and Westminster What Irish are residing in their several Jurisdictions and to cause their Names to be taken and return them into this House and to cause strong and good Guards to be set upon such as they find to be dangerous and suspected Persons untill the pleasure of this House be further known Directed To William Roberts John Hooker and Thomas Shepherd Justices of the Peace for Middlesex Upon the reading the Petition of the Bishops that are Impeached Council assigned to the Impeached Bishops shewing That the Councel that was assigned them by this House refuse to be of Council for them because they being Commoners are involved in all the Acts and Votes of the House of Commons Hereupon it was Ordered That Serjeant Jermin Mr. Hern Mr. Chute and Mr. Hales be sent for to give their Answers herein Order of the Lords to expel all Romish Recusants out of the Inns of Court and Chancery It was also this day Ordered by the Lords in Parliament That the Treasurers Recorders Readers and Benchers of the Societies of the four Inns of Court shall make or cause to be made diligent Search and Examination whether there be any Recusants of any Nation whatsoever admitted into their several Houses or into the Inns of Chancery belonging thereunto or live within the same Houses And if upon search any shall be found that they be forthwith dismissed and expelled out of the said Houses And it is further Ordered That no Romish Recusant shall hereafter be admitted into any the said Inns of Court or Inns of Chancery upon any pretences whatsoever Directed To the Treasurers Readers and Benchers of the Society of the Inner-Temple To the Treasurers c. of Grayes-Inn To the Treasurers c. of the Middle Temple To the Treasurers c. of Lincolns-Inn In the Commons House it was likewise Ordered Order of the Commons to tender the Oaths of Alleglance and Supremacy to Irish Recusants and others in the Inns of Court Order of the Commons to Examine all Irish endeavouring to pass over into Preland That the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy shall be tendred to the Irish Gentlemen and such others as are suspected for Recusants as are within the Inns of Court that are Students there and that the Lord Keeper shall be desired to award a Commission to that purpose to the Benchers of the several Inns of Court respectively It was also Ordered That all suspected Persons Irish and others that do endeavour to pass over into Ireland shall be Examined by the Mayor or other Officers of the several Ports where they endeavour to take Shipping upon such Instructions as they shall receive from this House and that the said Officers do tender unto all such persons the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy and to Convict such according to Law An Information was this day given in to the Commons against one Mr. Carter a School-Master at High-gate for words spoken by him Viz. Chamberlain an Informer That Mr. Carter said That they were mad that would read the Order of the House of Commons of the 8th of September concerning Innovations And for the Protestation there were none but fools had taken it Whereupon Mr. Green who was also present said he had taken it Carter replied It was for want of information and he would maintain that it was against Reason Justice and Law and whereas said he it is to maintain the Priviledge of Parliament no Justice of Peace nor Constable but had as much priviledge as they had And said further That it was against the King and State I answered him Are you wiser than two Kingdoms for the Scots have taken it likewise What do you talk said he of a Company of Rebels and Rascals the Parliament hath dishonoured the King and Kingdom by making a Peace with them Upon which complaint it was Ordered That Carter should immediately be taken into Custody by the Sergeant at Arms. By which passage the Reader may plainly see the Genius of those times and of those Men who verified the saying of the Poet Nec Hospes ab Hospite tutus No person could in common discourse have the freedom of conversation but was in danger of these Zealous Informers who made it their business to run with informations to the House of Commons against such as durst oppose their Votes and Arbitrary Orders Tuesday Novemb. 9. Serjeant Jermin Mr. Chute and Mr. Hales appeared this day before the Lords and declared themselves willing to be of Council with the Lords the Bishops in the Impeachment brought up from the House of Commons The Bishops to answer their Impeachment upon Friday November 12. as they were formerly assigned by the House Whereupon it was Ordered That the Bishops that are impeached shall put in their Answers to the said Impeachment on Friday Morning next and that the Bill concerning the Bishops Votes shall be deferred until then Upon report of the Lords Committees for the Irish Affairs Earl of Leicester scruples raising men without the Kings Commission that
ever hitherto done to advance their own wicked Intendments and rather then fail of them to raise a more desperate Rebellion in England instead of applying themselves vigorously as they were in Duty Honor and Conscience bound to assist his Majesty to suppress the other in Ireland and let their Pretences be never so glorious for the Preservation of the Reformed Religion and Interest yet it is evident that even from the very first Eruption of this Rebellion they had a Design to make their own Terms with the King and to oblige him under the Pretence of abandoning Evil Counsellors to devolve the intire Trust of the whole Nation and consequently his Crown and Dignity into their Hands and to leave him only the vain shaddow of Sovereignty and Majesty and unless he would Consent to this they must as they say be obliged to take other Measures for the fecuring themselves from such mischievous Councils and Designs as have lately been in Practice and Agitation against them and a little time discovered what ways those were for in Reality this was no new Design the crucifying Remonstrance of the State of the Kingdom had been long hewing and these were but some Chips of that Block only they were wanting a fit Occasion and this offering it self they were resolved to lay fast hold upon it But in regard though they had sorely shaken and disabled the third Estate of the Lords Spiritual in Parliament by the repeated Batteries of Impeachments and Bills to take away their Voices yet there was a great Number of the Lords Temporal whose unstained Loyalty and Fidelity to the Crown and Royal Interest might prove dangerously Obstructive to their wicked Intentions they were resolved to attempt to deceive as many of them as they could by their popular Rhetorick upon this Topique of the danger of evil Counsels and Counsellors and if any proved refractory or had Constitutions too strongly amuletted with Loyalty against this insinuating Poison they had other more severe Methods of purging the Body Politick and Representative to be made use of upon Occasion as we shall see hereafter Upon this Subject of evil Councils and Counsellors Mr. Pym the great Oracle of the Faction took Occasion at this last Conference to display his Talent in these Terms HE said he was to speak touching the ill Councils Mr. Pym's Speech at the Conference concerning ill Councils November 10. which he laid down in these several Steps 1 First That the Dangers which come to the State by ill Councils are the most pernitious of all others and since it is usual to compare Politick Bodies with the Natural the Natural Body is in danger divers Wayes either by outward Violence and that may be foreseen and prevented or else by less appearing Maladies which grow upon the Body by Distempers of the Air immoderate Exercise Diet c. and when the Causes of the Disease are clear the Remedy is easily applied but Diseases which proceed from the inward Parts as the Liver the Heart or the Brains the more noble Parts it is a hard thing to apply Cure to such Diseases Ill Councels they are of that Nature for the Mischiefs that come by evil Councel corrupt the Vital Parts and overthrow the Publick Government 2 * If this had been applied to himself and his Faction he never spoke more truth in his whole life The second Step is That there have been lately and still are ill Councils in this Kingdom and about the King 1 That there hath been lately you will not doubt when the main Course of the Government hath been so imployed as Popery thereby hath been maintained the Laws subverted and no distinguishing between Justice and Injustice and that there is still reason to doubt is apparent by the Courses taken to advance mischievous Designs but that his Majesties Wisdom and Goodness kept them from the Heart though they were not kept out of the Court so most Principal and mischievous Designs have been practised by such as had near Access unto his Majesty though not to his Heart and the Apologists and Promoters of ill Counsels are still preferred 3 The third Step is That the ill Counsels of this Time are in their own Nature more mischievous and more dangerous then the ill Counsels of former Times former Counsels have been to please Kings in their Vices * A remarkable Testimony from an Enemy of the King's Innocence from which our King is free and sometimes for racking of the Prerogative if it had gone no further it had brought many Miseries but not Ruine and Destruction but the ill Counsels of this Time are destructive to Religion and Laws by altering them both therefore more Mischievous in their own Nature then those of former Times 4 The fourth Step is That these ill Counsels have proceeded from a Spirit and Inclination to Popery and have had a Dependance on Popery and all of them tend to it the Religion of the Papists is a Religion incompatible with any other Religion destructive to all others and doth not indure any thing that opposeth it whosoever doth withstand their Religion if they have Power they bring them to Ruin There are other Religions that are not right but not so destructive as Popery is for the Principles of Popery are destructive to all States and Persons that oppose it with the Progress of this mischievous Councel they provide Counsellors fit Instruments and Organs that may execute their own Designs and to turn all Councils to their own Ends and you find that now in Ireland that those Designs that have been upon all the Three Kingdoms do end in a War for the maintenance of Popery in Ireland and would do the like here if they were able they are so intentive to turn all to their own Advantage 5 The fifth Step That unless these ill Councils be changed as long as they continue it is impossible that any Assistance Aid or Advice that the Parliament can take to reform will be effectual for the Publick Orders and Laws are but dead if not put in Execution those that are the Instruments of State they put things into Action but if acted by Evil Men and while these Counsels are on foot we can expect no good it is like a Disease that turns Nutritives into Poyson 6 The sixth Step is That this is the most proper time to desire of his Majesty the Alteration and Change of the evil Counsellors because the Common-Wealth is brought into Distemper by them and so exhausted that we can indure no longer Another Reason why we cannot admit of them is to shew our Love and Fidelity to the King in great and extraordinary Contributions and Aids when God doth imploy his Servants he doth give some Promise to rouse up their Spirits and we have reason now to expect the King's Grace in great abundance this is the time wherein the Subject is to save the Kingdom of Ireland with the hazard of their Lives and Fortunes And
therefore expect from his Majesty in a more larger and bountiful Manner then at other times A time of great Agitation and Action their State is ready by preparation to annoy us and ill and false Councils at home may quickly bring us to Ruin as we have weakness at home so we ought to decern the Actions abroad where great Provisions are made and a carelesness and improvidence herein when our Neighbours are so provided and have such great Fleets at Sea as will open a Way to suddain Ruin and Destruction before we can be prepared and therefore now the fittest time to move the King 6 The seventh and last Step is That this Alteration of Councils will bring great Advantages to the King in his own Designs In all our Actions our Prayers to God should be that his Name should be Glorified so our Petitions to his Majesty should bring Honor and Profit and Advantage to him by a discouragement to the Rebels a great part of their Confidence resting in the Evil Counsels at home as by the Examinations appeareth it will be a great Encouragement to the King 's good Subjects at home who hazzard their Lives and give Aid and Contribution to have things governed for the Publick Good it will make Men afraid to prefer Servants to the King that are ill Counsellors when they shall come to the Examination of the Parliament for many times Servants are preferred to Princes for advantage of Forreign States This will put an Answer into the King's Mouth against all Importunities that he is to prefer none but such as will be approved on by Parliament those that are Honorable and most Ingenious are aptest to be troubled in this kind and not to deny therefore the King may Answer he hath promised his Parliament not to admit of any but by Advice in Parliament this will Answer them all These are Domestick Advantages but it will also make us fitter to enter into Union and Treaty with Foreign Nations and States and to be made partakers of the Strength and Assistance of others It will fortifie us against the Designs of Foreign Princes there hath been common Council at Rome and in Spain to reduce us to Popery if good Counsel at Home we shall be the better prepared to preserve Peace and Union and better Respect from Abroad Lastly it will make us fit for any Noble Design Abroad Let us but turn the Tables and imagine this Speech spoken by some Loyal Gentleman against Mr. Pym and his Confederates and we shall find all those mischiefs and dangers from ill Counsels and Evil Counsellors the Alteration of Religion and Subversion of Laws the Encouragement of the Irish Rebellion the Impoverishment of the Nation the Loss of Liberty and Property the Ruin of the King and Kingdom to be the Natural Effects of their Consultations and Actions But in Order to accomplish their Wicked Designs the People must be affrighted with the danger of approaching Popery the present Government traduced with intentions of re-introducing it and the King must be Wounded through the Sides of the most Faithful of his Friends These were the Popular Arts by which after they had by repeated Flatteries Importunities and Promises obtained from the King those Fatal Concessions before mentioned they pursued their Design and by Arming those People whom they had deluded with the pretence of Religion and hurrying them on into Actual Rebellion they sought by Violence to obtain that which they could not do by Fraud and Flattery But to proceed After this an Order was read in the House of Lords made by the House of Commons Dated Nov. 9. 1641. That an Ordinance of Parliament may pass to engage the Honor Credit and Authority of both Houses of Parliament for the securing and repaying to the City the 50000 l. with Interest desired to be borrowed of them for the Occasions of Ireland and that a provisional Act shall pass with all Speed for repayment of the said Summ with Interest within six Months Next an Ordinance of Parliament was read concerning the Irish Affairs in haec verba viz. WHEREAS there is just Cause to conceive The Ordinance of Parliament prohibiting any Irish to pass out of England without License c. that diverse ill Affected Persons here being Natives or Inhabitants of Ireland do intend to pass over thither to joyn with the Rebels It is Ordained by the Lords and Commons in Parliament that no Irish Man shall pass out of any the Parts of this Kingdom to return into Ireland without special License of the Committees of both Houses for Irish Affairs or the Lords of his Majesties most Honorable Privy Council or of the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland It is further Ordered That no Arms Munition or Powder shall be transported without such License as is aforesaid It is likewise Ordeined by the said Lords and Commons That whereas upon the perusal of diverse Letters and other Intelligence here there is just Cause to suspect that diverse of his Majesties Subjects in Ireland had some Hand in the Conspiracy and Rebellions of the Irish That the Lord Lieutenant shall certifie from time to time during his Aboad in England into Ireland the Names of such suspected Persons and the the Grounds and Reasons of the Suspition and that thereupon the Lords Justices of Ireland and the rest of his Majesties Council there shall enter into Examination of the said Parties and shall have Power to commit them to Prison till the Truth may be fully discovered that so they may either be cleared if they be Innocent or if they be found Guilty they may be proceeded against according to the Laws And that this Ordinance of Parliament shall be a sufficient Warrant to the Lord Lieutenant Lords Justices and Council aforementioned The Lord Admiral then acquainted the House That he had Command and Directions from his Majesty to send some Ships for the Guuarding of the Irish Coasts and also some Ships to keep the Narrow Seas because his Majesty conceives that the Rebellion from Ireland is fomented from abroad and that they expect some Supply from Foreign Parts And his Lordship desires to have the Directions of the Parliament herein what to do Whereupon it was ordered to have a Conference with the Commons about it Divers Orders were read which were made by the House of Commons concerning the Irish Affairs to which they desired their Lordships concurrence that so they may be put in Execution That the Merchants Some Orders of the House of Commons concerning the Affairs of Ireland who have made the Proposition to their House of Transporting Spanish Money in specie into Ireland for the present Occasions of that Kingdom shall have Liberty to Transport so much only as the Lords and Commons in Parliament shall from time to time give them Order and Direction for paying it there as it passes by Proclamation and that all Sums so Transported shall be Registred in the Custom-House and that they shall bring Certificates
are entertained in several Houses both within the City and Suburbs thereof These are in His Majesties Name strictly to Charge and Command all such Strangers as are of late come into this City or into the Suburbs thereof to depart the same within one hour after the publishing of this Declaration upon pain of Death to be Executed on them by Martial Law And all such as have entertained any such Person or Persons into their Houses are hereby strictly Required and Commanded to bring a Note of the Name of such Person or Persons so entertained to the Mayor of this City by the hour of Six of the Clock this present Evening upon pain of death to be Executed on them by Martial Law who shall neglect so to do Furthermore the several Constables of this City are required this Night to make Search within this City and Suburbs thereof for such Strangers and the harbourers of them and to cause them to be apprehended and detained until they shall receive directions from Vs to the Contrary Given at His Majesties Castle of Dublin the 28th day of Octob. 1641. R. Dillon J. Temple Tho Rotherham Ja. Ware G. Wentworth Rob. Meredith And because they saw the ill Consequence of the Calumny before mentioned which the Rebels made use of colouring all their impious Villanies under the Sacred Name of His Majesties Authority the Lords Justices and Council to undeceive the abused People and vindicate His Majesty from the horrid Scandal issued out the following Proclamation A Proclamation against the Calumny of the Rebels pretence of acting by the Kings Commission Oct. 30 1641. By the Lords Justices and Council Wil. Parsons Jo. Borlase WHereas We the Lords Justices and Council have lately found That there was a most disloyal wicked and detestable Conspiracy intended and plotted against the Lives of Vs the Lords Justices and Council and many others of His Majesties faithful Subjects especially in Ulster and the Borders thereof and for the surprizing not only His Majesties Castle of Dublin His Majesties principal Fort but also of other Fortifications in several Parts and although by the great goodness and abundant mercy of Almighty God to His Majesty and to this State and Kingdom these wicked Conspiracies are brought to light and some of the Conspirators committed to the Castle of Dublin by Vs by His Majesties Authority so as those wicked and damnable Plots have not taken effect in the chief Parts thereof yet some of those wicked Malefactors have surprised some of His Majesty's Forts and Garrisons in the North of Ireland slain divers of His Majesties good Subjects imprisoned some and robbed and spoiled very many others and continue yet in those Rebellious courses against whom therefore some of His Majesties Forces are now marching to fight against them and subdue them thereby to render safety to His Majesty's faithful Subjects And whereas to colour and countenance those their wicked Intendments and Acts and in hope to gain the more Numbers and Reputation to themselves and their proceedings in the opinion of the ignorant Common People those Conspirators have yet gone further and to their other high Crimes and Offences have added this further wickedness even to traduce the Crown and State as well of England as Ireland by False Seditious and Scandalous Reports and Rumors spread abroad by them We therefore to vindicate the Crown and State of both Kingdoms from those false and wicked Calumnies Do hereby in His Majesties Name Publish and Declare That the said Reports so spread abroad by those wicked Persons are most False Wicked and Traiterous and that we have full Power and Authority from His Majesty to prosecute and subdue those Rebels and Traytors which now We are doing accordingly by the Power and Strength of His Majesty's Army and with the Assistance of His Majesty's Good and Loyal Subjects and We no way doubt but all His Majesty's Good and Faithful Subjects will give Faith and Credit to Vs who have the Honour to be trusted by His Majesty so highly as to serve Him in the Government of this His Kingdom rather than to the vain idle and wicked Reports of such lewd and wicked Conspirators who spread those false and seditious Rumors hoping to seduce a great number to their Party And as We now believe that some who have joyned themselves with those Conspirators had no hand in contriving or plotting the mischiefs intended but under the pretence of those seditious Scandals were deluded by those Conspirators and so are now become ignorantly involved in their guilts so in favour and mercy to those so deluded We hereby Charge and Command them in His Majesty's Name now from Vs to take light to guide them from that darkness into which they were misled by the wicked seducement of those Conspirators and to depart from them and from their wicked Counsels and Actions and according to the duty of Loyal Subjects to submit themselves to his Sacred Majesty and to his Royal Authority intrusted with Vs But in case those Persons which were no Plotters nor Contrivers of the said Treason but were since seduced to joyn with them as aforesaid lay not hold of this His Majesty's Grace and Favour now tendred unto them then We do by this Proclamation Publish and Declare That they shall hereafter be reputed and taken equally guilty with the said Plotters and Contrivers and as uncapable of Favour and Mercy as they are Given at His Majesty's Castle of Dublin the 30th of October 1641. La. Dublin R. Ranelagh Ant. Midensis John Rophoe R. Dillon J. Temple P. Crosbie Ja. Ware Rob. Meredith Let us now repass again to the Affairs of England where we left the Skie also lowring and the gathering Clouds threat'ning Tempestuous Weather in the State This day the Lord Keeper informed the House of Lords Friday Novemb. 12. The Venetian Ambassador Complains of the breaking open of his Pacquer That the Venetian Ambassador made a Complaint to the Lords of the Council That the Dispatches which were sent to him this Week were opened and the Seal of the State of Venice broken by the Parliament at which he finds himself so much aggrieved that he hath retired himself from the Publick Affairs as an Ambassador between this Kingdom and that State until he receives further Commands from his Masters Then was read a Paper being a Translation out of Italian delivered by the said Ambassador the Contents whereof was as follows Most Noble Lords THe Correspondency betwixt Princes The Venetian Ambassador's Memorial about the breaking up of his Letters hath always been the most immediate Ways of a true Interest of maintaining of Estates and of continuing of Commerce to the Benefit and Increase of the Common-Wealth To Cultivate this the most great Kings hath always used the utmost Industry and to facilitate it they have introduced the Expedient of Ambassadors to confirm it betwixt the one and the other Kingdom In this there hath been all Respect rendred to all Princes at
this present of 1000 Men only to be Raised in Scotland to be sent into Ireland The Lord-Keeper being so indisposed that he was not able to come to the House Saturday Novemb. 13. the Lord Privy-Seal was appointed to be the Speaker of the House for this day The Lord Kymbolton then reported some Propositions from the Committees of both Houses for the Irish Affairs which were read as followeth 1. That Officers for 2000 Foot shall be sent c. ut supra in the Votes 2. That it shall be referred to the Lord Lieutenant to make a List of those Officers and to appoint of what numbers each Company shall consist of 3. That the 1300 Arms that are in Carlisle shall be sent away presently to the North Parts of Ireland and Arms for one Troop of Horse 4. That the Forty old Foot Companies be recruited unto 100 Men in a Company 5. That the Recommendation of Sir John Clotworthy to some honourable Entertainment in Ireland be proposed to the Lords 6. That the like Recommendation be for the Lord Dungaruan and for the Command of Youghal this request the Lord Dungaruan desires may be left to the Lord Lieutenant 7. That Officers be sent into Munster for 1000 Foot and 1 Troop of Horse and this was the easier yielded unto because the Lord Dungaruan informed that the Soldiers should receive no Pay till they were ready to March against the Enemy 8. That present Order be taken for securing the Port Towns of Munster as Cork Waterford Limrick Kynsale Youghal Baltimore Slego and Gatway in Connaght because these Towns lie on the South-West of Ireland near Spain 9. That the Officers may be speedily sent for Dublin 10. It is thought fit by the Committees that Sir Simon Harcourt should have the Sallary of 20 s. per diem above the rest for his Command of Dublin 11. That the Entertainments of every Regiment of Foot and the Pay of the Officers of the Army shall be from the Date of their Commissions and Sir Simon Harcourt to go away presently to all which the Lords assented The Lord Newnham reported Lord Newnham's Report of the Venetian Ambassadors receiving the Message from the Lords That himself and the rest of the Lords appointed by this House repaired to the Venetian Ambassador and delivered unto him the Paper Translated into Italian touching the excuse for opening his Letters and after he had read it he presented unto the House great thanks for sending persons of such great place in this State unto him and promised he would represent the same to the State of Venice with as much respect as he could But desired that the Kings Ambassador may be sent away as speedily as may be to Venice in the nature of a special Ambassador to make excuse for this particular Business before he Treat of any Publick Affairs and for prevention of any Accident for the future he desires to have an Order to the Post-Master that his Letters may be speedily sent him Whereupon the House thought fit That the first desire concerning the Ambassador be left to the Pleasure of His Majesty and for the other it was Ordered That such Pacquets and Letters as are or shall be directed to the Venetian Ambassador shall be forthwith delivered up to the said Ambassador's own hands It was this day Ordered That the Earl of Newport Order for bringing up the Ammunition from Hull Master of the Ordnance shall have power by Virtue of this Order to send his Commands and Issue forth Warrants for the bringing up the Magazine of Arms and Ammunition remaining now in Kingston upon Hull unto the Tower of London for the securing of the Kingdom It was also Ordered Order about the L. Lieutenant of Ireland That because the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland hath not been invested in the Formality of his Place by the receiving of the Sword in Ireland That his Lordship shall have power by Virtue of this Order to give Command to the Lords Justices of Ireland to seize upon the persons of any that are suspected until they shall clear themselves unto the said Lords Justices there At a Conference this day the Commons desired That the first six Articles of Instructions to the Commissioners in Scotland to which the Lords had already agreed with some little Alterations as that 10000 Men might be raised in Scotland for the service of Ireland might be speedily sent away by Mr. Pickering and for the remaining Articles touching ill Counsels and Counsellors they desire their Lordships would joyn therein and they will tarry four or five days for their Lordships Resolutions Whereupon the 6 Articles were dictinctly read over again and the House agreed to them all and Resolved to take the rest into Consideration hereafter Then the Petition which was to go along with the Instructions was read in haec verba To the King 's Most Excellent Majesty The Humble Petition of the Lords and Commons in Parliament Most Gracious Soveraign WHereas this Messenger Mr. The Petition to the King in Scotland sent with the Instructions to the Committees Pickering is imployed with Instructions to your Parliament of Scotland our desire of some Aids from that Kingdom for the suppressing of the Rebels in Ireland if it fall out that your Majesty shall be come out of Scotland or our Committees before the Arrival of this Messenger there We humbly beseech your Majesty to give Authority to the said Mr. Pickering to present the said Instructions to the Parliament of Scotland and to bring back their Answer to the Parliament of England Which being read was Approved by the House In the Commons House Sir Thomas Barrington Reports the Answer of the City The Answer of the City about lending Money That the Committee who were Ordered to carry the Letters which came last from Ireland to the City to stir them up to lend Money found a great deal of willingness and readiness in the City to do it the Lord Mayor desired to know the particulars we had in Charge for their security which being made known unto them together with the miserable condition of Ireland Mr. Recorder did very much promote the Business and pressed them to give their Votes but before they did that they desired by way of Prepositions to offer something not by way of Contract to this Honourable House 1. That the Money should be paid as the Act was passed 2. That by reason of the Privilege of the Members of both Houses and by reason of the Protections granted especially by the Lords a vast Sum of Money is detained from them so that Trade cannot be driven nor are they so enabled to lend Money as they desire for the service of the Common-wealth 3. They said they were sensible of the miseries of the Protestants in Ireland and of the Power of the Papists there and therefore did press with much earnestness That the Persons of the Popish Lords and other Persons of Quality here in England
may be just causes of those fears 1. They therefore desire their Lordships Expedition of the Ordinance concerning the Earls of Essex and Holland 2. An Answer concerning the securing the Persons of Recusants 3. Concerning the Government of the Isle of Wight and the fortifying the Forts of the Kingdom 4. That the Magazines in the County of Montgomery may be Sequestred into other hands for better security they being now in the hands of a Servant of a great Recusant 5. That Milford Haven may be fortified 6. That Sir Simon Harcourt may have a Commission to levy Soldiers for the Service of Ireland and that Thursday next may be the longest time of his stay here To these particulars the Lords gave these Resolutions 1. The Lords Answers To the first The House will Debate the Ordinance about the Earls of Essex and Holland to Morrow Morning 2. To the securing of the Persons of Recusants agreed 3. Touching the sequestring of the Isle of Wight into another hand their Lordships will take the same into confideration when the House of Commons present their Reasons why it should be taken out of the hand where it is now To the Forts they have formerly given in an account of the state of them and of the Charge which will be requisite to repair them and that the Money must proceed from them 4. To the fourth Agreed to 5. To the Fifth This House thinks it fit that Milford Haven be secured by appointing some Ships to ride in the Haven 6. To the Sixth The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland is to bring the Commission to Morrow Morning which he is to give to Sir Simon Harcourt for levying Men for the Service of Ireland This being done the Lord Keeper was appointed to acquaint the Commons who stayed in the Painted Chamber with the aforesaid Answers to their Propositions Mr. Maxwell the Gentleman-Usher gave this House an account Mr. Maxwell upon search finds no Priests That according to their Lordships Order he had searched diligently the Earl of Worcester 's House for Priests and Jesuits but can find none In the Commons House they were taken up with this new Plot and preparing Heads for the forementioned Conference And which is omitted in the Lords Journal it was desired That the Information which Beal hath given may be published It was also Ordered That St. German the French-man St. German committed to the Gate-house be committed to the Prison of the Gate-house and that no Man be suffered to speak with him but in the presence and hearing of a Keeper They were still busie in Hammering and Filing of the Remonstrance of the State of the Kingdom as appears by this Memorandum Memorandum That an Addition be made to the Declaration to this purpose to declare That this House intends to vindicate themselves from the Imputations laid upon them of discouraging of Learning and that they will advance Learning and the maintenance of Preaching Ministers They were very tender it seems of their Reputation but notwithstanding their Declaration it will remain an Eternal Riddle to Posterity how it can be possible to incourage Learning by taking away the Rewards of Industry And for their maintaining of Preaching Ministers they were as good as their Word indeed by suffering all that would to Preach and maintaining them in their Sacrilegious Usurpations upon the Sacred Function Report was made this day by the Lords Committees for the Irish Affairs That the Committees of both Houses for that business Wednesday Novemb. 17. have considered of these particulars That Power be given to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Irish Affairs for rewarding of secret services as is fit That convenient Posts be speedily set up between Beaumaris and Holy-Head And that the State of Scotland be moved to have the like care for Posts between Carlisle and Port-Patrick That Directions be sent by both Houses of Parliament to the Lords Justices of Ireland concerning the Prisoners Mac-Guire and Mac-Mahon to be Conveyed into England for their better security That the Protestation taken by both Houses be taken by all Officers and Commanders before they be employed in the service of Ireland which Propositions being read were Assented to It was Ordered Message to the Foreign Ambassadors concerning Jones and Andrews That the Right Honourable the Earl of Bristol the Earl of Holland and the Lord Brook shall forthwith Repair unto the several Ambassadors in and about the Cities of London and Westminster and desire them from the Parliament to dismiss out of their Houses such Priests as are the Kings Native Subjects and in case they shall be hereafter found abroad they shall not have any Protection but be Proceeded against according to the Laws of the Kingdom and to let them know That if the Persons of Father Jones and Father Andrews who were Accused for Treasâ—â— be received into their Houses the Parliament desires they may be presently delivered up Lord Lieutenant scruples the Validity of the Ordinance to Levy Men without the Great Seal Upon some Question made this day by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether the Ordinance of Parliament for the granting him Power to give Commissions to Levy men for the Service of Ireland be of sufficient Validity without a Confirmation from His Majesty Thereupon the House did undertake to be Suitors to his Majesty to consirm the Autherity given to his Lordship by the King and the Parliament under the Great Seal of England And do Promise That they will be always ready to avow his Proceedings upon their Lordships aforesaid Orders in the mean time The Lord Lieutenant delivered a Copy of a Commission to be given to Commanders for the Levying of Men for Ireland which was Read and Approved of the Contents were as follow Robert Earl of Leicester Copy of a Commission to Raise Men for Ireland Viscount Lisle Baron of Penhurst c. One of His Majestie 's Most Honourable Privy-Council Lieutenant General of the Kingdom of Ireland and General of His Majestie 's Army there To Collonel WHereas the Lords Justices and Council of Ireland have advertised our Soveraign Lord King Charles and his High Court of Parliament now here Assembled of a suddain Insurrection aâ—d Rebellion in Ireland and have Humbly besought His Majesty to send some Succours unto his good Subjects there And his Majesty being now Absent in his Kingdom of Scotland hath recommended the Care of the said Kingdom of Ireland unto his Parliament of England and that in pursuit of his Majestie 's Pleasure so signified for as much as in this time of His Majestie 's Absence his Royal Commission according to the usual form cannot be so soon obtained as the necessity of the Kingdom doth require The Lords and Commons of the said Parliament now Assembled have by their Ordinance of the 6th of this present Month of November Authorized me by Warrant under my Hand and Seal to give one or more Commissions to such Captains Commanders or other
Law and immediately sent down to the Commons by Serjeant Finch and Serjeant Glanvile A Message was sent to the Commons to let them know That the Queen hath desired the Inlargement of Phillips the Priest and that the Lords being satisfied with his Submission and having nothing against him further depending in their House are inclinable to release him but resolved according to their Engagement to let the House of Commons be first acquainted with it Upon which the Commons made this Answer That they desire he may be continued still in his Restraint in regard he is a Priest and complained of for seducing his Majesties Subjects Several Bills were sent up to the Lords two private ones a third for the laying down of the Privilege of Parliament concerning Protections in some Cases c. a fourth for the Forfeiture of the Lands of John James who stabbed Justice Heywood at White-Hall and for his further Punishment c. An Ordinance was also brought into the House of Commons for reimbursing the City the 50000 l. last borrowed and the 50000 l. formerly lent to the Peers in the Northern Expedition The Commissioners being now returned from Scotland Wednesday Novemb. 24. The Commissioners return from Scotland the Lord Keeper was commanded in the Name of the House of Lords to let the Lord Howard of Eskrik know That the House doth acknowledg that his Lordship hath very carefully and faithfully discharged that Trust which this House reposed in him in his Imployment in Scotland as a Committee for this House for which the House gives his Lordship Thanks and will be ready upon all Occasions for his Good to Recommend him to the King The House of Lords being Yesterday adjourned in regard they were informed of his Majesties coming from Scotland Thursday Novemb. 25. sate not till Friday and that it may a little recreate the Reader who may well be tired with so much Tragedy and the repeated Troubles of Rebellions Plots and Conspiracies of which this unhappy Age was so Fertile I will present him with the short Sun-shine of that Days Solemnity which hath so often been resembled to the Treacherous Hosannas which preceded the Crucifixion of the Glorious Redeemer of the World and not without Reason for while he made that short Ovation in London the Scribes and Pharisees of the Faction at Westminster were in Consultation of that Remonstrance which was to crucify his Reputation and was the first bold Step to the taking away his Crown and Life Notice having been given of his Majesties Return this day to White-Hall the Nobility Gentry Lord Mayor Aldermen and Recorder The King returns from Scotland and the-manner of his Reception by the City with many of the Principal Citizens went to attend his Majesty and Conduct him to the City So soon as they met him Mr. Recorder of London Addressed himself with all due Respects to his Majesty in this congratulatory Speech May it please Your Majesty THis is a day of Exceeding great Joy to your Citizens of London Mr. Recorder of London's Speech to the King at his return from Scotland joy exalted to the highest degree to see you return in safety after a long absence and to see this happy meeting with your Dearest Consort our good and gracious Queen and with these blessed Children that are the Fruits of your Loves and Pledges to us of a fruitful and hopeful Succession I can truly say this from the Representative Body of your City from whence I have my Warrant they meet Your Majesty with as much Love and Affection as ever Citizens of London met with any of Your Royal Progenitors King or Queen of this Kingdom and with as hearty a desire to shew it self fully Pardon their failers where you meet with any We tender unto You no formal Present it would but lessen us whatever it were I am sure it would be far short of our meaning but we present unto You our hearts and affections hearts of true Subjects full of Loyalty to You our King and Sovereign 'T is true in this we offer Your Majesty but your own they were by just right Yours before but upon this new and enlivening occasion be pleased to take them as a new gift we offer them chearfully vouchsafe to accept them graciously and with the Influence of those Excellent and Princely Vertues which we know by great assurance to be eminent in Your Royal Person we doubt not but Your Majesty will continue the defence of our Establisht Religion and the clear Current of Justice through all the Streams of which Your Majesty is the Royal Fountain Vouchsafe likewise to uphold and countenance that Ancient Form and Frame of Government which hath been long Established in the City that Power and Authority of Yours which You have committed to Your Lord Mayor your true and faithful Subject and Servant and the fit reverence and respect due to the Aldermen his Brethren who are to assist him in his Government we shall be thereby the better enabled to serve Your Majesty and constantly to render to You the Fruits of a true Obedience And as our Duty binds us we shall never cease to Bless You and Pray for You and Your Dearest Consort our gracious Queen and for this Your Royal and Princely Off-spring for Your Majesties long Life and prosperous Reign over us in Peace and Glory and with full contentment And I doubt not but every true Subject will joyn with us in this and say Amen These Expressions of Joy of Love of Loyalty and these hearty wishes and desires which I have mentioned I meet with every where from your Citizens of London they are the soft and still Musick prepared for Your Majesties Welcom and Entertainment this Day The joyful Acclamations of Your People upon the sight of your Royal Person will make it louder and all chearfully bearing their agreeing parts together shall I hope this Day make up to Your Majesty a full and pleasing Harmony To which His Majesty immediately returned this Gracious Answer Mr. Recorder I Must desire you The King's Answer to the Recorder of London's Speech because My Voice cannot reach to all those that I desire should hear Me to give most hearty thanks to all the good Citizens of London for their hearty Expressions of their Love to Me this Day And indeed I cannot sufficiently express the contentment I have received therein For now I see that all these former Tumults and Disorders have only risen from the meaner sort of People and that the Affections of the better and main part of the City have ever been Loyal and Affectionate to My Person and Government And likewise it comforts Me to see That all those misreports that have been made of Me in My absence have not the least power to do Me prejudice in your Opinions as may easily be seen by this days Expressions of Joy And now I think it fit for Me to assure you That I am returned with as
to the Custom of that Nation he told him that he had not deserved to be distrusted by him who could not but remember that when he was accused to him of High Treason yet he permitted him even then to lye in his Bed Chamber this made Hamilton outwardly appear much troubled for having given the King so just occasion of Displeasure but his great Interest in the Faction formerly mentioned out of the Earl of Manchester's Memoires notwithstanding all that hath been said by an able Pen in vindication of him seems not able to guard his Innocence from the common Fame which went of him that he betrayed the greatest Secrets of the King to the Junto which managed the two Houses of Parliament and that by the opportunity of being of the Bed-Chamber he took the Letters out of the King's Pockets and from them gave Informations of several things to the Party much to the disadvantage of the King's Affairs There is another thing which I cannot omit which is a Letter of His Majesties to Mr. Nicholas Clerk of the Council from Edinburgh which I found in the Paper Office which was as follows I Hear it is reported That at my Return The King's Letter to Mr. Nichols Clerk of the Council of his Resolution to maintain the Church of England I intend to alter the Government of the Church of England and to bring it to that Form as it is here Therefore I Command you To assure all my Servants that I will be constant to the Discipline and Doctrinâ— of the Church of England Established by Queen Elizabeth and my Father and that I resolve by the Grace of God to die in the maintenance of it Edinburgh Oct. 18. 1641. Charles R. Having made this little Holiday with the short gleam of Sun-shine in His Majesties Affairs we must now return to the old Trade again of diging the Quarries of Rebellion The King having sent for the Lord Keeper Friday Novemb. 26. the House gave him leave to attend upon his Majesty and appointed the Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas to be Speaker of their House till he returned Upon his return he informed the House That his Majesty had Commanded him to let their Lordships know That whereas he intended this day to have come to this House his Majesty is diverted upon some important business at this time and withal he is very hoarse with a Cold but his Majesty intends very shortly to come to this House The Lord Chamberlain signified to this House E. of Essex delivers up his Commission of Cap. General on the South-side of Trent That the King being returned home his Lordship hath delivered up his Commission of Captain General of the South Parts of this Kingdom into his Majesties Hands so that his Lordship cannot now take any Order for the Guarding of the Parliament as was Ordered by the Parliament therefore he desired their Lordships to consider of what Course is fit to be taken herein he having now no Power to obey their Commands Hereupon it was Resolved to communicate the matter to the House of Commons at a Conference which was done accordingly The Lord Keeper declared A Message from the King concerning Guards of the Parliament That he had received a Command from the King that the Houses should be made acquainted That His Majesty hearing that the Parliament have appointed Guards for securing the Houses he presumes they did it upon some Reasons but his Majesty not knowing any Reasons It is his Majesties Pleasure That the said Guards be dissolved for now his Majesty hopes that his Presence will be a Protection to the Parliament But if there be Occasion and his Majesty sees Reasons for it he will be very forward to take Care there be sufficient Guards to secure the Parliament Which was also ordered to be added to the Conference which was to be with the Commons In the Commons Journal there is the same Message with this addition That if need be to have a Guard hereafter his Majesty will be as glad to have a Guard as any other A Message was also sent by George Goring Esq To let their Lordships know That the House of Commons desire their Lordships would be pleased to send some few Lords to Petition his Majesty in the name of both Houses That the Guards may be continued still and they will within a few dayes bring up some Reasons to satisfie his Majesty for the same For the debating of this the House was adjourned into a Committee during pleasure and the House being Resumed it was put to the Question Whether this Question should be put viz. Whether this House shall joyn with the House of Commons to Petition the King that the Guards may be continued for some few dayes within which time there may be some Reasons given for the further continuance of them And it was Resolved upon by the major part in the Negative Then the House agreed That the Message brought from the House of Commons should be the Question â—â—d be put in Terminis as it came up from them and the Lord Keeper was appointed to write as near as he could remember the very Words of the Message which his Lordship having read the House did conceive some words were Dubious for the satisfying whereof the Messengers of the House of Commons were called in and the Lord Keeper sitting in his place upon the Woolsack told them That there was some doubt of some Words in the Message which the House desired to be satisfied in and then the Lord Keeper going down to the Barr as Usually he does when he receives Messages the Messengers of the House of Commons repeated their Message again and the L. Keeper being returned to his place as Speaker reported the said Message in these Words viz. That the House of Commons desired that their Lordships would send some Lords to the King in the Names of both Houses To beseech his Majesty to continue the Guards till they may satisfie his Majesty of the Reasons why they conceive it necessary to have a Guard which they intend to do within a few dayes And then it was Resolved upon the Question by the Major part That this House doth joyn with the House of Commons in their desire And the Earl of Warwick and the Lord Digby were Ordered to attend his Majesty to move him in it according to the Message Saturday Novemb. 27. Reasons against single Troops for forming the Cavalry into Regiments The Lord Kimbolton Reported from the Committee for Irish Affairs a Paper containing the Reasons of the Assistants to the Committee for the Forming the Troops of Cavalry into Regiments under Colonels and Sergeant Majors 1. By reason of the continual Debate that would otherwise arise among the Officers and their want of Obedience of one to another 2. For the more speedy way as well in issuing as receiving the Orders for the better Executing of any Commands whatsoever 3. For the Exact
a full and just satisfaction for the same do hereby declare That this said Sum of 50000 l. lent for the Irish Affairs and the Sum of 50000 l. more lent by the said City unto the Peers attending His Majesty in the Northern Parts before the beginning of this present Parliament and such other Sums lent by the said City unto this Parliament which are not yet paid or otherwise secured shall be fully satisfied and repaid unto the said City of London with Interest after the rate of 8 l. per cent for a Year out of such Moneys as are or shall be raised by Authority of Parliament and for that purpose will Exhibit a Bill and become humble Suiters to His Majesty that the same may be passed with all Expedition Provided always that this present Declaration shall not be in any wise prejudicial to any Members of the said House of Commons who have formerly lent any Sums of Money to this Parliament nor to the Northern Counties nor to any persons whatsoever to whom the Houses of Parliament or the House of Commons have formerly Ordered the Payment of any Sums of Mony nor to any security given to them before the making of this Declaration Mr. The Commons Reasons for the Continuance of Guards Pym presents from the Committee the Reasons of both Houses of Parliament for the continuance of a Guard viz. 1. The great numbers of disorderly suspicious and desperate Persons especially of the Irish Nation lurking in obscurâ—â— Allies and Victualling Houses in the Suburbs and other places near London and Westminster 2. The Jealousie conceived upon the discovery of the Design in Scotland for the surprising of the Persons of divers of the Nobility Members of the Parliament there which had been spoken of here some few days before it broke out not without some whispering intimation that the like was intended against divers Persons of both Houses which found more Credit by reason of the former attempts of bringing up the Army to disturb and inforce this Parliament 3. The Conspiracy in Ireland managed with so much secresie that but for the happy discovery at Dublin it had been Executed in all parts of the Kingdom upon one and the same day or soon after and that some of the chief Conspirators did profess that the like course was intended in England and Scotland which being found in some degree true in Scotland seemed the more probable likewise to be done in England 4. Divers Advertisements from beyond the Seas which came over about the same Time that there would be a great alteration in Religion in England in a few days and that the necks of both the Parliaments should be broken 5. Divers Examinations of dangerous Speeches of some of the Popish and discontented party in this Kingdom 6. The secret Meetings and Consultations of the Papists in several Parts their frequent Devotions for the prosperity of some great Design in hand These several Considerations do move the Parliament to desire a Guard under the Command of the Earl of Essex and they do conceive there is just Cause to apprehend that there is some wicked and mischievous practice to interrupt the peaceable proceedings of the Parliament still in hand for preventing whereof it is fit the Guards should be still continued under the same Command or such other as they should chuse But to have it under the Command of any other not chosen by themselves they can by no means consent to and will rather run any hazard then admit of a Precedent so dangerous both to this and to future Parliaments And they humbly leave it to His Majesty to consider whether it will not be fit to suffer his High Court of Parliament to enjoy that Priviledge of providing for their own safety which was never denied other inferior Courts And that he will be pleased graciously to believe that they cannot think themselves safe under any Guard of which they shall not be assured that it will be as faithful in defending His Majesties safety as their own whereof they shall always be more careful then of their own Among all these Reasons here is not one word of Beal the Taylors Discovery of the 108 Men which for 40 s. apiece were to do such strange things it seems by this time they found it an incredible Story and it is very probable that if the other grounds of their fears did not proceed from their own Quiver yet if they had Examined them they would have found them as frivolous as that or the Scotch Design against Hamilton and Arguile which upon the strictest Scrutiny would not afford more proof then to make a noise about the Streets of Plots against the Parliament the better to incite the unruly Multitude to Tumults and Insurrections which they now began to raise again to cry out No Bishops and with unheard of Insolence to affront His Majesty and whoever was Loyal But the King having Ordered them a Guard of the Trained Bands they were so displeased not at the thing for they had made use of them before but at His Majesties appointing them that it was Ordered in the House of Commons That the Guard should be dismissed and without giving His Majesty an Account or presenting him with the Reasons above recited the very same day Mr. Glyn and Mr. Wheeler were Ordered to require the High Constable of Westminster to provide a strong and sufficient Watch in their stead But to make a little flourish of Loyalty and tenderness for the King's Honour and Reputation it was this day Ordered That a Declaration be drawn for clearing His Majesties honour from false Reports cast upon him by the Rebels in Ireland and a Provision to be made Order for a Declaration to clear the Kings Honor from the Scandals of the Irish Rebels that there may be no Conclusion of that War to the prejudice of this Kingdom There might be malice even in this seeming kindness for whilst they pretended to vindicate His Majesties Honour they divulged the Scandal to the whole Nation and by their subsequent Actions and Declarations which within a little while after they published to improve the belief of that Scandal one would think they intended to prepare the way for it by this plausible pretence of a Vindication And most certainly they could intend him no real Reparation when themselves were this Day resolved to defame his Government from the very beginning of his Reign by that Scandalous Remonstrance of the State of the Kingdom for this very Day Mr. Pym Sir Symon D'Ewes The Names of the Committee who were appointed to deliver the Remonstrance Sir Arthur Ingram Sir John Thyn Sir Henry Bellasis Lord Gray Sir Christopher Wray Lord Fairfax Sir Ralph Hopton Sir Richard Winn Sir John Corbet Sir Edward Deering and Sir Arthur Haslerig were Ordered to wait upon his Majesty what time he appoints with the Petition and Declaration and indeed all their Actions seemed to carry Fire in one Hand and
Water in the other for the same Committee was appointed to draw up the Petition together with some Reasons which necessitated the House make this Declaration were at the same time ordered to frame a Congratulation for his Majesties safe return from Scotland And that the Reader may perceive the true Reason why they made use of this Fucus of pretended Loyalty to paint over their Designs and that the Remonstrance was very early projected by the Faction even in the beginning of the Parliament I must once more present him with a Passage out of the Memoires of the late Earl of Manchester The Grievances of the Kingdom having been fully enumerated and declared some of the Members of both Houses had private Meetings and Consultations how to direct their Parliamentary Resolutions in order to present Redress and future Security and it was conceived by them to be the most certain Way and most consistent with the Duty and Allegiance of Subjects to fix their Complaints and Accusations upon evil Counsellors as the immediate Actors in the Tragical Miseries of the Kingdom rather then upon the personal Failings and Mal-administrations in the King Therefore it was resolved That the House of Commons as the Grand Inquest of the Kingdom should draw up such a Remonstrance as might be a faithful and lively Representation to his Majesty of the deplorable Estate of his Kingdom and might point out unto him those that were most Obnoxious and Liable to Censure owning still such a due regard to his Royal Authority as not to mention his Name but with Honor and in the deepest Sense of their former Grievances to render him Thanks for the calling this Parliament as the happy Omen to their present Hopes of future Redress and Establishment By which short passage one may plainly see the Method by which they conducted themselves which was to preface their most scandalous Declarations and most unreasonable Demands with the fair Expressions of Loyalty Duty Allegiance and Honor to his Majesties Person and that all their Animosities month Decem. 1641. were only against the Evil Counsellor who Administred the Publick Affairs but for the King they had no other Intentions then to render him Great and Glorious and to establish the Throne to him and his Posterity But to proceed in the Parliamentary Transactions Wednesday Decemb. 1. Bishop of Exeter's Report about Books formerly seized by the High Commission this Day the Bishop of Exon reported to the Lords House That the Committee formerly appointed by their House have perused those Books which were seized on coming from beyond the Seas and others printed in England and put into the Hands of the Register of the High Commission Court and the Committee finds them to be of three several sorts 1 Such as are fit to be delivered to the Owners and to be sold by the Stationers as good and vendible Books viz. The Holy Table Name and Thing Mr. Walker 's Treaty of the Sabbath A French Commentary on the Revelations Dr. Burgess his Rejoynder for Ceremonies Some old Books of Controversies A Second sort of Books which the Committee thinks fit to be sold to choice Persons as Causin 's 4th Tome of Holy Court in fol. of which there are 370. Thomas de Kempis of the following of Christ of which there are 100 in Decimo Sexto The Life of Sir Thomas Moor. A Third sort of Superstitious Tablets and Books which are fit to be Burnt as Missals Primers and Offices of our Lady c. Hereupon it was Ordered by this House The Order of the Lords concerning some Popish and other Books That the first sort of Books are approved of by this House and are to be delivered to the Owners and to be sold by the Stationers and that the second sort be delivered over to safe Hands to be sold to Noblemen Gentlemen and Schollars but not to Women and lastly That the third sort be burned by the Sheriffs of London in Smithfield forthwith Sir Henry Beddingfield who was formerly sent for by Order of the Lords Sir Henry Beddingfield of Norfolk his Examination was brought in and the Information of William Shales was read unto him which being done Sir Henry Beddingfield desired he might answer particularly to the Charge But there being several Opinions in the House herein he was commanded to withdraw and the House took it into Consideration and Resolved he should be asked Generals before Particulars Sir Henry was called in again and the Speaker by Directions of the House asked him these Questions 1. Whether he knowes one William Shales 2. Whether he was with him in his Garden at the time mentioned in the Information and who else was with him 3. What Discourse he had with Shales 4. How long be had known Shales Sir Henry Beddingfield's Answer was 1. That he knowes William Shales for he was formerly his Faulkner 2. That Shales was with him in his Garden in April last and Poole with them 3. That their Discourse was Where the best place for Hawking was in Ireland and no other discourse It was then desired That Sir Henry Beddingfield might be asked Whether that Poole be a Priest And it was objected That thereby he might accuse himself but he being not upon Oath was asked the Question and he Answered That Poole was no Priest After this Poole was Examined upon Oath What he knowes concerning the Information of William Shales He answered That he was present at the Discourse between Sir Henry Beddingfield and the said Shales and he remembred they discoursed in the Garden of Hawking and what kind of Country Ireland was for Hawking and about taking of a House at Kilkenny and that Shales said All things were quiet in Ireland but denied he heard or knowes any more The House taking the whole business into Consideration and finding no sufficient matter to proceed against Sir Henry Beddingfield Sir H. Beddingfield acquitted Ordered That he be released from his present restraint and dismissed from any further attendance upon this House for any thing concerning this Business And lastly that his Study shall be Vnsealed and opened as it was before any Order of this House served upon him The Lord Keeper Reported a Conference this day had with the Commons concerning the Impeached Bishops and Phillips the Priest A Conference concerning the Impeached Bishops and Phillips the Priest That the House of Commons have received the Plea and Demurrer of 12 of the 13 Bishops that are impeached for making the Book of Canons c. contrary to Law and that one of them pleads Not Guilty the other 12 neither confessed nor denyed the Charge The House of Commons are ready to make it good by proof and do desire a short day to be prefixed for that Purpose Concerning Phillips the Priest the House of Commons say That they understand their Lordships have received satisfaction from him for the Contempt done to their House That the general business of the Kingdom hindered the
preparing of Articles against him but they shall be ready in convenient time to give him a Charge And in regard they hear he is not well they are contented he shall be removed to * Now Somerset-House Denmark House he putting in Caution not to go to Court and to appear when he shall be required Hereupon it was Ordered That Phillips shall upon these Cautions finding Sureties be released from his imprisonment in the Tower It was also Ordered That the Lords the Bishops that are Impeached shall be heard by their Council on Friday next at the Bar what they can say why this Motion should not be granted But the Faction of the Commons were resolved Tumults as before they had done in the Case of the Earl of Strafford to obtain that by the Force of Tumults that they could not obtain by Law or Reason The Lords however were so sensible of this affront put upon the Freedom of the Parliament that it was Ordered That all the Judges do consult among themselves what Course is fit to be taken to prevent Riots Routs and unlawful Assemblies and having considered of the Laws and Statutes in this Case to present their opinions to the House to morrow Morning and in the mean time to have a Conference with the Commons concerning the Tumults In the Commons House Serjeant Wild Reports the Conference That the Lord Keeper told the Committee That their Lordships had received Information of great numbers of People gathered together in a Tumultuous Vnusual and Disorderly manner about the Houses of Parliament and therefore desired the Commons House to joyn with them in a Declaration to remove them and that for these Two Reasons First If these disorders should continue they might render the good Acts and Provisions of this Parliament of suspicion to Posterity by the interpretation of ill Ministers Secondly Because it did not stand with the Dignity of Parliament to suffer such Tumults to be so near the Houses of Parliament The House being informed That Phillips had a Trunk brought to him to the Tower by Two Capuchins it was Ordered That the Lieutenant of the Tower and Sir William Parkhurst shall search his Trunk and if there be any Papers that concern the State to secure them till the pleasure of this House be known The Committee formerly named to wait upon the King with the Petition and Declaration were Ordered to go forthwith to present them to the King Sir Edward Deering to read it to His Majesty and in his absence Sir Ralph Hopton to read it If he be absent the Committee to appoint the Person that shall read it Accordingly the Committee went this day and attended His Majesty with the said Petition and Remonstrance which as I find it Printed in Husband's Collections was in these words The Petition of the House of Commons which Accompanied the Declaration of the State of the Kingdom Most Gracious Soveraign YOur Majesties Most Humble and Faithful Subjects the Commons in this present Parliament Assembled The Petition and Declaration of the State of the Kingdom delivered by the Commons to the King at Hampton-Court Dec. 1. 1641. do with much thankfulness and joy acknowledge the great Mercy and Favour of God in giving your Majesty a safe and peaceable return out of Scotland into your Kingdom of England where the pressing dangers and distempers of the State have caused us with much earnestness to desire the comfort of your Gracious Presence and likewise the Unity and Justice of your Royal Authority to give more Life and Power to the Dutiful and Loyal Counsels and endeavours of your Parliament for the prevention of that imminent ruine and destruction wherewith your Kingdoms of England and Scotland are threatned The Duty which we ow to your Majesty and our Country cannot but make us very sensible and apprehensive that the multiplicity sharpness and malignity of those Evils under which we have now many years suffered are fomented and cherished by a corrupt and ill-affected Party who amongst other their mischievous devices for the alteration of Religion and Government have sought by many false scandals and imputations cunningly insinuated and dispersed amongst the People to blemish and disgrace our Proceedings in this Parliament and to get themselves a Party and Faction amongst your Subjects for the better strengthening of themselves in their wicked courses and hindring those Provisions and Remedies which might by the wisdom of your Majesty and Council of your Parliament be opposed against them For preventing whereof and the better Information of your Majesty your Peers and all other your Loyal Subjects we have been necessitated to make a Declaration of the State of the Kingdom both before and since the Assembly of this Parliament unto this time which we do humbly present to your Majesty without the least intention to lay any blemish upon your Royal Person but only to represent how your Royal Authority and Trust have been abused to the great prejudice and danger of your Majesty and of all your good Subjects And because we have reason to believe that those Malignant Parties whose Proceedings evidently appear to be mainly for the advantage and encrease of Popery is composed set up and acted by the subtile practice of the Jesuits and other Engineers and Factors for Rome and to the great danger of this Kingdom and most grievous affliction of your Loyal Subjects have so far prevailed as to corrupt divers of your Bishops and others in prime places of the Church and also to bring divers of these Instruments to be of your Privy-Council and other employments of trust and nearness about your Majesty the Prince and the rest of your Royal Children And by this means hath had such an Operation in your Council and the most Important Affairs and Proceedings of your Government that a most dangerous division and chargeable Preparation for War betwixt your Kingdoms of England and Scotland the encrease of jealousies betwixt your Majesty and your most Obedient Subjects the violent distraction and interruption of this Parliament the Insurrection of the Papists in your Kingdom of Ireland and bloody Massacre of your people have been not only endeavoured and attempted but in a great measure compassed and effected For preventing the final accomplishment whereof your poor Subjects are enforced to engage their Persons and Estates to the maintaining of a very expenceful and dangerous War notwithstanding they have already since the beginning of this Parliamenâ— undergone the Charge of 150000 Pounds Sterling or thereabouts For the necessary support and supply of your Majesty in these present and perillous Designs And because all our most faithful endeavours and engagements will be ineffectual for the Peace Safety and Preservation of your Majesty and your People if some present real and effectual course be not taken for suppressing this wicked and malignant Party We Your Most Humble and Obedient Subjects do with all faithfulness and humility beseech your Majesty 1. THat you will be
sway in all their determinations and if they be not prevented are likely to devour the rest or to turn them into their own nature In the beginning of his Majesties Reign the Party begun to revive and flourish again having been somewhat dampt by the breach with Spain in the last year of King James and by his Majesties Marriage with France the Interest and Counsels of that State being not so contrary to the good of Religion and the Prosperity of this Kingdom as those of Spain and the Papists of England having been ever more addicted to Spain then France yet they still retained a Purpose and Resolution to weaken the Protestant Parties in all Parts and even in France whereby to make way for the Change of Religion which they intended at Home The first Effect and Evidence of their Recovery and Strength was the dissolution of the Parliament at Oxford after there had been given two Subsidies to his Majesty and before they received Relief in any one Grievance many other more miserable Effects followed The loss of the Rochel Fleet by the help of our Shipping set forth and delivered over to the French in opposition to the Advice of Parliament which left that Town without Defence by Sea and made way not only to the loss of that important Place but likewise to the loss of all the Strength and Security of the Protestant Religion in France The diverting of his Majesties course of Wars from the West-Indies which was the most facile and hopeful way for this Kingdom to prevail against the Spaniard to an expenceful and unsuccessful Attempt upon Cales which was so ordered as if it had rather bin intended to make us weary of War then to prosper in it The precipitate breach with France by taking their Ships to a great value without making recompence to the English whose Goods were thereupon imbar'd and confiscate in that Kingdom The Peace with Spain without Consent of Parliament contrary to the promise of King James to both Houses whereby the Palatine Cause was deserted and left to Chargeable and Hopeless Treaties which for the most part were Managed by those who might justly be suspected to be no Friends to that Cause The charging of the Kingdom with Billeted Soldiers in all Parts of it and that Concomitant Design of German Horse that the Land might either submit with Fear or be inforced with Rigour to such Arbitrary Contributions as should be required of them The dissolving of the Parliament in the second Year of his Majesties Reign after a Declaration of their Intent to grant five Subsidies The exacting of the like proportion of five Subsidies after the Parliament dissolved by Commission of Loan and divers Gentlemen and others imprisoned for not yeilding to pay that Loan whereby many of them contracted such sicknesses as cost them their Lives Great Summs of Money required and raised by Privy Seals An unjust and pernicious attempt to extort great Payments from the Subject by way of Excise and a Commission issued under Seal to that purpose The Petition of Right which was granted in full Parliament blasted with an illegal Declaration to make it destructive to it self to the Power of Parliament to the Liberty of the Subject and to that purpose printed with it and the Petition made of no use but to shew the bold and presumptuous injustice of such Ministers as durst break the Laws and suppress the Liberties of the Kingdom after they had been so Solemnly and evidently declared Another Parliament dissolved 4 Car. the Privilege of Parliament broken by imprisoning divers Members of the House detaining them close Prisoners for many Months together without the Liberty of using Books Pen Ink or Paper denying them all the Comforts of Life all Means of preservation of Health not permitting their Wives to come unto them even in time of their Sickness And for the compleating of that Cruelty after Years spent in such miserable durance depriving them of the necessary means of Spiritual Consolation not suffering them to go abroad to enjoy God's Ordinances in God's House or God's Ministers to come to them to administer Comfort unto them in their private Chambers and to keep them still in this oppressed Condition not admitting them to be bailed according to Law yet vexing them with Informations in inferior Courts Sentencing and Fining some of them for Matters done in Parliament and Extorting the Payments of those Fines from them inforcing others to put in Security of good Behaviour before they could be released The Imprisonment of the rest which refused to be bound still continued which might have been perpetual if necessity had not the last year brought another Parliament to relieve them of whom one died by the cruelty and harshness of his Imprisonment which would admit of no relaxation notwithstanding the Imminent Danger of his Life did sufficiently appear by the Declaration of his Physician And his release or at least his refreshment was sought by many humble Petitions And his Blood still cryes either for Vengeance or Repentance of those Ministers of State who have at once obstructed the course both of his Majesties Justice and Mercy Upon the Dissolution of both these Parliaments untrue and scandalous Declarations Published to asperse their Proceedings and some of their Members unjustly to make them odious and colour the Violence which was used against them Proclamations set out to the same purpose and to the great dejecting of the hearts of the People forbidding them to speak of Parliaments After the Breach of Parliament in the fourth year of his Majesty Injustice Oppression and Violence broke in upon us without any restraint or moderation and yet the first project was the great Sums exacted thorough the whole Kingdom for default of Knighthood which seemed to have some colour and shadow of a Law yet if it be rightly examined by that obsolete Law which was pretended for it it would be found to be against all the Rules of Justice both in respect of the persons charged the proportion of the Fines demanded and the absurd and unreasonable manner of their Proceedings Tonnage and Poundage hath been received without colour or pretence of Law many other heavy impositions continued against Law and some so unreasonable that the sum of the Charge exceeds the value of the Goods The Book of Rates lately inhansed to a high proportion and such Merchants as would not submit to their Illegal and unreasonable Payments were vexed and oppressed above measure and the ordinary course of Justice the common Birth-right of the Subject of England wholly obstructed unto them And although all this was taken upon pretence of Guarding the Sea yet a new and unheard of Tax of Ship-money was devised upon the same pretence By both which there was charged upon the Subject near 700000 Pounds some years and yet the Merchants have been left so naked to the violence of the Turkish Pirates that many great Ships of value and thousands of his Majesties Subjects
have been taken by them and do still remain in miserable slavery The enlargement of Forrests contrary to Charta de Foresta and the composition thereupon The exactions of Coat and Conduct Money and divers other Military Charges The taking away the Arms of the Trained-Bands of divers Counties The desperate Design of engrossing all the Gun-Powder into one hand keeping it in the Tower of London and setting so high a Rate upon it that the Poorer sort were not able to buy it nor could any have it without Licence thereby to leave the several parts of the Kingdom destitute of their necessary defence and by selling so dear that which was sold to make an unlawful advantage of it to the great Charge and detriment of the Subject the general destruction of the Kings Timber especially that in the Forrest of Dean sold to Papists which was the best Store-house of this Kingdom for the maintenance of our Shipping the taking away of mens right under colour of the Kings Title to Land between high and low Water-Marks The Monopolies of Soap Salt Wine Leather Sea-Cole and in a manner of all things of most common and necessary use The restraint of the Liberties of the Subjects in their habitation Trades and other Interest Their vexation and oppression by Purveyors Clerks of the Market and Salt-Peter-men The sale of pretended Nusances as Buildings in and about London conversion of Arable into Pasture continuance of Pasture under the name of depopulation have drawn many Millions out of the Subjects Purses without any considerable profit to his Majesty Large quantities of Common and several Grounds have been taken from the Subject by colour of the Statute of Improvement and by abuse of the Commission of Sewers without their consent and against it And not only private Interest but also publick faith hath been broken in seizing of the Money and Bullion in the Mint and the whole Kingdom like to be robb'd at once in that abominable project of Brass-Money Great numbers of his Majesties Subjects for refusing those unlawful charges have been vext with long and expensive Suits some fined and censured others committed to long and hard imprisonments and confinements to the loss of health of many of life in some and others have had their houses broken up their goods Seized some have been restrained from their lawful Callings Ships have been interrupted in their Voyages surprized at Sea in an Hostile manner by Projectors as by a common Enemy Merchants prohibited to unlade their Goods in such Ports as were for their own advantage and forced to bring them to those places which were most for the advantages of the Monopolizers and Projectors The Court of Star-Chamber hath abounded in extravagant censures not only for the maintenance and improvement of Monopolies and other unlawful Taxes but for divers other Causes where there hath been no offence or very small whereby his Majesties Subjects have been oppressed by grievous Fines Imprisonments Stigmatizings Mutilations Whippings Pillories Gags Confinements Banishments after so rigid a manner as hath not only deprived Men of the Society of their friends exercise of their professions comfort of Books use of Paper or Ink but even violated that near Union which God hath Establisht betwixt Men and their Wives by forced and constrained separation whereby they have been bereaved of the comfort and conversation one of another for many years together without hope of relief if God had not by his over-ruling Providence given some interruption to the prevailing Power and Council of those who were the Authors and Promoters of such peremptory and heady courses Judges have been put out of their places for refusing to do against their Oaths and Consciences others have been so awed that they durst not do their duties and the better to hold a Rod over them the Clause quam diu se bene gesserit was left out of their Patents and a new Clause Durante bene placito inserted Lawyers have been checkt for being faithful to their Clients Solicitors and Attorneys have been threatned and some punished for following lawful Suits And by this means all the approaches to Justice were interrupted and forecluded New Oaths have been forced upon the Subject against Law new Judicatories Erected without Law The Council-Table have by their Orders offered to bind the Subjects in their Free-holds Estates Suits and Actions The pretended Court of the Earl-Marshal was Arbitrary and Illegal in its being and Proceedings The Chancery Exchequer-Chamber Court of Wards and other English Courts have been grievous exceeding in their Jurisdiction The Estate of many Families weakned and some ruined by excessive Fines exacted from them for compositions of Wardships All Leases of above a hundred years made to draw on Wardship contrary to Law Undue proceedings used in the finding of Offices to make the Jury find for the King the Common-Law Courts seeing all men more enclined to seek Justice there where it may be fitted to their own desire are known frequently to forsake the Rules of the Common-Law and straining beyond their bounds under pretence of equity to do Injustice Titles of Honour Judicial places Serjeantships at Law and other Offices have been sold for great Sums of Money whereby the common Justice of the Kingdom hath been much endangered not only by opening a way of employment in places of great trust and advantage to Men of weak parts but also by giving occasion to Bribery Extortion Partiality It seldom hapning that places ill-gotten are well used Commissions have been granted for Examining the excess of Fees and when great exactions have been discovered Compositions have been made with Delinquents not only for the time past but likewise for immunity and security in offending for the time to come which under colour of remedy hath but confirmed and encreased the Grievance to the Subject The usual course of pricking Sheriffs not observed but many times Sheriffs made in an extraordinary way some times as a punishment and charge unto them sometimes such were pricked out as would be Instruments to execute whatsoever they would have to be done The Bishops and the rest of the Clergy did triumph in the suspensions Excommunications Deprivations and Degradations of divers Painful Learned and Pious Ministers in the vexation and grievous oppression of great numbers of his Majesties good Subjects The High Commission grew to such excess of sharpness and severity as was not much less then the Romish Inquisition and yet in many Cases by the Archbishops power was made much more heavy being assisted and strengthned by Authority of the Council-Table The Bishops and their Courts were as eager in the Country and although their Jurisdiction could not reach so high in rigour and extremity of punishment yet were they no less grievous in respect of the generality and multiplicity of vexations which lightning upon the meaner sort of Trades-men and Artificers did impoverish many thousands and so afflict and trouble others that great numbers to avoid their miseries departed
the Leather must needs exceed both and Salt could be no less then that besides the inferior Monopolies which if they could be exactly computed would make up a great Sum. That which is more beneficial then all this is that the root of these evils is taken away which was the Arbitrary Power pretended to be in his Majesty of Taxing the Subject or charging their Estates without consent in Parliament which is now declared to be against Law by the judgment of both Houses and likewise by an Act of Parliament Another step of great advantage is this the living Grievances the evil Counsellors and Actors of these Mischiefs have been so quelled by the Justice done upon the Earl of Strafford the flight of the Lord Finch and Secretary Windibank The Accusation and Imprisonment of the Archbishop of Canterbury of Judge Bartlet and the Impeachment of divers other Bishops and Judges that it is like not only to be an ease to the present times but a preservation to the future The discontinuance of Parliaments is prevented by the Bill for a Triennial Parliament and the abrupt dissolution of this Parliament by another Bill by which it is provided it shall not be dissolved or adjourned without the consent of both Houses Which two Laws well considered may be thought more advantageous then all the former because they secure a full Operation of the present Remedy and afford a perpetual Spring of Remedies for the future The Star-Chamber the High Commission the Courts of the President and Council in the North where so many Forges of misery oppression and violence and are all taken away whereby men are more secured in their Persons Liberties and Estates then they could be by any Law or Example for the regulation of those Courts or terrour of the Judges the immoderate Power of the Council-Table and the excessive abuse of that Power is so ordered and restrained that we may well hope that no such things as were frequently done by them to the prejudice of the publick Liberty will appear in future times but only in stories to give us and our Posterity more occasion to praise God for his Majesties goodness and the faithful endeavours of this Parliament The Canons and the power of Canon making are blasted by the Vote of both Houses The exorbitant power of Bishops and their Courts are much abated by some Provisions in the Bill against the High Commission Court The Authors of the many Innovations in Doctrine and Ceremonies the Ministers that have been scandalous in their lives have been so terrified in just Complaints and Accusations that we may well hope they will be more modest for the time to come either inwardly convicted by the sight of their own folly or outwardly restrained by the fear of punishment The Forrests are by a good Law reduced to their right bounds the encroachments and oppressions of the Stannery Courts the extorsions of the Clerk of the Market and the compulsion of the Subject to receive the Order of Knighthood against his will paying of Fines for not receiving it and the vexatious proceedings thereupon for Levying of those Fines are by other beneficial Laws reformed and prevented Many excellent Laws and Provisions are in preparation for removing the inordinate power vexation and usurpation of Bishops for reforming the Pride and Idleness of many of the Clergy for easing the People of unnecessary Ceremonies in Religion for censuring and removing unworthy and unprofitable Ministers and for maintaining Godly and diligent Preachers through the Kingdom Other things of main importance for the good of this Kingdom are in proposition though little could hitherto be done in regard of the many other more pressing businesses which yet before the end of this Session we hope may receive some progress and perfection The Establishing and ordering the Kings Revenue that so the abuse of Officers and superfluity of expences may be cut off and the necessary disbursments for his Majesties Honour the Defence and Government of the Kingdom may be more certainly provided for The regulating of Courts of Justice and abridging both the delays and charges of Law Suits the setling of some good courses for preventing the exportation of Gold and Silver and the inequality of exchanges betwixt us and other Nations for the advancing of Native Commodities increase of our Manufactures and well ballancing of Trade whereby the Stock of the Kingdom may be increased or at least kept from impairing as through neglect hereof it hath done for many years last past For improving the Herring fishing upon our own Coasts which will be of mighty use in the imployment of the Poor and a plentiful Nursery of Marriners for enabling the Kingdom in any great Action The oppositions obstructions and other Difficulties wherewith we have been encountred and which still lye in our way with some strength and much obstinacy are these the malignant Party whom we have formerly described to be the Actors and Promoters of all our Misery they have taken heart again they have been able to prefer some of their own Factors and Agents to degrees of Honour to places of Trust and Employment even during the Parliament They have endeavoured to work in his Majesty ill Impressions and Opinions of our Proceedings as if we had altogether done our own work and not his and had obtained from him many things very prejudicial to the Crown both in respect of Prerogative and Profit To wipe out this slander we think good only to say thus much That all that we have done is for his Majesty his Greatness Honour and Support when we yielded to give twenty five thousand pounds a Month for the relief of the Northern Countries this was given to the King for he was bound to protect his Subjects they were his Majesties evil Counsellors and their ill instruments that were Actors in those Grievances which brought in the Scots and if his Majesty please to force those who were the Authors of this War to make satisfaction as he might justly and easily do it seems very reasonable that the people might well be excused from taking upon them this burthen being altogether innocent and free from being any causes of it When we undertook the Charge of the Army which cost above 50000 l. a Month was not this given to the King was it not his Majesty's Army were not all the Commanders under Contract with his Majesty at higher rates and greater wages then ordinary and have we not taken upon us to discharge all the Brotherly assistance of three hundred thousand pounds which we gave the Scots was it not toward repair of those damages and losses which they received from the Kings Ships and from his Ministers These three particulars amount to above 1100 thousand pounds besides his Majesty hath received by impositions upon Merchandise at least 400 thousand pounds so that his Majesty hath had out of the Subjects Purse since the Parliament began one Million and an half and yet these Men can be
so impudent as to tell his Majesty that we have done nothing for him As to the Second Branch of this slander we acknowledge with much thankfulness that his Majesty hath passed more good Bills to the advantage of the Subjects then have been in many ages but withal we cannot forget that these venemous Councils did manifest themselves in some endeavours to hinder these good Acts and for both Houses of Parliament we may with truth and modesty say thus much That we have ever been careful not to desire any thing that should weaken the Crown either in just profit or useful power The Triennial Parliament for the matter of it doth not extend to so much as by Law we ought to have required there being two Statutes still in force for a Parliament to be once a year and for the manner of it it is in the Kings Power that it shall never take effect if he by a timely Summons shall prevent any other way of assembling In the Bill for continuance of this present Parliament there seems to be some restraint of the Royal Power in dissolving of Parliaments not to take it out of the Crown but to suspend the execution of it for this time and occasion only which was so necessary for the Kings own security and the publick Peace that without it we could not have undertaken any of these great charges but must have left both the Armies to disorder and confusion and the whole Kingdom to Blood and Rapine The Star-Chamber was much more fruitful in Oppression then in profit the great Fines being for the most part given away and the rest stalled at long times The Fines of the High Commission were in themselves unjust and seldome or never came into the Kings Purse These four Bills are particularly and more specially instanced in the rest there will not be found so much as a shadow of prejudice to the Crown They have sought to diminish our reputation with the people and to bring them out of love with Parliaments the aspersions which they have attempted this way have been such as these that we have spent much time and done little especially in those Grievances which concern Religion That the Parliament is a burthen to the Kingdom by the abundance of Protections which hinder Justice and Trade and by many Subsidies granted much more heavy then any they formerly endured to which there is a ready Answer if the time spent in this Parliament be considered in relation backward to the long growth and deep root of those Grievances which we have removed to the powerful supports of those Delinquents which we have persued to the great necessities and other charges of the Commonwealth for which we have provided or if it be considered in relation forward to many advantages which not only the present but future Ages are like to reap by the good Laws and other Proceedings in this Parliament we doubt not but it will be thought by all indifferent judgments that our time hath been much better imployed then in a far greater proportion of time in many former Parliaments put together and the charges which have been laid upon the Subject and the other inconveniencies which they have born will seem very light in respect of the benefit they have had and may receive And for the matter of Protections the Parliament is so sensible of it that therein they intend to give them whatsoever ease may stand with Honour and Justice and are in a way of passing a Bill to give them satisfaction They have sought by many subtile practices to cause Jealousies and divisions betwixt us and our Brethren of Scotland by slandering their proceedings and intentions towards us and by secret endeavours to instigate and incense them and us one against another They have had such a Party of Bishops and Popish Lords in the House of Peers as hath caused much opposition and delay in the Prosecution of Delinquents and hindred the Proceedings of divers good Bills passed in the Commons House concerning the reformation of sundry great abuses and corruptions both in Church and State They have laboured to seduce and corrupt some of the Commons House to draw them into Conspiracies and Combinations against the Liberty of the Parliament And by their instruments and Agents they have attempted to disaffect and discontent his Majesties Army and to engage it for the maintenance of their wicked and Traiterous Designs the keeping up of Bishops in Votes and Functions and by force to compel the Parliament to order limit and dispose their proceedings in such manner as might best concur with the intentions of this dangerous and potent Faction And when one mischievous Design and Attempt of theirs to bring on the Army against the Parliament and the City of London had been discovered and prevented they presently undertook another of the same damnable Nature with this Addition to it to endeavour to make the Scottish Army neutral whil'st the English Army which they had laboured to corrupt and invenome against us by their false and slanderous suggestions should execute their Malice to the subversion of our Religion and the dissolution of our Government Thus they have been continually practising to disturb the Peace and Plotting the Destruction even of all the Kings Dominions and have employed their Emissaries and Agents in them all for the promoting of their Devilish Designs which the vigilancy of those who were well affected hath still discovered and defeated before they were ripe for Execution in England and Scotland only in Ireland which was farther off they have had time and opportunity to mould and prepare their work and had brought it to that perfection that they had possessed themselves of that whole Kingdom totally subverted the Government of it rooted out Religion and destroyed all the Protestants whom the conscience of their duty to God their King and Country would not have permitted to joyn with them if by Gods wonderful providence their main enterprize upon the City and Castle of Dublin had not been detected and prevented upon the very Eve before it should have been executed Notwithstanding they have in other parts of that Kingdom broken out into open Rebellion surprized Towns and Castles Committed Murders Rapes and other Villanies and shaken off all bonds of obedience to his Majesty and the Laws of the Realm and in general have kindled such a fire as nothing but God's Infinite Blessing upon the wisdom and endeavours of this State will be able to quench it and certainly had not God in his great Mercy unto this Land discovered and confounded their former Designs we had been the Prologue to this Tragedy in Ireland and had by this time been made the lamentable spectacle of Misery and Confusion And now what hope have we but in God when as the only means of our subsistence and Power of Reformation is under him in the Parliament but what can we the Commons without the conjunction of the House of Lords and what
Manner how full of Advantage it would be to himself to see his own Estate setled in a plentiful Condition to support his Honor to see his People united in Wayes of Duty to him and indeavours for the Publick Good to see Happiness Wealth Peace and Safety derived to his own Kingdom and procured to his Allies by the Influence of his own Power and Government That all good Courses may be taken to unite the two Kingdoms of England and Scotland to be mutually Aiding and Assisting one another for the common Good of the Island and the Honor of both to take away all Differences among our Selves for Matters indifferent in their own Nature concerning Religion and to unite our selves against the Common Enemies which are the better enabled by our Divisions to destroy us as they hope and have often indeavoured to labor by all Offices of Friendship to unite the Foreign Churches with us in the same Cause and to seek their Liberty Safety and Prosperity as bound thereunto both by Charity to them and by Wisdom for our own Good For by this means our Strength shall be increased and by a mutual concurrence to the same common end we shall be enabled to procure the good of the whole Body of the Protestant Profession If these things may be observed we doubt not but God will Crown this Parliament with such Success as shall be the Beginning and Foundation of more Honour and Happiness to his Majesty then ever yet was enjoyed by any of his Royal Predecessors A Habeas Corpus was this day also Ordered to be sent down to remove one William Chorley from Lancaster Goal Thursday December 2. to be Examined of Matters of great Consequence His Majesty came this day to the House of Lords to pass the Bill for Tonnage and Poundage and being sate in the Chair of State the King gave Command to the Gentleman-Usher to give the House of Commons notice to come up who being come after three Obeysances made their Speaker made this Speech as followeth Most Dread Sovereign THe Observation taken from the unlike Compositions The Speakers Speech at the Passing the Bill for Tonnage and Poundage Dec. 2. 1641. and various Motions of the World made the Philosophers conclude Tota hujus Mundi Concordia ex Discordibus constat The happy Conjuncture of both these Nations in the Triumph and Joy of your Sacred presence extracted from the different and divided Opinions give us cause to observe and admire these blessed Effects from such contrary Causes We may without Flattery commend your Sacred Majesty as the glorious Instrument of this happy Change whose Piety and Prudence directed by the hand of God hath contracted this Vnion from those various discords * * Most undoubtedly Especially that Rebellion should be esteemed Loyalty and the Ruin of the Church a Reformation The story of these times will seem Paradoxes in following Generations when they shall hear of Peace sprung from the Root of Dissention of Vnion planted upon the stock of Divisions two Armies in the Field both ready to strike the first blow and both united without a stroke Nothing can reduce these Truths into a belief but the knowledge of your Piety and Justice who have accomplished these Acts of Wonder by Goodness and Gentleness without Force or Violence This way of Conquest this Bellum Incruentum hath been the Rule of the most Valiant and Puissant Monarchs advancing Your Glory in the safeguard of one Subject more then in the Death of a Thousand Enemies Thus have you Erected a Monument of Glory to your Sacred Memory for all Generations And as your Care and Piety for the welfare of your Northern Kingdom called you to that Work for the great Comfort of your People which your wisdom hath so happily consummated so now the Distemper of your other Kingdom fomented by the same Spirit whose presence admits no Peace in Israel calls on your Providence to heal the Diseases of that Nation The one from whence you returned hath with Abel though the younger Brother offered an acceptable Sacrifice the other with Cain hath Erected Altars of Blood and Revenge the Innovations of Jesuitical Priesthood which Invokes the necessity of your Justice the one to a Natural hath added a Politic Brotherhood the other of Brothers I am sorry to say it are become Strangers The Fidelity of the one hath written a story of Admiration to the World the Disloyalty of the other hath Parallel'd that horrid Design matchless before amongst all Generations first their Intentions the destruction of a Kingdom even when Vnity and Peace was tying the knot of Religion and Safety In the Discovery a moment of time prevented the Execution In the Actors Jesuits and Priests without whom the malice of the Devil could not have found a Party in the World fitted to act over the like bloody Tragedy But this among our many Joys we receive by your happy return is not the least That that Providence which protected that Gracious King your most Religious Father from their bloody attempts and encreased the blessing of a long and happy Reign hath also defended your Sacred Throne from all their Machinations Thus we see Religion is the greatest Policy the never-failing support of King and Kingdom that which firms you and your Posterity to your Throne and our Duty and Obedience to it Give me leave here most Gracious Sovereign to sum up the sense of 11 Months Observation without intermission scarce of a day nay an hour in that day to the hazard of Life and Fortune and to reduce all into this Conclusion The endeavours of Your Commons Assembled guided by Your Pious and Religious Example is to preserve Religion in its Purity without Mixture or Composition against these subtile Invaders and with our Lives and Fortunes to Establish these Thrones to your Sacred Person and those Beams of Majesty Your Royal Progeny against all Treason and Rebellion The Way that conduces to this End are the Defence of the Land and Sea for the one we have already Voted to raise Mony for the other this Bill in some Measure will accomplish for a little time and to that end I by the Command of the Commons humbly beseech Your Royal Assent This being done the Bill was passed by His Majesty according to the usual and accustomed Form Then the King made this ensuing Speech My Lords and Gentlemen I Think it fit The King's Speech after his Return from Scotland Dec. 2. 1641. after so long absence at this first occasion to speak a few words unto you But it is no ways in Answer to Mr. Speaker's Learned Speech Albeit I have stayed longer than I expected to have done when I went away yet in this I have kept my promise with you that I have made all the haste back again that the setling of My Scotch Affairs could any ways permit In which I have had so good success that I will confidently affirm to you that I have
Sollicitors to promote mischief that ever the Sun saw and used the utmost diligence to set such Petitions on foot and by all the Arts imaginable but more particularly by threatening the Timerous with the Parliaments displeasure so procure hands to such Petitions which were to be presented to the Houses as the Sense of the Nation by which way of procedure they endeavoured to put a fair Countenance upon their Actions as being the Results of the Desires of the People when as in reality they were their own Contrivances and those Petitions were most of them framed by a Juncto of the Faction at London and then by their Agents sent down and set afoot in the Country It was also Ordered That Sir Robert Cooke do repair to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and to desire him for the Expediting of the Service of that Kingdom to issue forth Commissions for the Raising of two Regiments in Ulster and also to hasten all other Commissions for the Raising of Men for that Kingdom and to acquaint him with the Two Orders for the Impressing of 3000 l. for the Raising Conducting and Transporting 2 Regiments of 1500 Men and to the Master of the Ordnance to deliver unto him such quantities of Powder as shall be thought necessary for the present Expedition to be sent into Munster in Ireland The Arch-Bishop of York Reports Friday Decemb. 17. That the Committee of this House met with the Select Committee of the House of Commons and waited on the King at White-Hall and delivered unto his Majesty the Petition and Remonstrance of both Houses touching the Priviledge of Parliament and his Majesty returns this Answer That he will send an Answer in convenient time in Writing The House of Lords then fell into debate about several Amendments to the Declaration to be offered to the King not to Tolerate the Popish Religion in Ireland or any other of His Majesties Dominions and it being moved That a Clause might be added That no Religion might be Tolerated but what is Established by the Laws of this Kingdom The Lords of the Faction being aware of the Consequence and being as much resolved to destroy the Religion by Law Established as the Papists could be for the hearts of them therefore stoutly opposed it and after a long Debate It was Ordered That this House approves of and confirms the Report with the Amendments and Alterations and that the Clause against Tolleration of Popish Religion shall go singly as it is and that the Amendments and Alterations be communicated to the House of Commons And it was further Ordered That the Earl of Bristol do draw a Declaration to this Effect That no Religion shall be Tolerated in his Majesties Dominions of England and Ireland but what is or shall be Established by the Laws of this Kingdom and present the same to the Committee for Religion who are to meet on Tuesday next at such time and Place as the House shall appoint on Monday A Message was brought from the House of Commons by Sir Arthur Hazlerigg The Fast for Ireland to let their Lordship know That the Commons do fully agree to the three Days appointed for the Fast The Days were Wednesday next for both Houses of Parliament and London Thursday next for the City of Westminster and Thursday come Month for the whole Kingdom Then the House appointed the Lord Arch-Bishop of York to Preach the Fast Sermon in the Abby before the Lords in the Morning and the Lord Primate of Armagh to Preach in the Afternoon and Tuesday was appointed to be the day for gathering the Collection of the Lords towards the Relief of the poor distressed English who had been stripped and despoiled by the Rebels The Commons fell upon the Revived Affair of the Plot of the Army Mr. Daniel O Neal and Mr. Jermyn and Mr. Percy to be Impeached of High Treason and first the Impeachment of the Commons House of Parliament against Daniel O Neal Esq for High Treason was this Day read and Re-Committed to the same Committee to prepare it in such a way as that all the Evidence may be brought in Then it was Resolved c. That Mr. Jermyn Mr. Percy and Sir John Suckling shall be Accused by this House for the present and Impeached of High Treason The Question was propounded Whether Sir John Berkley shall be bailed upon the tender of such Bail as this House shall allow of and then the Question was put Whether this Question should be now put the House was divided the Yeas went forth with the Yeas 104 with the No. 98 so it passed in the Affirmative then the Question was put Whether Sir John Berkley should be bailed the House was divided again and the Yeas went out with the Yeas 122 with the No 84. Sir John Berkley ordered to be Bailed Whereupon it was Ordered That Sir John Berkely should be bailed A Petition from the County of Surrey was read and such Gentlemen as did attend were called in and did avow it and Mr. Speaker told them That this House did accept it in good Part and did not doubt of the Truth of it that they might get more Hands as is alledged in the Petition they are satisfied with those already gotten and for the procuring of more the House referred it to their Judgment Mr. Pym's report of the delivery of the Petition to his Majesty Mr. Pym Reported That the Committee who attended his Majesty had a suddain admittance and a gracious acceptance that the Lord Arch-bishop of York read the Petition and his Majesty said That as it had taken some time to prepare so he would take some time to answer it and that lest there might be some Mistakes in Words he would give his Aswer in Writing Then the House fell upon the Business of Ireland Votes concerning Ireland and it was Resolved c. That the Pay to the Officers of the new Levies shall continue for six Months according to the proportions formerly resolved upon if the Wars shall so long continue Resolved c. That the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland shall be directed to pay 562 l. 17. s. 4 d. according to the Rate agreed upon being a Months Pay for the Officers of his own Regiment Resolved That the Lord Dungaruan 's Troop shall have a Months Pay according to the Rate agreed upon Resolved c. That 114 l. 16 s. o. being a Months Pay shall be paid to the Officers of the four hundred Fire-locks consisting of two Companies Resolved c. That 800 l. shall be imprested for the Raising Conducting and Transporting into Ireland the said 400 Fire-locks and keeping them there till the first Muster Resolved c. That the Sum of 214 l. 13 s. 4 d. shall be paid to the Officers of the 500 Men in five Companies which are to go to Knockfergus for a Months Pay Resolved c. That the Sum of 1000 l. shall be paid for the Levying Conducting and Transporting
Knights Citizens and Burgesses of the Commons House of Parliament The Humble Petition of sundry Ministers intrusted to Sollicite the Petition and Remonstrance formerly Exhibited to this Honourable House and many of their Brethren Most Humbly Sheweth THat the Petitioners do most thankfully value The Petition of the Remonstrating Ministers Dec. 20. 1641. and heartily acknowledge the indefatigable Pains and Piety of this Honorable Assembly manifested in very many things of high Concernment for the Glory of God the Honor of the King the Purging of the Church and the Safety and Prosperity of this and the rest of His Majesties Kingdoms but more especially in procuring that publick Fast at your first Sitting which hath prevented many Mischiefs and drawn down many Blessings upon the Kingdom ever since in your Zeal and Courage for the True Religion professed among us against all Popish Idolatry and Superstitious Innovations expressed by your Religious Protestation and Vow * * And discountenancing the publick Liturgy and the most indispensible Duty of Praying to make room for this Seditious Preaching In countenancing the Sacred Ordinance of Preaching after long and deep contempt cast upon it by too many who had almost Exiled it from divers Parts of this Kingdom In incouraging painful and godly Ministers formerly set aside and now again profitably imployed in many Congregations greatly needing them In discountenancing bold and unmeet Men that without sufficient calling have presumptuously intruded into that Holy Office as also of all Vnworthy and Scandalous Ministers that have been Convented before you In accepting a former Petition and Remonstrance from the Petitioners taking the same into your grave Consideration and vigorously prosecuting some part thereof In freeing divers godly Ministers out of Prison and Exile and many others from heavy Censures unjustly inflicted In preventing the utter Ruin of the Petitioners and of many more by breaking that wicked Yoak of the late pernicious Oath and Canons justly branded by both Houses of Parliament and by taking away the late dreadful Tyranny of the High-Commission Court and other illegal heavy pressures of the rest of the Courts Ecclesiastical In your worthy Orders for removing of all Illegal Rites and Ceremonies superstitious and scandalous Images and Pictures and other Innovations out of all Churches and Chappels In your prudent happy and timely re-uniting without spilling of Christian Blood the two Kingdoms of England and Scotland in a firm and Religious Peace unhappily disturbed to the apparent endangering of both in your honourable endeavours to relieve and rescue our distressed Brethren in Ireland from the barbarous Outrages and Butcheries of the Popish Rebels there In your constant Vigilancy to discover and defeat the many desperate and devilish Conspiracies against the King Parliament and the Kingdom plotted by Papists and their Malignant adherents implacable Enemies to our Religion and Peace together with all your excellent Labours for Reforming and settling the Affairs of the Common-wealth whereof the Petitioners do also with others Enjoy the comfort and the large and blessed Hopes given to the Petitioners of your further indeavours for perfecting the Reformation of Religion and the Church according to the necessity thereof in a Way best becoming the Honour of such a Grave and Religious Body All of which do much Encourage them to pour out their Souls in all possible thankfulness to God for you and to put up more fervent Prayers publiquely and privately upon all occasions in your behalf at the Throne of Grace But so it is That whereas your Petitioners did in their former Petitions represent unto you divers unsufferable Grievances arising from sundry Invasions made upon the publick Doctrine of this Church from some mixtures and blemishes in the publick Worship of God by Law Established as well as from sundry gross Innovations and Superstitions iâ— Rites and Ceremonies without Law introduced from many Exorbitancies and unsupportable Vsurpations in Ecclesiastical Government and from the scandalous defect of Ministers maintenance in too many places All of which do yet remain in greatest part unremoved by reason of your many necessitated diversions from this great work for the preservation of the very Being of this Kingdom and by means hereof many distractions and disorders about matters of Religion and the Church have to the great scandal and grief of the Petitioners happen'd and are still continued which puts them upon a necessity of renewing their former Suit for redress of the aforesaid Evils and for removing whatever shall appear to your Wisdom to be the Root and Cause of them And whereas further the Petitioners and very many others in whose name and behalf they now humbly supplicate desirous in all things to submit to the Laws so far as possibly they may yet meerly out of tenderness and scruple of Conscience dare not continue as formerly they did the Vse and Exercise of some things as now they-stand injoyned not only because they have more seriously weighed the Nature and Scandal of them and that sundry Bishops and other grave Divines called to their assistance by Order of the House of Peers have as they are informed discovered divers particulars needing alteration in the Liturgy and the Vse thereof and that there is not as they humbly conceive at this day commonly extant any Book of Common Prayer without so many Variations Alterations and Additions as render it in many Parts another thing from that which was by Law Established but chiefly because you also have vouchsafed to be so far sensible of the Defects thereof and of the just Scruples of the Petitioners thereabout as to take the Reformation thereof under Consideration which they hoped would be some shelter against the strict pressing the Vse of it till your pleasure upon the full Debate thereof had been declared in a Parliamentary Way for that it seems most equal that the Consciences of Men should not be forced upon that which a Parliament it self holds needful to consider the Reformation of and give Order in till the same be accordingly done And the Petitioners having been comfortably assured of some ease therein do now to their great sorrow apprehend that the same things are anew reinforced which contrary to the blessed Inclination and Intention of His Gracious Majesty may occasion much trouble and vexation to sundry worthy and peaceable Ministers which the Petitioners have more cause to fear because sundry of their Brethren have since the beginning of this Parliament been Indicted upon the Statute of 1 Eliz. 2. And others threatned for bare omissions of some things complained of to this High Court and still depending before you whiles in divers places your Religious Orders necessarily made and published for removing of things illegal are not observed and in other places where superstitious Rites and Practices had by virtue thereof been laid aside the same are again called back and re-practised without any Check or Animadversion And because the Premisses are of extraordinary Consequence and cannot receive a perfect Cure
but by Authority of Parliament and that a free Synod of this Nation * * That is from the Law which appoints it and gives the Members equal Privilege and Protection with the Members of the H. of Commons differing in the whole Constitution from the present Convocations of the Clergy now in Vse among us might be as the Petitioners apprehend of great Vse for that purpose and that not only this but all other your great Consultations might be much furthered by a more earnest and assiduous seeking of God by the joint and publick Fasting and Prayers of the whole Kingdom in these sad times so full of distractions and Hellish Conspiracies at home and bloody Cruelties of those Popish Rebels against our own Flesh and our Bones in Ireland The Petitioners humbly pray That you would vouchsafe to lay hold upon the first opportunity that your important Affairs will permit of reassuming into your further consideration their former Petition and to proceed thereupon as you shall find cause either by committing the same to the Debate and Disquisition of a free Synod or otherwise and in the mean time to become Mediators to His Gracious Majesty who could not take notice of their former Petition to this Honourable House for some relaxation in matters of Ceremonies and of reading of the whole Liturgy which as the Petitioners verily believe and hope to prove have been of late times urged further then ever the Law intended And a free Synod of Grave Learned and Judicious Divines of this Kingdom the Dominion of Wales and the Islands adjacent may be by the Authority of Parliament Indicted for the more through and fruitful Debate of the Premisses to expedite a full Reformation by the High Court of Parliament for the setling of a Godly and Religious Order and Government in this Church as your Wisdom shall find convenient And that a publick Fast may be Commanded and Religiously observed throughout the Kingdom once in every Month during your sitting in Parliament for the more effectual procuring of Gods protection of your Persons and of his blessing upon your proceedings and till the miseries of our Brethren in Ireland be happily put to an end And the Petitioners shall be ready further to attend the pleasure of this House with their Reasons of their present Suit for a free Synod of this Nation and of a new Constitution thereof differing from those now in Being when they shall be required and to pray without ceasing c. Were I to give Instructions to draw the Exact Pourtraicture of a Non-Conforming-Conforming Church Hypocrite with Peace in one hand and Fire and Sword in the other with a Conscience like a Cockle-shell that can shut so close when he is under the fear of the Law or losing his Living that you cannot Croud the smallest Scruple into it but when a tide of liberty wets him can lay himself open and display all his resentments against that Government in the Church to whose Laws he had sworn obedience and by that horrid sin of Perjury must confess himself a Villain of no manner of Conscience to Swear without due Consideration and to break his Oath without a lawful Determination that it was unlawful I would recommend this Petition as a rare Original to Copy after I cannot tell how it will relish with the Readers Palate but I must profess my self so tyred with this miserable Crambe that I am under the irresistable temptation of refreshing my self with laying aside for one moment the Gravity of an Historian and Burlesquing the intolerable Flatteries of this Petition and these Hypocritical Petitioners by making them speak Truth for in their Courtship to the Faction for whose Goust this delicate Petition was Cook't and Spiced when they recount their wonderful Atchievments in the Work of Reformation there is still I find a Supplement of some material Truth in matter of plain Fact wanting which I will make bold to add They acknowledge the Pains and Piety of the Faction manfested in many things of high concernment for the Glory of God by affronting his Solemn-publick Established Worship the Honor of the King by indeavouring to degrade him and divert him of the Beams of Majesty his Royal Prerogative the purging of the Church by purging it quite out of the Kingdom they commend their Zeal and Courage for the true Religion against all Popish Idolatry and Superstitious Innovations manifested by letting in a whole Flood of Errors Heresies Sects and Schisms at the Breach of the Banks of the Church-Government by tender Conscience in encouraging Preaching of Sedition and Disobedience to Laws Government and Governors and justling out all Praying out of the Church except the Wild Extravagant Dangerous Libelling Extempory Enthusiasms of bold and presumptuous Men who called their own acquired Art of Impudent Non-sence a gift of the Spirit as doubtless it was of that Spirit which rules in the Children of Disobedience in encouraging painful godly Ministers formerly set aside and justly for Preaching Sedition Schism and Faction for good Divinity in discountenancing bold and unmeet Men that darst Preach the Doctrine of rendring to Caesar the things of Caesar and to God the things of God that without sufficient calling presumptuously intruded into that Holy Office by only gently reproving them for the present and afterwards permitting Tagg and Ragg Godly Coblers and Gifted Tinkers Zealous Taylors and the most sordid illiterate Mechanicks to invade the Pulpit to vilifie the Petitioners with the Title of Hirelings dumb Dogs Baal 's Priests c. by Adonibezeck 's Law without Controul or Animadversion from the Honorable Faction for taking away the Tyranny of the High-Commission and Ecclesiastical Courts and setting Mens Tongues at liberty to Rail without Reason to Quarrel with their Superiors without Cause to affront them with impunity and in conclusion to Murther them Religiously and in the Fear of the Lord for their worthy Orders for removing illegal Rites and Ceremonies Superstitious and Scandalous Pictures and other Innovations and setting up in their stead the Bell and Dragon of these Mens Inventions and for bringing in the greatest Innovations a Church without a Bishop a Religion without Divine Service a Minister without Lawful Ordination a Christian without Baptism a Sacrament without Consecration and at last a Heaven without Repentance of any or all these horrid Sins and Incapacities For their Care to suppress the Irish Rebellion and Butcheries of the bloody Papists by imploying the Men and Money raised for that Service to butcher the Loyal Protestants in England who held the Popish and Malignant Doctrine that they ought to Fear God and Honor the King and die at the Feet of their Sacred Sovereign in defence of his Person Crown and Dignity against these Religious Rebels But Manum de Tabulâ I will not Tire my self and the Reader with Epitomizing their Villanies which are able to fill Volumes and with which he will find these stow'd Tuesday Decemb. 21. Message from the
Commons concerning Ireland Now to the Oar again A Message was brought this Morning from the Commons by Sir Philip Stapleton Knight That the House of Commons last night had laid before their Lordships the miserable Estate of the Kingdom of Ireland and desired their Lordships to take the business into speedy Consideration Since the House of Commons understand that Dublin is in great danger to be lost 600 Men being cut off by the Rebels in going to relieve Tredagh The House of Commons desires that all ways may be used for the preservation of that Kingdom and they conceive the best way to save Dublin is by way of diversion to send the Scots speedily into Ulster therefore the Scottish Commissioners being to send away into Scotland to morrow Morning the House of Commons desires their Lordships would joyn with them in the Propositions received from the Scots Commissioners that so Men may be sent into Ireland speedily The House of Commons having done this they do declare that if there be any Omissions they desire to clear themselves of any thing as may fall upon Ireland The Answer returned was That the House is not now full but as soon as it is they will take the matter of the Message into Consideration Then the Lord Kymbolton Reported to the House the Two Propositions delivered to the Lords Committees by the Committee of the House of Commons The first Proposition was 2 Propositions 1st for adjourning or Proroguing the Parliament in Ireland That the Parliament of Ireland may be Prorogued or Adjourned and that for these Reasons First Because the Protestants cannot come without danger the Papists may Secondly To Resort to Dublin may make scarcity of Victuals Thirdly The coming of many Papists with their followers may endanger the surprize of the Castle That the Parliament may not meet to do any Act as they did before the Dissolving of the Parliament is thought to be safest The second Proposition is 2 Proposition They are informed that by the Law of Ireland if the Deputy should dye the Lords may chuse their own Governor Therefore the House of Commons desire that some settled Commission may be in case the Deputy miscarry by Death that may appoint who shall be Governor The House then fell upon the Debate about sending 10000 Scots into Ireland and Resolved at a Conference to offer these two following Propositions to the Commons 1. To desire to know what certainty That House will give This that if their Proposition concerning the present going of 10000 Scots into Ireland be agreed unto That 10000 English may speedily follow 2 Whether they will concur with this House That 10000 English shall go as well as 10000 Scots and that the King be moved to give Assent thereunto and a Message for a Conference was sent accordingly by Sir Robert Rich and Mr. Page A Message was brought from the House of Commons by Mr. Another Message from the Commons concerning Ireland Denzil Hollis That the House of Commons had lately attended their Lordships to desire them to concur with them in their Desires concerning the lamentable Condition of the Kingdom of Ireland and that their Lordships would be pleased to take speedy Resolutions therein Also he said he was to present to their Lordships a Petition presented to the House of Commons from the Lords and divers Gentlemen of Ireland now in London which the House of Commons desires their Lordships would be pleased to take into speedy Consideration for the House of Commons say they can think of nothing but Ireland nor speak nothing but Ireland The Reader may observe how great Artists these Men were in appropriating to themselves whatever was highly Popular as at this time this Affair of Ireland was and how they endeavoured to engross all the Care and Concern for that Kingdom to themselves tacitly accusing the Lords who for the Honor and it may be the Interest of England made some difficulty to consent to the sending 10000 Scots except 10000 English might also be sent but they had a very great Work to do by the help of Popularity and it can be no wonder to see those who have such Designs as they had then on Foot make such warm and zealous Court and Application to the Populace since Experience in all Times and Places has laid it down as a Mark of dangerous Suspition and aspiring Intentions in Subjects when they come to invade this Prerogative of Princes who alone ought to study Popularity and certainly that Subject who indeavors to rival his Prince in the Affections of his People cannot but be suspected to Design to rival him in his Authority too there being so near an Union between the Power of the Prince and the Love of the Subjects that whoever attempts to commit a Rape upon the later cannot be supposed to have any Chast and Dutiful Thoughts towards the former But to return from this small Digression The Petition before mentioned was read in haec Verba To the Honorable House of Commons The Humble Petiton of divers Lords and Gentlemen of Ireland now in London Humbly Shewing THat your Petitioners have received many and particular Advertisements from all those Parts of the Kingdom of Ireland The Petition of the Irish Lords and Gentlemen to the House of Commons Det. 21 1641. which set forth the Vniversal Desolations made in such Plantations of the British both English and Scotch wheresoever the barbarous Irish Rebels have come to the utter Destruction both of the Persons there Inhabiting and extirpating of the Reformed Protestant Religion there set up through the Royal Care and Piety of King James of blessed Memory and his Majesty that now is and preserved by the great Industry and Pious Indeavors of near 40 Years travel by those who have spent their whole Lives in reducing that Kingdom to Civility which is now utterly desolated by the Proceedings that have been found so matchlesly Cruel that no Age nor Story can Parallel their Inhumanities some whereof your Petitioners are informed have been touched upon by Advertisements already brought to this Honorable House whereof there is such great variety that Volumes were but little enough to contain the Particulars many thousands of Men Women and Children being mangled on the Face of the Earth crying lowd to God and these neighbor Kingdoms for relief against those Monsters whose Conspiracy is now so Vniversal that small Aids will be not only inconsiderable to effect the Work but a Means to lengthen the War with the loss not only of the Treasure applyed therein but also of the Persons imployed who being but few will be in danger to be given up to the Cruelties of the Rebels who by that means which God prevent will gain not only great access to their Numbers but which is more considerable that experience in War and Vse of Arms as may render them infinitely more able to make Resistance against your hereafter Supplies These Particulars your Petitioners out of
The Commons staying in the Painted Chamber all this while for an Answer to the Message the Lords went to acquaint the House of Commons with what was Voted In the Commons House Mr. Justice Long discharged from the Tower Dr. Gray sent for as a Delinquent Long who had been sent to the Tower for signing the Warrant for the Halberdeers to Guard the Parliament was upon his Petition this Day released A Complaint having been Exhibited against him It was Resolved That Dr. Gray Parson of Ponteland in the County of Northumberland shall be forthwith sent for as a Delinquent by the Serjeant at Arms attending on this House Several Letters were then read from Ireland one from Sir William Brereton Volunteers for Ireland giving Information That Sir Simon Harcout 's Regiment is compleat and that there are 4 or 500 more cheerful Volunteers which are ready to go if they had Commission This plainly confirms what before was said That the Necessity of the Bill for pressing Men was only to oppress the Royal Prerogative Mr. Pym informed the House That this was moved at the Committee last Night and that the Earl of Leicester Lord Lieutenant of Ireland had assured them he would take Care for the speedy Transporting of these Volunteers The House then fell upon the Consideration of the Bill for raising 400000 l. for the Affairs of Ireland c. The Officers of the late Army having also Petitioned for their Arrears there was an Order to pay them 13000 l. being the Moiety of what was due to them Amidst all this Heat of Publick Affairs and the great Zeal for Ireland still the Faction found leisure to persecute the Loyal and Orthodox Clergy upon the Informations of their implacable and restless Enemies the Non-Conformists and Schismaticks for this Day the Committee for scandalous Ministers was revived and appointed to meet upon Thursday Morning at Eight of the Clock so that Wednesday being the Fast was to be the Prologue to their Smiting with the Fist of Wickedness It was also Ordered That Alderman Pennington do take Care to bring in the Witnesses of the Parish of Grace Church to testify that Information he gave the House this Day against the Minister of that Parish Alderman Pennington an Informer against the Minister of Grace-Church Dr. Beal referred to the Committee for Scandalous Ministers Thursday Decemb. 23. Also it was Ordered That the Committe for the Bill for Scandalous Ministers do take into Consideration the Matter informed of against Dr. Beal on Thursday next The Lord Keeper this day reported a Conference had with the Commons That the House of Commons have brought up to their Lordships a Proposition of the Scots dated 20th Dec. 1641. concerning the 2500 Men as also the Resolution of the Commons thereupon which they desired their Lordships to joyn with them in Then the said Proposition was read as also the Resolution of the Commons That they do undertake to pay the 2500 Men already entertained in Scotland from the 8th of December to the end of the Treaty according to the Pay setled them in Scotland which being read the House of Lords assented to it After which a Message was brought from the House of Commons by Mr. Waller That the House of Commons conceive some Cause to Examine Daniel O Neal further as a Delinquent but not upon Oath and seeing he is their Lordships Prisoner committed to the Gate-House upon an Accusation of High Treason That their Lordships would please to give way that some Members of the House of Commons may Examine him and also to desire their Lordships to sit a while for that the House of Commons will come up to their Lordships with some Business concerning the Safety of the City To which the Answer was That their Lordships do give way that some Members of the House of Commons may ask Mr. O Neal any Questions as they shall think fit and that this House will sit a convenient time as is desired This Matter of the Safety of the City Conference concerning displacing Belfour and making Lunsford Lieutenant of the Tower was delivered at a Conference That the House of Commons represented to their Lordships that they had received Information That Sir William Belfour Knight Lieutenant of the Tower of London approved for his Fidelity is put out of his Place and one Colonel Lunsford put into his Place concerning whom the House of Commons had received a Petition which they desired their Lordships to consider of The Faction were resolved to dislike what ever the King should do and to give countenance to their Proceedings they had Petitions and Petitioners still in a Readiness to make it appear that they moved upon that Foot when in reality they themselves and their Agents were the Ingineers of those very Petitions The Petition was read in the House of Lords and was in haec Verba To the Honorable the Knights Citizens and Burgesses of the Commons House of Parliament The Humble Petition of divers Common-Council Men and others of the City of London The Factious Londoners Petition concerning the placing Lunsford in the Tower Sheweth THat whereas the Tower of London was originally ordained for Defence of this City and to be the Chief Magazine of the Kingdom and that the whole State is deeply interessed in the safe Custody thereof but more especially the said City which lately hath been put into Fears of some dangerous Design from that Cittadel whereupon it pleased this High Court to mediate with his Majesty for removing of those Fears And whereas the Petitioners are informed that Sir William Belfour a Person of Honor and Trust is displaced from the Office of Lieutenant and the same Place beslowed upon a Man Out-lawed and most Notorious for Outrages Colonel Lunsford and therefore fit for any dangerous Attempt the Petitioners and many more who have Intelligence thereof are thereby put into such a hight of Fear and Jealousy as makes them restless till they have discharged their Duty in representing the same to this Honorable House May it therefore please this Honorable Assembly to take the Premisses into such Consideration as may secure both the City and Kingdom against the Mischiefs which may happen as to your great Wisdom shall be found most fitting And your Petitioners shall pray c. Randal Manwaring Maximilian Beard Edw. Gitting Jo. Pocock Sam. Warner Geo. Thomson Stephen Estwick Ric. Price Ric. Turner The House of Commons do further say That the said Colonel Lunsford is an unfit Person to be Lieutenant of the Tower For 1. They say he is a Man of a decayed and desperate Fortune The Commons Reasons against Lunsford's being Lieutenant of the Tower and so may be tempted to undertake any ill Design and they conceive it will be very prejudicial to the King and Kingdom for him to be in that place in this time of Fears and Jealousies especially to the Mint in this time of great occasions to use Monies for it
will discourage Merchants and Strangers from bringing in their Bullion into the Mint 2. The House of Commons say That Colonel Lunsford is a Man of a desperate Condition he having been formerly Censured in the Star-Chamber for lying in Wait and besetting Sir Thomas Pelham Knight as he came in his Coach upon a Sunday from Church and did discharge two Pistols into the Coach Also being challenged into the Field by one Captain Buller upon some injury offered to him by the said Colonel Lunsford Colonel Lunsford refused to Answer him but sent him word he would cut his Throat and would meet him with a Pistol and put out his other Eye 3. The House of Commons say That they are informed that Colonel Lunsford is not right in his Religion for they understand that when he was a Commander in the North in the Kings Army he did not go to Church though he was desired The House of Commons conceiving this business concerns the safety of the King City and Kingdom they desire their Lordships would be pleased to joyn with the House of Commons to Remonstrate these things to the King and to desire him that a Place of such importance may not be put into the hands of such a Man as Colonel Lunsford but that if His Majesty think Cause that there should be a Lieutenant of the Tower being under the Command of such an Honorable Person as the Earl of Newport who is Constable thereof by His Majesties appointment that Sir John Conyers may be recommended to his Majesty for that Place After a long Debate of this Conference The Lords refuse to joyn with the Commons to move the King to displace Lunsford the Question was put Whether this House shall joyn with the House of Commons in the whole Matter of this Conference And it was Resolved Negatively The first thing that was done in the Commons House this day was an Order That Mr. Calamy and Mr. Marshal shall be desired to Print their Sermons they yesterday Preach'd at St. Margarets Westminster at the intreaty of this House and Sir Arthur Ingram and Sir Tho. Barrington are desired to return them Thanks from this House Thanks of the House and a Plate of 20 l. apiece Ordered Calamy and Marshal and to print their Fast Sermons and it was likewise Ordered That they shall have a Piece of Plate of 20 l. a piece given unto them and Sir Arthur Ingram and Sir Thomas Barrington are to think of some convenient Course for raising the said Monies Then the Kings Answer to the Petition of the first of December was read and referred to the Committee that prepared that Petition to frame an Answer unto it and present it to the House and to meet this Afternoon at Four of the Clock in the Inner Court of Wards It was also Ordered That the Gentlemen that serve for the City and Mr. Tompkins Mr. Martin and Mr. Peard shall inquire in what hands the Tower of London now is From which is plain from what Quarter of the World the Petition against Lunsford came Captain Leg was also this day Ordered to be Bailed Then the Petition of the Apprentices and others whose times are lately Expired in and about the City of London was read and the Parties that preferred this Petition were called in and Mr. Speaker told them That this House doth approve of the manner of the delivery of their Petition and the Interruptions complain'd of they will consider of when proofs shall be produced they will likewise consider of the desires of their Petition when the great Affairs of this House shall permit And their Complaints were referred to the Committee appointed to consider of the Interruptions in preferring the Petition from the City of London All the World was now run into one Trade and that was Statemending and Church-modelling in which matters the Godly and Well-affected have ever had in their own opinion such a peculiar Gift that every little Blew-Apron-Boy behind the Compter undertakes as boldly as if he had served an Apprenticeship at the Council-Board and because Posterity shall be satisfied this is no abuse I here present the Reader with these Indenture-mens Petition as I find it among the Prints of the Time for they had the vanity after having presented it to think it would turn to account to Print and Publish it too to help Trading and procure Custom This Petition which by these young Reformers was addressed to the King but presented to the Commons with a multitude of Names who could not write and by consequence neither read nor understand Common Sense was as followeth The Apprentices Petition WHereas we of the lowest members of the City and Kingdom touched with the common Sense of all good Subjects do by Experience find both by our own and our Masters Tradings the beginning of great Mischief coming upon us to nip us in the bud when we are first entring into the World the Cause of which we can attribute to no others but to the Papists and Prelates and that Malignant Party which adheres unto them And where as by the late Protestation we stand solemnly ingaged in the presence of Almighty God by all lawful means with the utmost of our Lives Power and Estates to defend your Sacred Majesty and Royal Issue with the Rights and Liberties of Parliaments and all your Majesties Subjects against Papists and Popish Innovators such as Arch-Bishops Bishops and their dependants appear to be the Extirpation of which Government Root and Branch by several Petitions from this City and many parts of this Kingdom have been humbly desired We hold it our bounden Duty after long Expectation of due and just Proceedings against the forenamed Papists and Popish Innovators now at the last to become most humble Suitors to your Majesty in this present Parliament that you would please to take Notice that notwithstanding the much unwearied pains and industry of the House of Commons to subdue Papistry and Popish Innovators neither Popery is subdued nor Prelates are yet removed whereby many have taken great incouragement desperately to Plot against the Peace and Safety of this and other your Majesties Dominions Witness the most barbarous and inhumane Cruelties perpetrated by the Papists now in Ireland From whence ariseth in us a new Spring of fears and jealousies what the Issue of these things may be in this your Kingdom of England also without a speedy and timely prevention of the same In hope therefore of your Majesties willing readiness by the advice of this Honourable Court of Parliament to provide for our present Relief and Safety We Humbly Supplicate that the Popish Lords and other eminent and dangerous Papists in all parts of this Kingdom may be narrowly look'd unto and secured the Laws against Priests and Jesuits fully Executed the Prelacy Rooted out that so the work of Reformation may be prosperously carried on our distracting fears removed the weighty Affairs of the Kingdom settled and consequently God may
delight in the present and succeeding Ages to dwell in this Land the freedom of Commerce and Trade may pass on more chearfully for the incouragement of your Petitioners and that the flourishing and peaceable Reign of your Majesty may be long continued and increased among us For all which your Petitioners shall ever Earnestly Pray c. James Freshwater John Page Henry Crewkern John Caudry Thomas Clement Will. Bently with a number of Markes and Names Mr. Quelch a Minister of St. Bennet Grace-Church sent for as a Delinquent A Petition of the Inhabitants of St. Bennets Grace-Church against Mr. Quelch their Minister was read whereupon it was Resolved c. That Mr. William Quelch be forthwith sent for as a Delinquent by the Serjeant at Arms attending the House And the Petition was referred to the Committee for Scandalous Ministers The City Petition of which before was also read ut supra in the Proceedings in the Lords House Friday Decemb. 24. This Day a Petition from some Citizens of London was presented to the House of Lords which was read in their presence viz. To the Right Honourable the Lords Assembled in this present Parliament The Humble Petition of divers Citizens Merchants and others of London Trading in the Realm of Ireland Sheweth unto your Lordships THat your Petitioners on the behalf of themselves The Petition of several Merchants to the Lords concerning Ireland and other Merchants Shop-Keepers and others Trading into the Realm of Ireland whose Estates to the value of above a Million of Money lie involved in the desperate Condition of that Kingdom as also on the behalf of the whole Protestant Party of that People reduced to unspeakable Extremity in their Lives and Fortunes as by our daily Letters from thence we are informed to our great Grief We most humbly beseech your Lordships That you will be pleased to consider the Sad Condition of them and us in our respective Interests and lay aside all things that may trouble the Way to the Relief of that Wretched State which without Speedy and Effectual Assistance will not be able to serve his Majesty in the resistance of the Rebels there nor shall we be able in our several Degrees and Conditions to do his Majesty your Lordships and the whole Realm that Service in our ready Compliance with the Great Affairs of this Kingdom as we should and would most willingly perform to the uttermost of our Abilities This My Lords we most humbly offer to your Lordships as a Consideration whereupon that Kingdom depends besides many Thousands depending upon us the Petitioners in our Trades that are here Equally concerned with them of Ireland in our Livelihoods And do beseech your Lordships in the End after the Long Suffering of that Vnfortunate Nation our long Expectation and the Wonder of all Neighbouring States occasioned by a Long and as we humbly conceive an Vnseasonable delay whilest the Life Liberties and Interests of the Protestants of that Kingdom are daily invaded and destroyed you will now give an instant dispatch for the Relief of that Miserable Realm and People And your Petitioners shall ever pray c. Signed Gilbert Harrison William Green Richard Whitaker John Stone Tho. Stone Edw. Claxton cum multis aliis The House taking the Petition into Consideration the Petitioners were called in and the Lord Keeper by direction of the House told them That their Lordships were taking into their Consideration and Care the Necessity and Affairs of Ireland and will use all Expedition therein and will take their Petition into Consideration Then a Message was brought up from the Commons by the Lord Gray of Ruthen To desire their Lordships to joyn with them to Petition the King for a Monthly Fast throughout the Kingdom during the Troubles of Ireland and for a Proclamation to that Effect 2. To Expedite the Answer to the Conference last Night concerning the Business of the Tower which is a Matter of great Importance The Answer was That this House joyns with the House of Commons in the first of this Message but concerning the matter of the late Conference concerning the Lieutenant of the Tower this House hath not thought fit to joyn with the House of Commons therein A Message was brought from the House of Commons by the Lord Herbert who brought up 3. Bills which had passed the Commons 3 Bills passed the House of Commons brought up to the Lords Intituled 1. An Act to restrain Barge-men 1. For the Lords day Lighter-men and others from labouring and working on the Lords Day commonly called Sunday 2. An Act for the better raising and levying of Marriners Sailors 2. For pressing Marriners c. and others for the present Guarding of the Seas and necessary Defence of the Realm and other his Majesties Dominions 3. An Act for the settling by Fitzwilliams Conningsby Esq 3. Fitzwilliams Coningsby's Bill a Rent-Charge of 200 l. per annum upon an Hospital in the Suburbs of the City of Hereford called Conningsbie's Company of Old Servitors c. and for the Settlement of Lands and Tenements for the payment of his Debts and raising of Portions for his Younger Children and for a new Joynture for his Wife and a New Settlement of his Estate The Lords then fell upon the Consideration of the 6. Resolution of the Lords upon the 6 Propositions of the Scots Commissioners Propositions of the Scots Commissioners To the First Resolved c. That 10000 Scots shall be sent into Ireland upon such Conditions as shall be agreed upon by the Parliament To the Second This House agrees with the House of Commons therein To the Third The House agrees unto it thus That there shall be delivered unto the Scots 5000 Arms within a short time after their carrying their Arms out of Scotland and 5000 Arms more within 5 or 6 Months consisting of Pikes Muskets and Swords which is conceived are the Arms they will convey out of Scotland into Ireland To the Fourth Agreed That some Ships of War shall be sent to secure the Transporting of the Scots into Ireland but because it will be some time before our Ships can come thither the Commissioners are to Treat with the Scots Commissioners either to Transport their Men without Ships of War or else to imploy some of their own Ships until ours can come and they shall be paid for the same To the Fifth This House agrees with the House of Commons and refers it to the English Commissioners to Treat about a smaller Number of Horse To the Sixth This House agrees with the House of Commons therein A Conference was had with the Commons L. Keeper reports Conference about the Tower and Lunsford which was thus Reported by the Lord Keeper That the House of Commons greatly desired That both Houses might have joyned together in an humble Petition to his Majesty for removing of Col. Lunsford from being Lieutenant of the Tower of London The House of Commons say
They find ill Consequences already by his being Lieutenant for Merchants have already withdrawn their Bullion out of the Mint and Strangers which have Ships lately come with great store of Bullion do forbear to bring it into the Mint because he is Lieutenant of the Tower and by this Means Money will be scarce to come by which will be prejudicial and obstructive to the pressing Affairs of Ireland The House of Commons took it much to Heart that their Lordships did not joyn with them to Petition his Majesty Hereupon they have made a Declaration for themselves and desired That the same may be entred into the Journal Book of this House as they have done the like in their House Which was read in these Words WE the Knights The Declaration of the Commons concerning the Tower Citizens and Burgesses of the Commons House of Parliament being very sensible of the great and emminent Danger of the Kingdom through the Designs of the Papists and other Persons disaffected to the Publick Peace and finding by frequent and emminet Symptomes that the same groweth very near to maturity amongst which We reckon this not to be the least that the Tower being a Place of such Importance to the safety of the City and of the whole Kingdom should be put into the Hands of a Man so unworthy and of so dangerous a Disposition as by divers Testimonies Colonel Lunsford is affirmed to be which caused Us yesterday upon the Petition of the Citizens of London to desire your Lordships to joyn with us in an humble Suit to his Majesty that a Place of that great Consequence might not be disposed in such a manner as to hazzard the Safety Peace and Content of the City and of the whole Kingdom and perceiving that your Lordships have refused to joyn with us in so important and necessary Request do hereby declare before God and the whole Kingdom that from the beginning of this Parliament we have done our uttermost to preserve the State from Ruine and having through God's Blessing prevailed so far that the Design of the Irish Army of Papists the other Designs of bringing up the English Army several times attempted a former Plot of Possessing the Tower without which Treason could not be so mischievous to the State were all prevented although strongly bent to the Destruction of Religion the Parliament and the Common-Wealth do now find themselves incountred with as great Difficulty as ever the Papists Rebellion in Ireland giving such Encouragement to the Malignant Party here that they likewise receiving such advantage by the Delays and Interruptions which we have received in the House of Peers as we conceive by the great number of Bishops and Papists notoriously disaffected to the Common Good And do therefore hold our Selves bound in Conscience to declare and protest that we are Innocent of the Blood which is like to be spilt and of the Confusions which may overwhelm this State if this Person be continued in his Charge and do intend to resort to his Majesty in an humble Petition that he will be pleased to afford us his Royal Protection that the Kingdom and our Selves may be preserved from this wicked and dangerous Design and that he will grant Commissions and Instructions as may inable us to defend his Royal Person and his Loyal Subjects from the Cruelty and Rage of the Papists who have long Plotted and Endeavoured to bring in a bloody Change of Religion to the apparent Ruine of the whole Kingdom and if any of your Lordships have the same Apprehensions that we have we hope they will likewise take some Course to make the same known to his Majesty and will further do what appertains to Persons of Honor and Fidelity for the common Good After the reading of this Paper it was moved to adjourn the debate of this Matter till Monday by some that it might be debated presently Hereupon the Question was put Whether the Debate upon this Report shall be put off until Monday next or not and it was resolved to be put off until Monday next Which being done these Lords following did disassent to this Vote and before the putting of the Question did claim their Right to enter their Protestation against it which was as followeth The Protestation In respect the Conference brought up The Protestation of divers Lords against the Vote to put off the debate of the Message concerning the Tower and reported from the House of Commons doth as it thereby declared concern the instant Good and Safety of the King and Kingdoms I do protest against the deferring of the Debate thereof until Monday to the end to discharge my self of any ill Consequence that may happen Lo. Admiral Similiter Lo. Chamberlain E. Pembroke E. Bedford E. Warwick E. Bolingbroke E. Newport Viscount Say and Seal E. Suffolk E. Carlisle E. Holland E. Clare E. Stamford Lo. Wharton Lo. St. Johns Lo. Spencer Lo. North Lo. Kymbolton Lo. Brook Lo. Grey de Werke Lo. Roberts Lo. Howard de Escrick After which upon reading of the Petition of the Lord Bishop of London William Lord Bishop of Bath and Wells and Matthew Lord Bishop of Ely The Bishops of London Ely Bath and Wells released concerning Tenths upon the Poll Bill shewing that they had paied 60 l. apiece for the Poll-Money and deposited other Monies according to a Proportion of the double Tenths of their Bishopricks But because their Bishopricks are freed by Letters Patents under the Great Seal of England from paying or accompting for any Tenths It was Ordered by the Lords in Parliament That Mr. Parramour with whom the said Monies were deposited shall forthwith upon sight thereof if he hath so much in his Hands of the Poll-Money and if not then as soon as so much Money shall come in unto him repay unto the said Lords the Bishops their Assigns or Agents all such Sums of Money as he hath received from their Lordships respectively above the 60 l. apiece as is aforesaid In the House of Commons the same Petition from the Merchants c. was read which was preferred to the Lords also upon the Lords refusing to joyn with them to Petition the King for Lunsford's removal they presently came to this Vote Resolved Vote against Colonel Lunsford c. That this House holds Colonel Lunsford unfit to be or continue Lieutenant of the Tower of London as a Person in whom the Commons of England cannot confide in Then Mr. Hollis Mr. Pym Mr. Strode Sir Edmond Montfort Mr. Glyn Sir Philip Stapleton Mr. Martin and Sir John Hotham were Ordered to draw Heads for the Conference before recited This Day it was moved that Sir John Berkley might be bailed Sir John Berkley bailed and thereupon Resolved c. That this House doth approve and allow of the Earls of Dorset and Stamford to be Bail for Sir John Berkley a Prisoner in the Tower the principal to be bound in the Sum of 10000 l. the Security in the
of Guns and Carriages and such like one Ingineer or two to attend our Army and that some hand-Mills be provided for the Companies in Marches 3. That Horses be provided for the Baggage of the Army and Train of Artillery and Carriages for Carriage of Bread and other Provisions for the Mouth and that to make Draggooners every 100 Men have 10 Horses appointed for them 4. That the Inhabitants of any Towns or Villages in any Province where our Army shall be for the Time be appointed to receive Orders from our Commanders and to bring in Victuals for Money in an Orderly Way as shall be directed by them with Provisions of Oats Hay and Straw and such other Necessaries and that when it shall be found for the good of the Service the Country People which are not levied in Regiments be ordained to rise and concur with our Troops and receive Commands and Directions from our Commanders 5. That the Troops of the Kingdom of Scotland go in the Way and Order of an Army under their own General and Subaltern Officers and that they have a Circle or Province appointed them which they shall fall upon and assail wherein they shall prosecute the War as in their own Judgment they shall think Expedient for the Honor of the King and Crown of England and that they have Power to give Conditions to Towns Castles and Persons which shall render and submit themselves as they shall find for the good of the Service wherein they are imployed which they shall oblige themselves faithfully to do and perform to the uttermost of their Power and shall be answerable to his Majesty and the Parliament of England for their whole deportment and Proceedings whereof they shall from time to time give them an Account That such Towns and Places as shall be recovered from the Rebels by our Army be at the disposing of our Commanders during their aboad there and when it shall please God that the Rebellion shall be suppressed in the Circle assigned to our Army they shall be ready to do Service in any other Place which shall be appointed to them And if it shall be found for the good of the Service that our Army joyn with the King's Lieutenant and his Army that our General shall only * * Give Place Cede to the King's Lieutenant of Ireland and receive in a Free and Honorable Way Instructions from him or in his absence from the Lord Deputy or any other who shall have the Government of that Kingdom by authority derived from the Crown of England and shall precede all others and only give Orders to the Officers of his own Army and that the Armies the Right and the Left hand Van and Rear Charge and Retreat successively and mix not in quartering nor marching And if it shall be found fit to send Troops out of either Army that the Persons to be sent out of our Army be appointed by their own General the Lieutenant of Ireland prescribing the Number which shall not Exceed the fourth part of our Army whereunto they shall return after the Service is done And that no Officers of Ours be commanded by one of his own Quality and if the Commanders of the Troops so sent out of either Army be of one Quality that they Command the Party by turns 6. That our Army be assured of three Months Pay to be put in the hands of the Treasurers and Commissaries appointed by us at their Rendezvouz in Ireland and that before that time expire there be a Months Pay put in their hands and so from Month to Month and that in this our Brethren of England may be put to no more charge then is just and necessary and that it may appear that we offer our Assistance for Love only We do desire that there may be a Muster-Master appointed to make strict and frequent Muster of our Troops and that their ways bâ—â—â— looked unto that they make no such unlawful advantages 7. Seeing we have voluntarily and freely made offer of our Forces to this Service and to transport them to Ireland upon our own Charges and will be subject to all Hazards which may follow thereupon and will have the same Friends and Enemies with England in this Employment and must therein stand and fall with them We expect and desire that the King and State of England will take us into the same consideration and Reward our Service with the like Honours Recompences and Plantations as they shall do the English or Irish who shall deserve well in this Business for if we shall with the Hazard of our Lives do good Service to his Majesty and the Crown of England it is most agreeable to Reason that we be sharers of the Fruits of our Pains the persons so rewarded being always tyed to the same Conditions and being subject to his Majesty and Crown of England as the English are and shall be Sic Subscribitur Ja. Primrose Whereupon it was Ordered Letters from Ireland That the Propositions be debated to Morrow Then Letters from the Lords Justices of Ireland were read the Contents whereof was That they understand that there are Ships laden with Armes and Ammunition at Dunkirk to be carried to the Rebels in Ireland and that the Rebels are on both sides of Tredagh which makes that Town in great want for Victuals The Lord Admiral acquainted also the House that he had received Information of 4 Ships that are at Dunkirk with Arms and that Men are providing there to be Shipped for Ireland Whereupon it was Ordered That his Lordship be desired by the next Pacquet-Boat that goes for those parts to send over some discreet Man to give true Information of the Preparations there The Commons having by a Message acquainted the Lords that they are willing to joyn with them in searching into the business about the Lord Newport and to Petition his Majesty to discover who informed him the Lords resolved to joyn with them in it and the Lords appointed to draw heads for the Conference were appointed to joyn with a proportionate number of Commons to make a draught of a Petition to be presented to his Majesty about this Business The Gentleman Usher was sent again to the People gathered together about the Parliament Houses Tumults and was to let them know That this House dislikes their coming in such Multitudes and Commands them to be gone and if they have received injury or hurt by any body if they represent their Names to this House their Lordships will see that Justice be done But this would not do the Lords were no terror to them so long as they were assured of the favour of the Factious Party of the Commons A Message was therefore sent to the Commons for a Conference concerning the Tumults upon these Heads 1. To desire the House of Commons to joyn with this House in a Declaration to be Printed and Published of their dislike of the Assembling of the People in such Companies
and disorders about the Houses of Parliament 2. To joyn with them in a Petition to his Majesty that the Houses of Parliament may have a Guard But the Faction of the Commons had other imployment for these Tumults Favoured by the Faction of the Commons and were so far from thinking fit to discourage them that some of these insolent People being laid hold on and Committed to the Gate-house their Friends in the Commons House receiving quick advertisement of it immediately dispatched Sir Robert Pye Mr. Wheeler and Mr. Glyn to inquire upon what Grounds those Citizens are Committed to the Gate-house and by whose Authority and to discharge them if they shall see Cause And when this Conference was reported by Mr. Hollis they were not at leisure to consider of it that night it was too late and therefore it was deferred till the next day and the next day when it was moved the Question being put whether the Question shall be put at this present concerning the joyning with the Lords in a Declaration as is desired it past in the Negative they being it seems so unwilling to disoblige the Rabble that they would not so much as permit the Question to be put concerning it and it is easie to conjecture with what courage this inspired those Rude and Insolent People Porters Watermen c. when they saw themselves out of the reach of the Law the only thing those mean and sordid spirits are capable of being kept in order with and that they had nothing to fear when their Guardians of the Commons House would not suffer the tenderest part of the Law a Proclamation to be awarded against them Sir Thomas Barrington this day Reported in the House of Commons ' That according to the Command of the House E. of Newport discharged from being Constable of the Tower not being able to meet with the Constable of the Tower he wrote a Letter unto him that yesterday he came to him and told him that his Majesty was pleased to discharge him of the Constableship of the Tower and to tell him he did it because it was cause of Jealousie The Reader will from hence gain a clear Light into the Mystery of all this Bustle about the Scandal which took up so great a part of this and the following Days Debate and will easily perceive the displeasure of this Lords being displaced raised all this Dust which however blanched as a Scandal upon him and others yet is so like the sayings of some in that Company at Kensington that one can difficultly be perswaded to believe but that with all this Smoak there was some Fire that the King spake what he did upon good assurance but that such was the Fury and Violence of the headstrong Faction that to have produced any Witness in a matter which concerned them so nearly and would have exposed their Designs would have been to have thrown a Man into a Den of half starved Lyons and it had been impossible to have escaped their fury without the help of Daniels Miracle in the Sacred Story The Lord Dillon and Col. L. Dillon and Colonel Taaf Imprisoned Taaf having by Order of the House been taken into Custody their Papers were searched and ordered by a Committee to be perused and they to remain in Custody till the House takes further Order therein It was also Ordered That Col. Lunsford summoned to the Commons House Lunsford be summoned to attend this House to morrow morning at 10 of the Clock and that Mr. Thraile be required to be here at the same time as also Capt. Hide Capt. Scrimshire Mr. Butler Mr. Brooks and Mr. Moore and that the Citizens who gave the Information at the Bar against Colonel Lunsford be required to be here at the same time The Reader may here see the terrible Army under Colonel Lunsford which frighted the Citizens as they pretended in Excuse to the Lords that they durst not go through Westminster-Hall A Committee was appointed to joyn with the Lords Committee for the Petition concerning L. Newport to draw the Petition concerning the Lord Newport viz. Sir Henry Vane Senior Mr. Glyn Sir Edward Hungerford Sir Gilbert Gerrard Sir John Culpeper Sir Thomas Barrington Sir Philip Stapleton Sir Robert Cooke Mr. Strode Mr. Long Sir Benjamin Rudyard and Mr. Hollis The Tumults as the Reader may have observed Tuesday Decemb. 28. begun now to be Frequent Dangerous and Insolent which occasioned his Majesty this Day to Issue out his Royal Proclamation against them as followeth By the KING HIs Majesty taking into His Princely Consideration A Proclamation against Tumults the manifold Inconveniencies and Mischiefs that may arise and happen by the Riotous and Tumultuous Assemblies in and about the Cities of London and Westminster not only to the violation of His Majesties Peace and Scandal of Government but to the Disturbance of His Houses of Parliament now Assembled doth strictly Charge and Command all the Inhabitants of His Cities of London and Westminster and the Liberties thereof and also of the Suburbs and Confines of the said Cities and Places adjoyning that upon no Occasion they do not Assemble themselves in any Tumultuous or Riotous manner in any Part or Place in or near the said Cities or Liberties and that all Perlons now Assembled in any Numbers without his Majesties Authority do forthwith upon Publishing this His Majesties Proclamation dissolve their Assemblies and Companies and repair to their Dwellings or Places of aboad upon their Perils of being proceéded against as Violaters of the Publick Peace of this his Majesties Kingdom and of being punished according to the Severity of the Laws and Statutes of the same Given at Our Court at White-Hall this 28th day of December in the Seventeenth Year of Our Reign God save the King The Lord Keeper was this Day ordered to wait on the King The King to be moved for a Monthly Fast for Ireland and move his Majesty from both Houses of Parliament that a Monthly Fast may be kept throughout the whole Kingdom during the Troubles of Ireland and that his Majesty will be pleased that a Proclamation may issue forth for this purpose and likewise for the keeping of the 20th of January next as a Fast throughout the whole Kingdom except London and Westminster where it hath been already Solemnized Then the Lord Admiral reported the draught of the Petition drawn up by the Committee of both Houses in the Kensington business which was read as follows To the King 's most Excellent Majesty The Humble Petition of the Lords and Commons in this present Parliament Assembled WHereas The Petition of the Lords and Commons about the Kensington business during Your Majesties last being in Scotland the Queens Majesty received Information that at a meeting in Kensington where the Earl of Essex the Earl of Newport and Lord Viscount Say and Seal the Lord Mandevile the Lord Wharton Members of the Lords House the Lord Dungaruen
And they might have added that Justice Long for his diligence in this matter was committed Prisoner to the Tower Hereupon the Judges were ordered to withdraw The Lords endeavor to suppress the Tumults and take into consideration what is fit to be done to disperse and prevent Multitudes of People Assembling hither which they did and returned their Opinions That the best way to suppress Tumults is to put in Execution the Statute of 13 H. 4. Cap. 7. But this not being thought sufficient the Judges were again appointed to consider what is the Vsual Practice in other Courts for preventing of Tumults and Routs To which they returned Answer That it is Vsual at Assizes for the Sheriff of the County to attend all the while with a Competent Number of Men. Hereupon it was Ordered That the Vnder-Sheriff of Middlesex and two of the Justices of the Peace for Westminster shall hereafter attend this House de die in diem and receive the Directions of the House for the preventing and suppressing of Riots and Tumults hereafter But their Lordships did but all this while work against Wind and Tide the Factions Commons had occasion for Tumults and Tumults were resolved to have for their occasions in despight of the Lords or the Laws either The Lords and Commons who were appointed to present the Petition about the Earl of Newport did it this day to whom the King returned this Answer for the present That he will put his Answer in Writing and send it to the House Then the Lord Chamberlain delivered this Message to the House by Command from the King A Message from the King again concerning Volunteers for Ireland That his Majesty being very sensible of the great Miseries and Distresses of his Subjects in His Kingdom of Ireland which daily increase so fast and the Blood which hath already been spilt by the Cruelty and Barbarousness of those Rebels crying out so loud and perceiving how slow the Succours designed thither go on His Majesty thought fit to let their Lordships know and desires You to acquaint the House of Commons therewith That His Majesty will take Care that by Commission which he shall grant 10000 English Volunteers shall be speedily raised for that Service if the House of Commons shall declare that they will pay them Which was ordered to be communicated to the Commons at a Conference Nor was it the Rabble only that was unruly Knowles and Grey 2 Seditious Ministers ordered by the Lords to be prosecuted the Pulpit now under the Protection of the Faction began to break loose and those amphibious Church Hypocrites who had no manner of Love for the Church Except the Revenue nor any Honor for the King but what was owing to Fear began to animate the People to Sedition under the Cloak of Reformation as will appear by this Order of the Lords following Ordered That Mr. Knowles and Mr. Grey who have lately Preached Seditious Sermons in the City of London shall be proceeded against by his Majesties Attorney General according to Law Then a Message was brought from the House of Commons by Mr. Message from the Commons concerning a Declaration to suppress Tumults and a Guard Hollis to let their Lordships know That the House of Commons have taken into their Consideration Two Propositions lately sent to them from their Lordships And the House of Commons say Concerning the Proposition in general for preventing of Tumults and Routs they will agree to all good and lawful Wayes as their Lordships shall think fit for the Safety of the Parliament but for Printing of a particular Declaration the House of Commons say They have entred into Debate thereof and they find it to be a thing of that great Consideration as will require time to consider of it Concerning the Proposition That the Parliament may have a Guard the House of Commons agree thereunto so it be such as the Parliament approve of and that it be Commanded by the Earl of Essex Further the House of Commons desired their Lordships would speedily pass the two Bills for Pressing Marriners and Soldiers for Ireland without which they conceive Ireland cannot be saved I have often hinted before the great Ground that there was to believe that these Tumults were encouraged and promoted by the Faction and that I may not seem to write this as a conjecture I have had the good Fortune to meet among some of the Old Papers of those Times in the Clerk of the Parliaments Office by the Assistance of my Worthy Friend William Goldesborough Clerk of the Parliament that which will remain as a sufficient Testimony to Posterity of the truth of this Matter for Sir John Strangeways upon the 24th of November delivered in this Information Mr. Speaker AN Information was given unto me of a design and attempt to have been made upon this House Informations that the Members of Parliament occasioned the Tumults which if I mistake not comes near to High Treason but that I must submit to your Judgment It doth asperse in general some Members of this House but indefinitely without naming of any for consenting unto it if not for contriving of it The Information was as follows A brief of the discourse that passed between one Cole an Apprentice to one Mr. Mansfield a Haberdasher in Distaff-Lane and John Michaelson upon Wednesday the 24th of November 1641. between 9 and 10 of the Clock at Night in the hearing of Stephen Terret Vncle to the said Cole and John Derivall both Inhabitants in Chelmsford The said Cole a lusty Young man came into the Chamber of the said John Michaelson at the Spread Eagle in Gracious Street and without any demand or provocation did freely confess in a boasting manner That he was but then newly come from the Pallace-Yard in Westminster where he with a Thousand more had been that Evening all armed with Swords the said J. Michaelson asked him the Reason why they would or how they durst adventure in that unlawful way to gather themselves together to put Fears and Jealousies in the Parliament and told him it was not allowable by the Laws of God or of the Land and asked him what Warrant they had for this disorderly act He answered That they were sent for by some Parliament-men I asked him What ground he had for what he said He told me his Master was a Constable who gave him a Sword and had him go and he believed that the Masters of the other Apprentices that were with him gave them the like Directions and that they would not have done so unless some Warrant or Direction had come from some Parliament-men I asked him to what End they went He answered That they heard there was a division in the Lower House and that the best affected Party was like to be over-powered by the other and their direction and intentions was to assist them when they should be call'd for but finding that they agreed well and came peaceably away
to perform their Duties accordingly And that they do abominate all Actions or Opinions tending to Popery and the maintenance thereof as also all Propension and Inclination to any malignant Party or any other Side or Party whatsoever to the which their own Reasons and Consciences shall not move them to adhere But whereas they have been at several times violently Menaced Affronted and Assaulted by multitudes of People in their coming to perform their Services in that Honourable House and lately chased away and put in danger of their Lives and can find no redress or protection upon sundry complaints made to both Houses in these Particulars They likewise humbly protest before your Majesty and the Noble House of Peers That saving unto themselves all their Rights and Interests of Sitting and Voting in that House at other times they dare not Sit or Vote in the House of Peers until your Majesty shall further secure them from all Affronts Indignities and Dangers in the Premisses Lastly Whereas their Fears are not built upon Phantasies and Conceits but upon such Grounds and Objects as may well terrifie Men of good Resolutions and much Constancy They do in all Duty and Humility protest before your Majesty and the Peers of that most Honorable House of Parliament against all Laws Orders Votes Resolutions and Determinations as in themselves Null and of none effect which in their Absence since the 27 of this instant Month of December 1641 have already passed as likewise against all such as shall hereafter pass in that most Honorable House during the time of this their forced and violent Absence from the said most Honorable House not denying but if their absenting of themselves were willful and voluntary that most Honorable House might proceed in all these Premisses their Absence or this their Protestation notwithstanding And humbly beseeching your most Excellent Majesty to command the Clerk of that House of Peers to enter this their Petition and Protestation amongst the Records They will ever pray to God to bless and preserve c. Joh. Eborac Tho. Duresme Rob. Co. Lich. Jos Norwich Jo. Asaphen Guil. Ba. Wells Geo. Hereford Rob. Oxon. Mat. Ely Godfr Glocest Jo. Peterburg Morg. Landaff Hereupon a Message was sent to the Commons to desire a present Conference by a Committee of both Houses Conference about the Petition of the Bishops to Communicate to them the Petition of the Bishops and to let them know That the Petition containing matters of high and dangerous Consequence such as their Lordships are very sensible of and require a speedy and suddain Resolution the Petition extending to the deep intrenching upon the Fundamental Priviledges and being of Parliament In the afternoon the Lord Keeper Reported That he had according to their Lordships command moved the King in the humble desire of both Houses concerning the keeping of a monthly Fast during the troubles in Ireland throughout the Kingdom and for the 20th os Jan. next to be kept a Fast and that he would be pleased to give order that a Proclamation may issue forth for that Purpose to which his Majesty was pleased to give consent and will give a Warrant for a Proclamation to issue forth presently The Commons by this Message concerning the Bishops finding they were fallen under the displeasure of the Lords laid immediately hold of this fair occasion and fell to work upon the matter and having first Ordered That no Member of the House do go forth of the House during this debate and that the Door be lock'd and the Key brought up the outward Room cleared and the Door likewise lock'd and the Key brought up and that no Paper be delivered out What the Debate was I cannot tell but there is an Order which is Cancelled in these words That two of the Citizens that serve for the City shall go into the City and acquaint them that this House is beset and in danger But it seems upon cooler thoughts and more deliberation they thought this would too publiquely shew that they were the Authors of the Tumults and Routs as in reality by this it appears they were and therefore this was altered and it was Resolved c. That this House shall renew their desire of a Guard upon the Reasons which the Petition of the Bishops this day read gives them occasion to desire it But whatever was the beginning of the debate the end of it was to fall upon the Bishops and therefore it was Resolved upon the Question That John Arch-Bishop of York shall be accused by this House Votes against the Bishops by the Commons upon their Petition and Protestation in the Name of all the Commons of England of High Treason Resolved c. That Thomas Bishop of Durham shall be Accused by this House in the Name of all the Commons of England of High Treason The same Vote in terminis passed severally against Joseph Bishop of Norwich Robert Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield John Bishop of St. Asaph William Bishop of Bath and Wells George Bishop of Hereford Matthew Bishop of Ely Robert Bishop of Oxon. Godfrey Bishop of Glocester John Bishop of Peterborough and Morgan Bishop of Llandaff And Mr. Glyn was Ordered to go up to the Lords with this Message to take notice of the Lords respect to this House in Communicating this Petition with so much speed and so much affection and for expressing their sense of the Petition of the Bishops which he Immediately did And declared The twelve Bishops accused by the Commons of High Treason for the Petition That he was commanded to Accuse and did Accuse John Arch-Bishop of York Tho. Bishop of Durham Joseph Bishop of Norwich Robert Bishop of Coventry and Litchfield John Bishop of St. Asaph William Bishop of Bath and Wells George Bishop of Hereford Matthew Bishop of Ely Robert Bishop of Oxon. Godfrey Bishop of Glocester John Bishop of Peterborough and Morgan Bishop of Llandaff in the Name of the House of Commons and of all the Commons of England of High Treason for indeavouring to Subvert the Fundamental Laws of this Realm and the Being of Parliament by preferring this Petition and Protestation And the House of Commons desires that they may be forthwith Sequestred from Parliament and forthwith Committed into safe Custody And that a speedy Day may be given them for their Answers and the House of Commons will be ready to make good their Charge Hereupon it was Ordered The Bishops taken into Custody That the 12 Bishops that are Accused of High Treason shall be forthwith brought before this House and committed to safe Custody And accordingly order was given to the Gentleman-Usher attending the House to bring them After which the Earl of Bath reported the Kings Answer to the Petition presented to His Majesty from both Houses concerning the Earl of Newport and others viz. My Lords and Gentlemen IT is true that I have heard Rumors of some Proposition that should have been made at
conceive it to be a Matter of great Concernment The Answer was That their Lordships will take the same into Consideration in convenient time The Lords that went to move the King concerning the Propositions touching Munster reported That the King returns this Answer for the present that there shall be no delay in the Business but that he will speak with the E. of Newport Master of the Ordnance concerning the Stores and accordingly will give Warrant for Transporting of the Ammunition as is desired Memorandum That this House intends to have a Conference with the House of Commons on Munday next about setting of Armorers on work to make new Arms for supplying the King's Stores and likewise about the prevervation of Salt-Peter Mines and Provisions of Powder In the Commons House the Lords having by Messengers given the Commons an Account of the Commitment of the Bishops Mr. Wheeler Mr. Glyn Mr. White Mr. Bridgman Mr. Hiâ—â— Serjeant Wild Mr. Rigby Mr. Ellis Mr. Peard were appointed a Committee or any three of them to meet at such time as they shall think fit to consider of the Impeachment already made by the House of the 12 Bishops and whether it be needful to add any thing more to it and which way will be best for the House to proceed in to bring them to a suddain Trial. Then Mr. Hollis Sir Henry Mildmay Sir John Holland A Committee to wait upon the King for a Guard Sir Sydney Mountague Sir Christopher Wray Lo. Cranborn and Mr. Herbert Price were appointed to wait upon the King from this House and to represent unto his Majesty the grounds of our Fears and to desire That this House may have a Guard of the Trained Bands of the City of London under the Command of the Earl of Essex and Mr. Hollis is to deliver this Message It seems there were at this time Drums beat up for Volunteers for Ireland of which the Commons being informed who were resolved to Ingross the whole Affair into their own Hands immediately Mr. Rigby Sir Arthur Haslerig Sir Thomas Barrington Sir Walter Earl Mr. Wheeler Mr. Glyn Mr. Bosvile Mr. Darley Sir Robert Pye Mr. Whittaker Sir Gilbert Gerrard Sir John Franklin Mr. Purfrey and the Citizens for London or any four of them were appointed to be a Committee to make Inquiry by what Warrant the Drums for Volunteers do beat up and Men are raised and to inform themselves what Numbers are levied and to tender the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy and to send for Constables Officers and other Persons whatsoever and for Commissions and Writings and are to meet when and where they please Mr. Hollis Reports That he obeyed the Commands of this House That his Majesty gave this Answer That he did desire to give a speedy Answer to any thing that imports the House of Commons but said he could not remember what was delivered it consisting of so many Particulars and therefore desired to have it in Writing And he further said That we were called here to sit by his Majesties Writ and were under his Safety and that should tender us as his Children Upon this Mr. Price and Sir Henry Mildmay were ordered to carry this Message for a Guard in Writing and to acquaint his Majesty That though the House hath adjourned it self till Munday next yet they have left Power with Mr. Speaker to receive such Answer as his Majesty shall please to send to the said Message And Mr. Hollis Mr. Pym Sir Samuel Luke Mr. Rigby Mr. Wheeler Sir Walter Earl Sir Thomas Barrington Mr. Strode Sir William Litton Mr. Glyn Mr. Long and Lo. Cranborne were appointed to be a Committee to consider of such Answer as his Majesty shall please to send to the Message of the House concerning a Guard and if his Majesty shall not vouchsafe to send any to consider what then shall be fit to be done for the Safety of the King and Kingdom and Mr. Speaker to have power to receive his Majesties Answer and send it to the Committee Then Mr. Hollis presented in Writing the Message which he had formerly delivered which was read and Voted and was in these Words Most Gracious Sovereign WE are sent by the Knights The Message of the Commons to the King concerning a Guard Citizens and Burgesses of the House of Commons your Majestie 's faithful and Loyal Subjects who are ready to lay down their Lives and Fortunes and spend the last drop of their Blood to maintain your Crown and Royal Person in Greatness and Glory and do by us cast themselves down at your Royal Feet to present unto your Majesty their humble Desires upon their great Apprehensions and just Fears of mischievous Designs and Practises to Ruin and Destroy them there have been several Attempts heretofore to bring Destruction upon their whole Body at once and Threats and Menaces against particular Persons There are a malignant Party bitterly invenomed against them daily gathering Strength and Confidence and now come to such height as they have given boldness to some to embrue their Hands in the Blood of your Subjects in the Face and at the Door of the Parliament and at your Majesties own Gates and have given out Insolent and Menacing Speeches against the Parliament it self This causes great Distractions among the People in general and much Fear and Apprehensions in the House of Commons That they conceive they cannot with the Safety of their Persons upon which the Safety and Peace of the whole Kingdom doth now depend sit any longer unarmed and unguarded as they are They have therefore their recourse unto your Majesty most humbly beseeching you that it may stand with your good liking if they provide for their own Safety which the very Law of Nature and Reason doth allow unto them It is their Humble Desire That they may have a Guard out of the City of London commanded by the Earl of Essex Lord Chamberlain of your Majesties Houshold of whose Fidelity to your Majesty and the Common-Wealth they have had long Experience By this your Majesties Grace and Favor you will remove their Fears fill them with Comfort and Assurance and enable them to serve your Majesty in such a Way as shall render your Majesty and your Government happy and glorious And to this they do most humbly desire your Majesties gracious and speedy Answer because their Safety and the Safety of the whole Kingdom depends upon it and will not admit of any delay Pity it is that so curious a Skin should always cover the Serpent and that mortal Poison should dwell in a Golden Vial. Certainly never Men that meant so ill knew better how to speak so well and if ever drawn Swords were artificially concealed in the soft Scabberd of tender and oily Words it was when these People courted the King most zealously in hopes of being denied for they ever crept lowest when they aimed most at the Throat of Royalty They had raised all the Tumults and Uproars as is
to support you to our powers in all that shall be just Then some cryed out But what shall they do for the Brethren that were Committed by my Lord Major and at Westminster before they shall suffer we will spend all our lives The Captain made answer That for those that were Committed at Westminster he and another was appointed by the House to release them all and we did so the same night before we came from Westminster And if my Lord Major hath committed any I will warrant you if you will be quiet and take my word they shall be released every one And as soon as I have refreshed my self I will go to my Lord Major and have them discharged but do you by no means go but return home So they cryed Home Home Home with a mighty noise Then the Major part went away but some of them remained there which would not be satisfied but went down to the Counter in Woodstreet where they were withstood by the Officers thereto belonging with Swords and half Pikes but some rusht in upon them and got away one of the half Pikes from one of them and then went up into Cheap-side again but could not rest satisfied but down they went again and the door being shut against them they brake it and brake the Windows After this the Keeper of the Counter let some of them come in and search for them in every Ward and questioned the Prisoners whether there was any or no but they found none there And therefore went away There are many Voluntiers agoing out but it is to be feared that there are many of them Papists who will be more ready to help the Papists against the King then the King against the Papists But I hope the Lord will defeat their designs and bring their evil ways upon their own heads if there be any that seeks the distruction of the Land Ireland is in a very bad estate and in much fear and trouble of the loss of Dublin but there is yet hopes if there be but present help and aid against the Rebels which is the desire of all true Subjects the going forward of the happy design Thus Courteous Reader you have had the full occurrant of the passages and in what a miserable estate we are brought unto by Papists and Atheists who swarm like the Frogs of Egypt over the whole Land and not likely to be swept away till the Lord in Mercy to his People sweep them into the Red-Sea of their own Blood into the depth of which the Lord bring all the Enemies of his Gospel And so I salute you with kind farewel The Lewdness and Licence of the times was certainly great and among all the Arts which wrought upon the inferior sorts of People none did more mischief then the Liberty of the Press from whence whole swarms of Venomous Pamphlets Calculated exactly to the low and sordid Capacities of the Vulgar flew about the City and Country and did strangely exasperate them especially against the Bishops and the King for favouring of them I do not intend to trouble the Reader with many of these foolish but mischievous Papers but I hope I shall be pardoned if among such a heap of useful Collections there happen to be gathered a little Chaff and yet I cannot think even some such Papers wholly unuseful which will contribute to give the World a true Character of all the little Arts as well as great ones of those Men and Times and to shew what an Excellent Talent some People who affected to be thought the truest of Protestants the Godly and Well-affected Party had in lying and slandering I will therefore present the Reader with a choice piece of Poetry made for a New-years-Gift for the Bishops upon their misfortune of being committed to the Tower It wears a Title which has been tied to many a lewd Libel and is Yâ—leped Vox Populi in plain English I. IN City and Country throughout the whole Land A Lewd Ballad against the Bishops and Common-Prayer The minds of the multitude divers ways stand There 's some that endeavour with might and with main To set the proud Prelates on Horse-back again That they may make Canons and send out their Oath To stablish their Power and dish out their * * So the Sectaries call the Liturgy by way of derision Broth. II. Of this Rank there 's many in every place The which were created by little Laud 's Grace Who since are grown lofty and now like to fall Which makes them through anguish aloud for to call To Papists and Atheists and all such as doth Love lazy proud Prelates and Luke-warm Broth. III. Those Fat-belly'd Priests that have Livings great store If Bishops go down they shall never have more Their Journey-men Readers likewise are afraid That they must be forc'd to give over their Trade And wear Leather Garments instead of black Cloth Which makes them love Bishops and Luke-warm Broth. IV. And great Men would never be counted such fools As to send their Children for learning to Schools But that they hoped in process of time That they to the Throne of a Bishop might climb And there Domineer which fills them with wroth Against such as love neither Bishops nor Broth. V. Another sort likewise must not be forgotten Who in their main Principles seems to be rotten Supposing that Heaven stands open to all That tend on their Pray'rs when the Saints Bell doth call Where instead of substance there 's nothing but froth Much like the proud Prelates so is this their Broth. VI. All these do indeavour as much as they may To back the base Bishops from day unto day The Papists assist them and rather then fail The Devil will help them that he may prevail It makes for his Kingdom to stand for them both I mean the proud Prelates and their Common Broth. VII Against this rude Regiment there doth appear Some Troops of couragious hearts that will not fear T' incounter this Rabble in mischief profound * * The Streets rung again with these Gries Hark how they cry down with them down to the Ground The Papists and Prelates away with them both For we will have none of them nor of their Broth. VIII And these are no base ones as some do suggest But of the King's Subjects indeed are the best Endeavouring the good both of Kingdom and State Whatever Baal 's Priests and proud Prelates do prate Who for the love which they bear unto sloth Do labour to hold up their Luke-warm Broth. IX Then let all good People take Courage indeed So that they from Anti-Christs Yoak may be freed And seeing that Libertie's gain'd by the Scots Let English-men seek for 't it may be their Lotts Then joyn hands together and fear not their wrath But cry down the Prelates and spew out their Broth. X. Their pride and presumption must needs have a fall Their wicked devices for Judgment doth call Their hatred of
Holiness and love of Sin Will work their destruction which now doth begin Their Curbing the Gospel will kill their own growth Go Toll the Bell for them and eke for their Broth. Nor were they who pretended to be Poets on the other side idle but pelted them with Rolands much like the others Olivers I will give the Reader but Two or Three Stanza's of a Litany month January 1641. lest I surfeit him of this sort of Mechanick Wit which yet wanted not Truth From all dissembling Sep'ratists and those That snuffle their unlearned Zeal in Prose As if the way to Heaven was through the Nose Libera nos c. From those that dare work ill in every Season And are so far from Sanctity or Reason They dare believe there 's Piety in Treason Libera nos c. From them which nothing but false Rumors Rear And likewise those which lend such Men an Ear Who publish for a Truth all which they hear Libera nos c. From those indiff'rent Men that know no Guide Who are from their Allegiance so wide That come what will they 'l take the strongest side Libera nos c. But the number of the Malicious and Seditious Pamphlets did far exceed those that had any thing honest in them And how trivial soever such things may appear yet it is incredible what mischief they do and what Impressions they make upon the credulous Vulgar and it may be a piece of Policy not misbecoming the wisest States-men to obviate such Arts as seeming little yet are of such universal dangerous influence upon the lower Ranks of People whose hands act those mischiefs which the more cunning heads of the Faction contrive and I know not any one thing that more hurt the late King then the Paper Bullets of the Press it was the Scandalous and Calumniating Ink of the Faction that from thence blackned him and represented all his Words and Actions to the misguided People who would difficultly have been perswaded to such a horrid Rebellion if they had not been first prepossessed by the Tongues and the Pens of the Faction of strange and monstrous Designs which they said the King and his evil Councellors the Bishops and Malignants who were all by these Pamphlets stiled Papists and Atheists had against their Lives Liberties and Religion But I crave the Reader 's pardon for this seeming digression and now let us pursue our Voyage through this Tempestuous New Year The King that the whole World might see how sollicitous he was in every thing for the deplorable State of Ireland which the Faction were so far from relieving in good earnest that they were angry at the beating up of Drums for Volunteers for that Service issued out his Royal Proclamation for the suppressing of those Rebels as follows By the KING A Proclamation for the suppressing the Rebellion in Ireland Jan. 1. 1641. WHereas divers lewd and wicked Persons have of late risen in Rebellion in Our Kingdom of Ireland surprized divers of Our Forts and Castles possessed themselves thereof surprized some of Our Garrisons possessed themselves of some of Our Magazins and Munition dispossessed many of Our Good and Loyal Subjects of the British Nation and Protestants of their Houses and Lands robbed and spoiled many thousands of Out good Subjects of the British Nation and Protestants of their Goods to great Values Massacred Multitudes of them imprisoned many others and some who have the Honor to serve Vs as privy Counsellors of that Our Kingdom We therefore having taken the same into Our Royal consideration and abhorring the wicked Disloyaity and horrible Acts committed by those Persons do hereby not only declare Out just Indignation thereof but also do declare them and their Adherents and Abettors and all those who shall hereafter joyn with them or commit the like Acts on any of Our good Subjects in that Kingdom to be Rebels and Traitors against Out Royal Person and Enemies to Our Royal Trown of England and Ireland And We do hereby strictly Charge and Command all those Persons who have so presumed to rise in Arms against Vs and Our Royal Authority which We cannot otherwise interpret then Acts of High Rebellion and detestable Disloyalty when therein they spoil and destroy Out good and loyal Subjects of the British Nation and Protestants that they do immediately lay down their Arms and forbear all further Acts of Hostility wherein if they fail We do let them know That We have Authorized Our Iustices of Ireland and other Our Chief Governor or Governors and General or Lieutenant General of Our Army there and do hereby accordingly require and authorize them and every of them to prosecute the said Rebels and Traitors with Fire and Sword as Persons who by their high Dissoyalty against Vs their Lawful and undoubted King and Sovereign have made themfewes unworthy of any Mercy or Favour wherein Our said Iustices or other Chief Governor or Governors and General or Lieutenant General of Our said Army shall be countenanc'd and supported by Vs and by Our powerful Succors of Our good Subjects of England and Scotland that so they may reduce to Obedience those wicked Disturbers of that Peace which by the blessing of God that Kingdom hath so long and so happily injoyed under the Government of Our Royal Father and Vs and this Our Royal Pleasure We do hereby require Our Iustices or other Chief Governor or Governors of that Our Kingdom of Ireland to cause to be publish't and Proclaimed in and throughout Our said Kingdom of Ireland Given under Our Signet at Our Palace at Westminster the first day of January in the Seventeenth Year of Our Reign 1641. God save the King The King at his last being in Scotland Munday January 3. had gained Informations there of the secret Intrigues of the Faction and their Contrivances to promote the Scottish Invasion and Rebellion and that they were Meditaâ—ing the same Course in England And therefore this day the Lord Keeper Signified to the House of Lords That he was commanded by the King to let their Lordships know that his Majesty hath given Mr. Attorney General Command to Acquaint their Lordships with some Particulars from him Hereupon Mr. Attorney standing at the Clerks Table said That the King had Commanded him to tell their Lordships that divers Great and Treasonable Designs and Practices against him and the State have come to his Majesties knowledge for which the King hath given him Command in his Name to Accuse And did Accuse six Persons of High Treason and other High Misdemeanors by delivery of the Articles in Writing which he had in his hand which he received from his Majesty and was Commanded to desire your Lordships to have it read In which Articles the Persons Names and the Heads of the Treason were contained Which Articles were Commanded to be read and were in these words Articles of High Treason and other High Misdemeanors against the Lord Kymbolton Mr. Denzil Hollis Sir Arthur Hasterigg
attempt in their Petition and Protestation against the King and Parliament These Gentlemen with my self and others having the prosecution of that business and other Charges of great Crimes against them committed to our Trust did unanimously with one consent follow the same bringing to a period our Debates and Disputes concerning their Crimes what we conceived they were guilty of upon their several Charges and what guilty of for framing and preferring their Petition and Protestation to His Majesty that they were guilty of Misprison of Treason upon their former Accusations and guilty of High Treason upon this their last design And these our Votes and Conclusions grounded and warranted not only by the Common Laws of this Land but by divers Acts of Parliament and Presidents we presented to the whole House for Consideration and Confirmation of the same by general Vote with whom we again agreed by our publique Votes and thereupon they were Impeached and Committed This I conceive provoked their malice against us and was the principal cause of this their Plot in drawing an Accusation against us for the same Crime of Treason thereby to make us seem as vile as themselves and to take away our Votes at their Tryal And thus I have joyn'd together both the Cause and the Authors of this Accusation The Effects I conceive will be dangerous and cause great Trouble in these respects 1. In turning the Current of the Parliaments Proceedings against them upon us by which device they shall have further time to put in practice their Plots and bring to perfection their purposes against the Parliament 2. That being busily imployed concerning this business in their disputes about breach of Priviledg of Parliament in illegal accusing the Members thereof in drawing a Declaration to his Majesty concerning the same in appeasing him by shewing the sincerity and integrity of the Parliament toward his Majesty and other things pertinent thereunto this High Court may lay aside their Proceeding and avert their Purposes touching the Irish Affairs whereby the Rebellion there may increase and forraign Aid brought to them to the utter losing of that Kingdom 3. Many Fears and Troubles will arise in the Citizens concerning this Accusation of desperate and devillish Stratagems in agitation as well against them as the Parliament by disconsolate and disaffected persons to the Safety and Security thereof causing their continual Watching and Guarding by their Trained Bands which will be to them a great Charge and Molestation 4. It will incourage ill-affected and pernitious Cavaliers and Commanders about Court to attempt any mischief against both Houses of Parliament or particular Members thereof upon the least opportunity that shall be offered them thinking thereby they shall do the King good service which otherwise they dare not adventure to put in practise 5. And lastly It will provoke and stir up a dislike of these designs in the Hearts of all his Majesty's Subjects and disaffection to his Sacred Person cause great Uproars and Tumults of the Citizens yea and I fear a general Insurrection in the Kingdom if not suddainly prevented which God forbid And thus Master Speaker having nothing more to say concerning these Articles I humbly crave of this Honourable House That I may have Expedition in my Tryal upon the same and that all things done by this Wise Councel may tend to the Honour and Glory of Almighty God the Peace and Safety of His Sacred Majesty and all his Kingdoms A Message was this day brought up from the House of Commons by Sir John Hotham to desire a present free Conference Tuesday Jan. 4th if it may stand with their Lordships conveniency by a Committee of both Houses touching the safety of the King and Kingdom and the Privileges of both Houses of Parliament The Lord Keeper Reported the effect of the Conference which was To move the Lords again to joyn with them humbly to move his Majesty that the Guards at White-Hall may be discharged and to vindicate the Priviledges of Parliament and they do reiterate their desires of Yesterday upon these Reasons 1. The House of Commons have received fresh Informations that divers Gentlemen have made their Addresses to the Gentlemen of the Inns of Court and have dealt with them to come Armed to White-Hall when they shall be required yet they have not condescended thereto 2. The House of Commons have met with a scandalous Paper as was published abroad which contained Articles of High Treason against the Lord Kymbolton c. The House of Commons desires their Lordships would joyn with them to find out the Authors and to bring them to condign punishment for so high a breach of the Priviledges of Parliament But nothing at this time was Resolved of In the Commons House the Lord Faulkland reported the King's Answer to the Message of this House delivered to his Majesty last night That his Majesty asked them whether the House did expect an Answer They replied they had no more in Commission to say but only to deliver the Message The King asked them as private Persons what they thought of it They said they conceived the House did expect an Answer but his Majesty was informed the House was up so he said he would send an Answer this Morning as soon as this House was set but in the mean time he Commanded them to acquaint the House that the Serjeant at Arms did nothing but what he had directions from himself to do Mr. Whittaker Reported from a Committee at Guild Hall Mr. Toby Wood committed to Newgate That an Information was Exhibited upon Oath by one John Bricker against Mr. Toby Wood for Seditious and Treasonable Words whereupon he was committed to Newgate by Order of the Committee at Guild-Hall Also a Vote passed Sir Will. Killegrew a Delinquent That Sir William Killegrew be forthwith sent for as a Delinquent by the Sergeant at Arms attending on the House Then Mr. Smith Mr. Ellis Mr. Hill Mr. Brown and Sir Richard Vivian were appointed to go to the several Inns of Court Message to the Gentlemen of the Inns of Court and to acquaint them That this House hath taken notice of the Practice of some Gentlemen that have endeavoured to engage the Gentlemen of the Inns of Court to be in readiness upon all Occasions to come down to the Court if they should be required That this House hath sent for the Gentlemen that were with them as Delinquents and do believe that their Crime will prove to be of an high Nature And further to inform them That the Parliament is and will be upon all occasions as ready to defend his Majesties Person as any others and they are to inform them that the Cause of sending to them is not any diffidence they have in them but to advise them from any Practices that they shall be moved unto And that upon this occasion put the whole City into an uproar Message to the Common-Council It was Ordered That Alderman
by the King with the whole consent of his Parliament And in this I observe a twofold Subjection in the particular Members thereof dissenting from the General Votes of the whole Parliament And 2ly the whole state of the Kingdom to a full Parliament First I confess If any particular Member of a Parliament although his Judgment and Vote be contrary do not willingly submit to the rest he is an ill Subject to the King and Country Secondly To resist the Ordinance of the whole State of the Kingdom either by stirring up a dislike in the Hearts of his Majesties Subjects of the Proceedings of the Parliament to endeavour by levying of Arms to compel the King and Parliament to make such Laws as seem best to them to deny the Power Authority and Priviledges of Parliament to cast Aspersions upon the same and Proceedings thereby inducing the King to think ill of the same and to be incensed against the same to procure the untimely Dissolution and Breaking off of the Parliament before all things be settled by the same for the Safety and Tranquillity both of King and State is an apparent sign of a Trayterous and Disloyal Subject against his King and Country And thus having troubled your Patience in shewing the difference between true Protestants and false Loyal Subjects and Traytors in a State or Kingdom and the means how to discern them I humbly desire my Actions may be compared with either both as I am a Subject Protestant and Native in this Country and as I am a Member of this present and happy Parliament and as I shall be found guilty upon these Articles Exhibited against my self and the other Gentlemen either a bad or a good Subject to my Gracious Soveraign and Native Country to receive such Sentence upon the same as by this Honourable House shall be conceived to agree with Law and Justice It is prodigious to see with what Confidence some Persons durst appeal to God and Man and certainly ex ore tuo may most truly be applied to this unhappy Gentleman who by his future Actions upon his own declared Principles proved himself to be that ill and disloyal Subject whom he doth here take such Pains to delineate nor is it less remarkable that as he was one of the first who was in Actual Hostility against the King so contrary to his own avowed Declaration here so was he one of the first who fell in that unnatural Rebellion receiving his mortal Wound in a Skirmish near Chinner in Bucks upon the same Turf where he had assembled the County to frame those Petitions which first led the Nation into Sedition and afterwards into down right Rebellion from whence Posterity may learn what little Credit is to be given to the deepest Protestations of Loyalty and Asseverations of Innocence of such Persons whose Guilt has driven to dispair of any other Security from the Punishment of their ill Actions but what is to be hoped from doing Worse and that the Professions of Loyalty in such Cases are but purely to palliate and hide their Guilt from the view of the World and to avoid the horrid Imputation of Treason a Crime which because it is naturally destructive of humane Society is universally the hatred of Mankind Mr. Brown who was one of those sent to the Gentlemen of the Inns of Court Reports from the Gentlemen of Lincolns-Inn That they went to the Court first upon a general Report that his Majesties Person was in danger This Afternoon his Majesty came in Person to the House of Commons and having Seated himself in the Speaker's Chair he spake as followeth Gentlemen I Am sorry for this occasion of coming unto you The King's Speech in the House of Commons concerning the five Members Jan. 4 1641. Yesterday I sent a Serjeant at Arms upon a very important occasion to apprehend some that by My Command were Accused of High Treason whereunto I did expect Obedience and not a Message And I must declare unto you here That albeit no King that ever was in England shall be more careful of your Priviledges to maintain them to the utmost of His Power then I shall be yet you must know that in Cases of Treason no Person hath a Priviledge And therefore I am come to know if any of those Persons that were Accused are here For I must tell you Gentlemen That so long as those Persons that I have Accused for no slight Crime but for Treason are here I cannot expect that this House can be in the right way that I do heartily wish it Therefore I am come to tell you that I must have them wheresoever I find them Well since I see all the Birds are flown I do expect from you that you shall send them unto Me as soon as they return hither But I assure you in the Word of a King I never did intend any force but shall proceed against them in a Legal and fair way for I never meant any other And now since I see I cannot do what I came for I think this no unfit occasion to repeat what I have said formerly That whatsoever I have done in favour and to the good of My Subjects I do mean to maintain it I will trouble you no more but tell you I do expect as soon as they do come to the House you will send them to Me otherwise I must take My Own course to find them So soon as his Majesty was gone the Faction in the House was all in a flame and after the heats were a little over it was Resolved upon the Question That this House shall Adjourn it self till to morrow at One of the Clock There was not any one Action of which the Faction made greater advantage then this of his Majesties coming to the House in Person to demand the five Members the Faction blew the whole Nation into a blaze with their Out-cries upon it and it did not escape odd Interpretations even from those who professed themselves his Friends It is but just therefore that we should hear his Justification which I cannot give the Reader better then from his own Incomparable Pen. Which therefore take as follows MY going to the House of Commons to demand Justice upon the five Members 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 upon his Majesties going to the H. of Commons to demand the five Members was an Act which my Enemies loaded with all the Obloquies and Exasperations they could it filled indifferent Men with Jealousies and Fears yea and many of my Friends resented it as a Motion rising rather from Passion then Reason and not guided with such discretion as the touchiness of those times required But these Men knew not the just Motives and pregnant Grounds with which I thought my self so furnished that there needed nothing to such Evidence as I could have produced against those I charged save only a free and Legal Tryal which was all I desired Nor had I any Temptation of displeasure or revenge
against those Mens persons further then I had discovered those as I thought unlawful Correspondencies they had used and ingagements they had made to embroil my Kingdoms of all which I missed but little to have produced Writings under some Mens own hands who were the chief Contrivers of the following Innovations Providence would not have it so yet I wanted not such Probabilities as were sufficient to raise Jealousies in any King's heart who is not wholly stupid and neglective of the Publick Peace which to preserve by calling half a Dozen Men in a fair and Legal way which God knows was all My design could have amounted to no worse Effect had it succeeded then either to do Me and My Kingdom Right in case they had been found Guilty or else to have cleared their Innocency and removed My Suspicions which as they were not raised out of any Malice so neither were they in reason to be smothered What flames of Discontent this spark though I sought by all speedy and possible means to quench it soon kindled all the World is Witness the Aspersious which some Men cast upon that Action as if I had designed by force to assault the House of Commons and invade their Priviledge is so false that as God best knows I had no such intent so none that attended Me could justly gather from any thing I then said or did the least intimation of any such thoughts That I went attended with some Gentlemen as it was no unwonted thing for the Majesty and Safety of a King so to be attended especially in discontented times so were my followers at that time short of My ordinary Guard and no way proportionable to hazard a Tumultuary conflict Nor were they more scared at my coming then I was unassured of not having some affronts cast upon Me if I had none with Me to preserve a Reverence to Me For many People had at that time learn'd to think those hard thoughts which they have since abundantly vented against Me both by Words and Deeds The Sum of that business was this Those Men and their adherents were then looked upon by the affrighted Vulgar as greater Protectors of their Laws and Liberties then My Self and so worthier of their Protection I leave them to God and their own Consciences who if guilty of evil Machinations no present Impunity or Popular Vindication of them will be Subterfuge sufficient to rescue them from those Exact Tribunals to which in the obstructions of Justice among Men we must Religiously appeal as being an Argument to us Christians of that after unavoidable Judgment which shall rejudge what among Men is but corruptly decided or not at all I endeavoured to have prevented if God had seen fit those future Commotions which I foresaw would in all likelihood follow some Mens activity if not restrained and so now hath done to the undoing of so many thousands the more is the Pity But to over-aw the freedom of the Houses or to weaken their just Authority by any violent impressions upon them was not at all My Design I thought I had so much Justice and Reason on My side as should not have needed so rough assistance and I was resolved rather to bear the Repulse with Patience then to use such hazardous Extremities So far the Royal Martyr This day in the Forenoon as I have it in one of the printed Diurnals which I give in the Writers own Words his Majesty went to the Guild-Hall attended with divers of the Nobility and there demanded likewise his Prisoners giving order for their Apprehensions and then went to Dinner at one of the Sheriffs where he was Royally Feasted and towards the Evening he was attended by the Lord Mayor and Aldermen as far as Temple-Bar homewards who returning were set upon by some rude Persons my Lord Mayor being pluckt off his Horse and some of the Aldermen and forced to go home on foot having other abuses offered them This is related by one of the permitted Writers of those times from whence it is plain how governable a sort of People these pretended Zealots were and are for such they were who were the Authors of all these disorders Presbyterians Independants Anabaptists and the other Anomalous Schismaticks who put this affront upon the Magistracy of the City purely out of their spightful Zeal for their paying this respectful Duty to His Majesty A Message was this Day brought from the House of Commons by Mr. Wednesday January 5. Message to the Lords concerning the King's coming to the House Nathaniel Fienes 1. To acquaint their Lordships That yesterday the King did come to the Door of the House of Commons with armed Men and came into their House in Person when the House sat and demanded some of their Members which they conceive is a high and great Breach of the Priviledges of Parliament therefore they thought it fit to give their Lordships notice of it as a Breach of Priviledg for it may concern this House likewise 2. The House of Commons renew their former desire to their Lordships to joyn with them to Petition his Majesty that the Parliament may have a Guard for to secure them as shall be approved of by the King and both Houses of Parliament 3. The House do let their Lordships know That they have appointed a Committee to sit at Guild-Hall in London and have also appointed the Committee for Irish Affairs to meet there Hereupon It was Ordered That the Lords Committees for the Irish Affairs shall meet in this House when the House rises and shall have Power to adjourn themselves from time to time and from Place to Place as they shall see Cause The Bishops who were ordered to put in their Answer unto their Impeachment upon the 7th of January were this Day ordered to put in their said Answer upon Wednesday the Twelfth of January and not before After which the House was Adjourned till the Eleventh of January In the Commons House It was Ordered That the Doors be locked and the Key brought up and the outward Rooms cleared of all Persons but Servants to Members of the House and that no Member do offer to go out without leave and also that some Members do send forth their Servants to see what Numbers of People are repairing towards Westminster and to bring notice to this House Then Mr. Glyn. Sir Philip Stapleton Mr. Whitlock Sir Henry Vane ju Mr. Grimston Sir John Hotham Serjeant Wild Mr. Fiennes Mr. Bellasis and Sir Walther Earl were appointed as a Committee presently to retire into the Committee Chamber and to consider of some Way for vindicating the Priviledges of Parliament and for providing for the Safety of both Kingdoms and present it to the House with all speed The Question was then put Whether a Committee shall be named by this House to sit in Guild-Hall in London the House was divided Mr. Herbert Price Tellers for the No 86. Mr. Kirton Tellers for the No 86. Mr. Cary Tellers for the
which time they met and concluded of an Order to Adjourn the House till Tuesday the 11th of January 1641. And in the mean time appointed a Committee of the House of Commons to Sit in London to consider of the Safety of the King Kingdom and Parliament and of repairing of the Priviledges of Parliament so highly broken Which Meeting hath produced several Orders and Decalrations for maintaining the Priviledges of Parliament which are to be reported to the House and there to have its force But for the Safety of the Kingdom and City which they conceived to be in Imminent danger the Committee for Irish Affairs of the House of Commons propounded the consideration thereof to the Committee of the Lords House for Irish Affairs who sate likewise in London who in regard the King had denyed both Houses a Guard to protect them and in regard such an Hostile Plot was intended as was apparently proved declared their Opinion That whereas the King and Parliament was in so great danger that in that Case the Sheriffs of London and Middlesex ought to come with the Posse Comitatus to the Parliament to defend the King and Parliament To which Opinion the Committee of the House of Commons assented which was communicated to the Lord Mayor Aldermen and Common Councel of London and they delivered their Opinions herein and expressed their forwardness hereunto This Breach of Priviledg of Parliament begot much discontent in the Parliament and People and the more in regard by special Command the Articles against Master Pym and the rest were Printed and the same published by Sir William Killegrew and Sir William Flemyn and delivered in his Majesties Name as they falsely pretended to the Four Inns of Court to the end to make these persons the more odious to them and the Kingdom And in regard the consequence of admitting this Accusation in this manner against these five persons is a president to take away the whole House of Commons at a breath under pretence of High Treason if as God forbid an Accusation of this Nature should be hereafter and considering that to this very day 11 Januar. 1641. no Articles of Impeachment is come into the House of Commons by the King's Attorney or otherwise or from the Lords House if any be there against them till which time that it come from thence by Messengers of their own if there first depending the House cannot legally take notice thereof This and many other Reasons made the House of Commons to insist upon it besides the great merit of these persons whom as the House hath declared though as dear as their Lives unto them they will deliver over unto a Tryal so as his Majesty will proceed against them in a Legal way either at the Kings-Bench or in Parliament and produce any Subject in England that will stand to make good the Accusation and in case they fail to make it good that his Majesty will let them be forth-coming and also to discover those wicked Counsels that have advised him to this course that they may be brought to condigne punishment The City and People in the adjacent Parts are so much moved in this business and fearing some suddain Execution may be done upon the Parliament both the House of Peers and House of Commons and the Lords of the Privy Councel having declared that this Act of his majesties without their Advice and against the Priviledges of Parliament That they yesterday declared That Eight Companies of the Trayned Bands with 8. Pieces of Ordnance and divers Horsemen mounted shall Guard the Committees of the House of Peers and Commons from Grocers-Hall in London to Westminster And the Sea Captains Masters of Ships and Marriners with small Barges and Long-Boats sufficiently Mann'd and Armed with Murderers Rablets Faulchion and Minion with Musquet and Half-Pikes to the number of 2000 persons have engaged themselves to Guard the Parliament by Water The Trayned Bands in Southwark have offered themselves to secure all the other side of the Water and the Apprentices tendred their Services to attend the Parliament to the number of Ten Thousand with Warlike Weapons but those the Parliament enjoyned to stay at home And lastly the Watermen tendred their Barges for more Safety to carry the Parliament-men by Water All which to the great admiration of all the Beholders put in Execution this day And that which is most considerable 4000 Horsemen are come to the House of Commons this day except some of them which lay at Vxbridge and places thereabouts with a Petition in the Name of the whole County of Buckingham That Mr. Hampden their Knight of the Shire may receive his Tryal and not lie under the name of High Treason and cannot obtain a Legal way of Tryal and that if he acquit himself as no good men make doubt of Justice in a high measure may be done upon the false informers of his Majesty how near or how great soever They being confident that it is but design of the Popish Party to put an interruption in the Proceedings of Parliament that no Relief may be sent to Ireland but that more Protestant Blood may be shed there and that all Acts made this Parliament may be avoided under pretence of no Free Parliament And lastly to force a Breach of this Parliament by an untimely Adjournment or fayl of meeting through fear of danger By this it will be easy to observe how the People were deluded and inflamed into those Heats and Commotions which cast this Nation so dear and by what wayes the popular Poison and and Contagion spread it self far and wyde so as to become almost an Epidemical Disease throughout the Kingdom and will plainly demonstrate how dangerous a Tool the Press is when the Hand of Faction And now let us take a view of their Actions and how they demeaned themselves having got the Bishops cooped into the Tower and the King out of the Town Tuesday Jan. 11. and themselves triumphantly replaced at Westminster The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland Reported That the Lords Committees for the Irish Affairs have met in London with the Committee of the House of Commons and have agreed upon some Resolutions concerning the Affairs of Ireland 1. That 2500 l. out of the Loan Money be forthwith delivered to Sir Job Harvey and Sir John Nulls who have undertaken to return it to Chester for the Paying and Transporting the 300. Men now there to Dublin 2. That 3000 l. more be paid to them they having undertaken to give Credit to Mr. Walter Frost Commissary for the Victuals The Committee of the House of Commons told the Lords Committees likewise That they were now at the bottom of their Purses and for-as-much as the necessity of providing Money and of the Supply for the present relief of Ireland requireth the Consideration of both Houses of Parliament and for-as-much as they cannot sit in safety without strong and sufficient Guards from the City of London and adjacent Parts they desire
part Succesless our dangers grown upon us by iterated Plots Priests and other Delinquents unpunished to the Encouragement of others Ireland lost by protracted Councels while thousands are there Butchered by many Cruelties and to cut off all hopes of future Reformation the very being of our Parliaments endangered by desperate and unexampled breach of Priviledges which by our Protestation lately taken we are bound with our Lives and Estates to maintain And in respect of that late attempt upon the Honourable House of Commons we are now come to offer our service to that end and resolved in their just defence to live and die And therefore humbly Pray that this most Honourable House will Cooperate with the House of Commons in most Speedy perfecting the most necessary work of Reformation bringing to condign and Exemplary Punishment both wicked Councellors and evil Plotters and Delinquents that Ireland may have speedy relief the Priviledges of Parliament fortified against all future Attempts and the whole Kingdom put into sure and present Posture of Defence that we may live both Safe from all Practices of the Malignant Party at home and the endeavours of any ill affected States abroad And Your Petitioners shall ever Pray c. The Petitioners were called in again and told That this House takes well their coming hither with their Petition and their Care of the Priviledges of Parliament and the Kingdom of Ireland for which this House gives them thanks and their Lordships will take their Petition into consideration The Lord Keeper acquainted the House that he had received a Command from his Majesty to attend him at Windsor he received the permission of the House to do it and was ordered to acquaint his Majesty with the Order concerning Hull and likewise to move his Majesty from both Houses for his Royal Assent to three Bills which have passed both Houses one for Pressing of Marriners another concerning Redeeming of Captives at Algiers and the third concerning the Power of both Houses to Adjourn the Parliament The Lord Kymbolton moved Lord Kymbolton moves to be Tryed That if the House thought the Proceedings against him Legal that Mr. Attorney might be Commanded to Prosecute the Accusation against him for that if Mr. Attorney be ready to make good the Charge against him he is ready to answer it and that he desired no further time His own Innocency making him thus Confident as he said though it is shrewdly to be suspected he had other Motives and Reasons drawn from the Power and Prevalency of the Faction which gave him this assurance However Mr. Attorney was sent for who informed the House That what he had done was by the Express Command of the King his Master and not done by his Advice that he had attended the King to receive his Majesties further directions therein who told him when he went out of Town he would leave something with the Lord Keeper to acquaint this House further with concerning this Business And that he had attended the Lord Keeper to know whether the King had left any directions with him who told him he had received none from his Majesty but that he was Commanded to attend his Majesty Speedily Hereupon the Lord Kymbolton desired the House That some speedy Course may be taken that his Life Estate and Honour may be Secured A Message was brought from the House of Commons Message concerning the Tower to remove Sir John Byron by Sir Henry Vane Junior to let their Lordships know That in regard of the great Jealousies and Distractions of the City of London by Sir John Byron 's being Lieutenant of the Tower of London as appears by the Citizens shutting up their Shops and giving over Trade and in regard of the good Affections Expressed this day to the Parliament the House of Commons desires their Lordships to joyn with them to Petition the King that Sir John Byron may be forthwith removed from being Lieutenant of the Tower and that Sir John Conyers may be recommended to his Majesty for that Place After much Debate of this Message it was put to the Question Lords Dissent and it was Resolved c. That this House thinks it not fit to joyn with the House of Commons in an humble Petition to his Majesty for removing of Sir John Byron Knt. from being Lieutenant of the Tower and placing of Sir John Conyers there The Bishops were also ordered to put in their Answers to the Commons Impeachment of High Treason Bishops to put in Answer on Friday next The Lord Chamberlain then acquainted the House That the King hath sent Command to his Lordship and the Earl of Holland to attend his Majesty at Hampton-Court but before they went they desired to know the pleasure of this House being bound by their Writs to attend the business of the Kingdom Whereupon the House Commanded the Lord Chamberlain Lords sent for by the King not permitted to go by the House and the Earl of Holland to attend this House and would not dispense with their Absence in regard of the many great and urgent Businesses depending in this House It was the strangest fortune in the World certainly that these Men of the Faction had that when ever they stood in need of a Plot to countenance their designs and to stir up the People to Sedition some kind Person or other was sure to furnish them with one or more as there was occasion for this day in the very Critical Juncture of time a Letter was produced in the House of Commons and there read and immediately Communicated to the House of Lords The Letter were as follows To the Worshipful and my much honour'd Friend Orlando Bridgman Esq a Burgess of the Parliament at his Chamber in the Inner Temple these present SIR WE are your Friends Two Letters of a strange Plot strangely discovereâ— to the Commons these are to advise you to look to your self and to advise others of my Lord of Strafford 's Friends to take heed lest they be included in the common Calamity Our advice is to be gone to pretend business till the great hubbub be past withdraw lest you suffer with the Puritans We intreat you to send away the inclosed Letter to Mr. Anderton inclosed to some Trusty Friend that it may be carried safely without suspicion for it concerns the common safety So desire your Friends in Covent-Garden January 4th The inclosed was directed To the Worshipful and my much Honour'd Friend Mr. Anderton these SIR ALthough many Designs have been defeated yet that of Ireland holds well and now our last Plot works as happily as that of Ireland We must bear with something in the main His Will is strong enough as long as he is fed with Hopes the Woman is true to us and real her Council about her is very good I doubt not but to send you by the next very joyful News For the present our Arch-Enemies Pym Hampden Strode Hollis and Haslerigg are blemished
means to prevent this great and threat'ning danger to his Majesties Royal Person and to our Religion Lives Liberties and Fortunes have thought good to give a timely Advertisement thereof to all his Majesties Subjects of the Reformed Protestant Religion declaring hereby That they hold it necessary and adviseable that with all Expeditithey put themselves into a good posture of Defence to provide fit Arms and Ammunition and be ready upon all occasions to defend the several Counties from Domestick Insurrections and Foreign Invasions and that the Sheriffs Justices of Peace Majors and Head-Officers within their several Limits do take Care that their Magazines of Powder Arms and other Ammunition be compleatly furnished and that they cause strong Guards and Watches to be set in convenient places for the Securing themselves and for the apprehending of such Persons who they shall have just cause to suspect and if upon Examination any grounds of danger shall appear to give notice thereof unto the Parliament and that all Officers take special care that no Soldiers Arms or Ammunition be raised or levyed nor any Castles Forts or Magazines delivered up without his Majesties Authority signified by both Houses of Parliament This hopeful Declaration had the misfortune to become only an Abortive for when it came up to the House of Lords how prevalent soever the Faction was there yet they were ashamed to own that for a Child of Parliamentary Authority which carried so many notorious Falshoods and Calumnies most easie to be detected in the Front of it and yet this thing which was to be imposed upon the Nation for so great a Truth was compiled out of 3 or 4 Parcels of the same kind of Stuff but much Coarser which were drawn up by the Committees at Guild-Hall and Grocers-Hall and out of which the Committee for this Declaration were by the appointment of the House Ordered to frame it and they accordingly licked those Monstrous and Deformed Cubbs into this Bear which begins with the Papists but flies directly at the Throat of his Sacred Majesty the best Protestant in all his Dominions And this was one of the greatest Artifices of the Faction to Sail with this Side-wind as if they intended to fall furiously upon the Papists but then to make a sudden Tack and pour in all their Broad-sides of Calumnies Plots and Conspiracies upon the King himself and the Loyal and Orthodox Protestants whom under the Notion of Malignants Popishly-affected and Adherents to the Papists they still drew into the Designs which they said were laid against the Parliament Kingdom and the King himself against whom the Bolt of their Thunder was always directly levell'd though the Noise and Crack sounded nothing but Papist There are two or three Passages very remarkable that I cannot but turn them upon themselves For when they charge these Plotters and Papists that they had a Design To make a Division of the Body of this Common-wealth from the Head thereof they themselves it seems were in that Design afterwards putting that horrid Plot in Execution by cutting off not only in a Political but Literal Sense that Illustrious Head of their Sovereign both from his own and the Body of the Common-wealth And whereas afterwards they Charge this Malignant Party with a Design by intestine Wars here amongst our selves to wast the Wealth and Substance and Totally to Annihilate the True Protestant Religion and the whole frame of Government in all his Majesties Dominions There certainly never was in so few words so true a Character of their own subequent Actions and had they sitten for their Picture in Miniature to the fam'd Appelles who used to boast of his Art that he painted for Eternity it had been impossible for him to draw them more exactly to the life with his Pencil then in these words they have drawn themselves with their own Ink the blackness of which though intended for the King and the Loyal Party will with an Ex ore tuo stick to their Memories so long as there remain any Records of time and Posterity will easily discern who were the Plotters to Subvert the Government not by the Charge but the Execution and may from hence draw this serviceable Aphorism That no Persons are more likely to design against a Government or to bring the People into Slavery then such Subjects as Arraign their Sovereign with Designs of Erecting Arbitrary Power and introducing Popery Which were the two main Engines by which this Rebellious Faction undermined and overthrew the best Church and Government in the Christian World and rendred the Freest People of Europe the most Abject Slaves in Christendom to the Arbitrary Usurpations of their fellow Subjects and Servants in every thing that Men esteem valuable whether Life Liberty Fortune or Religion But whether the Lords would consent or not the materials out of which this Declaration was drawn being the results of several Debates of the Committee at Guild-Hall and Grocers-Hall got immediately into the Press and from that Mint of mischief flew like Lightning through the Nation to the intolerable Scandal of his Majesty And yet the very chief Aggravation of this Action of his Majesties of the Insolence of the Soldiers is by one of the News-writers of the Party and Times before mentioned taken off from the King and his Retinue Who he saith demeaned themselves Civilly though this Declaration takes no notice of that And in truth who considers how ill the Parliament had treated the Soldiers both during their being in Arms and after the Disbanding will not think it strange for such a sort of Men who have Mars predominant should be apt to vent their private Resentments against those Persons whom the King had Impeached of Treason and to whom they owed all their Sufferings But to put this to the King's Score was a Barbarous injustice which none but such Men as had shaken hands with all Respect as well as Loyalty to the King could be guilty of But see the Paper it self A Declaration of the House of Commons The Debates at Guild-hall and Grocers-hall Drawn into a Declaration concerning Breach of Priviledge c. Mr. Glyn Reports from Guild-hall Jan. 6th 1641. Touching a late Breach of their Priviledges And for the Vindication thereof and of divers Members of the said House WHereas the Chambers Studies and Trunks of Mr. Denzill Hollis Sir Arthur Haslerig Mr John Pym Master John Hampden and Mr. William Strode Esquires Members of the House of Commons upon Munday the third of this instant January by colour of His Majesties Warrant have been sealed up by Sir William Killigrew and Sir William Flemen and others which is not only against the Priviledge of Parliament but the common liberty of every Subject Which said Members afterwards the same day were under the like colour by Serjeant Francis one of His Majesties Serjeants at Arms contrary to all former Presidents demanded of the Speaker sitting in the House of Commons to be delivered unto him that
Sir Arthur Haslerig Mr. Pym Mr. Hampden and Mr. Strode by Sir William Killigrew Sir William Flemen and others in the Innes of Court and elsewhere in the Kings Name was a high Breach of the priviledge of Parliament a great scandal to his Majesty and His Government A seditious Act manifestly tending to the subversion of the peace of the Kingdom and an injury and dishonour to the said Members there being no legal charge or accusation against them The priviledges of Parliament and the liberties of the Subject so violated and broken cannot be fully and sufficiently vindicated unless His Majesty will be graciously pleased to discover the names of those persons who advised his Majesty to issue out Warrants for the Sealing of the Chambers and Studies of the said Members to send a Serjeant at Arms to the House of Commons to demand their said Members to issue out several Warrants under His Majesties own hand to apprehend the said Members His Majesties coming thither in his own Royal person The publishing of the said Articles and printed paper in the form of a Proclamation against the said Members in such manner as is before declared To the end that such persons may receive condign punishment And this House doth further declare Voted Jan. 17th 1641. That all such persons as have given any Counsel or endeavoured to set or maintain division or dislike between the King and Parliament or have listed their names or otherwise entred into any combination or agreement to be aiding or assisting to any such councel or endeavour or have perswaded any other so to do or that shall do any the things above mentioned And shall not forthwith discover the same to either House of Parliament Or the Speaker of either of the said Houses respectively and disclaim it are declared publick enemies of the State and peace of this Kingdom and shall be inquired of and proceeded against accordingly But to proceed This Morning Sir Henry Vane Sir Walter Erle Sir Sam. Rolls and Sir Simon D'Ewes were appointed to examine the Pacquet from France directed to Mr. Crofts which they did and Reported That they found nothing in those Letters of any Consequence Mr. Whittacre also Reported That he had searched the Lodgings of Sir James Hamilton according to the Order yesterday but found no Arms there as was informed Committee to Try Frivolous Informations Whereupon Mr. Long Mr. Whittaker Mr. Strode Sir Arthur Haslerig Mr. Cary Mr. Arthur Goodwin Sir John Franklyn Mr. Whitehead Sir John Evelyn Mr. Wheeler Sir John Holland Sir Robert Pye Mr. Glyn Mr. Brown Mr. Reynolds and the Citizens for London were appointed to be a Committee and they or any three of them to have Power when Informations come to be given to the House to examine them and if they find them worth the knowledg of the House to acquaint the House therewith and if they find them not of any consequence to dismiss the Business and the Parties and they have power to send for Parties Witnesses and Writings and to make searches as they see Cause and to open Doors Chests or Trunks There is nothing can make it more evident then the appointing this Committee that these People were abundantly satisfied and sensible that they were horribly imposed upon by frivolous Informations and yet they were so void either of Honor Honesty or Conscience without due Examination to impose those false Informations upon the Nation as great Truths as particularly the Lord Digbie's being at Kingston with 500 armed Men which made such a noise that the Trained Bands and Posse Comitatus were raised to disperse a Rebellious Assembly of a Coach and six Horses and the ordinary Retinue of a Nobleman but this was their Way and they were not concerned to search for the truth of their Informations but the Consequences of them and whether they would turn to Account to blacken the King and inflame the People His Majesty had sent down Captain Legg to take Charge of the Town of Hull and the Ammunition there whereupon the Commons who had before Ordered Sir John Hotham to be Governor a Committee was appointed to consider of the Bail given to the Serjeant for any Person committed by the House to the Custody of a Serjeant and to report their Opinion to the House both concerning the Bail and Persons bailed and upon their Report It was Ordered That those Lords that are Bail for Captain Legg shall be moved to bring in Captain Legg forthwith and the Serjeant is to move those Lords accordingly The Officers and Gunners of the Tower having been Summoned to attend the House Gunners of the Tower examined by the Commons and accordingly appearing it was Ordered That Sir Gilbert Gerrard Mr. Hampden Sir Robert Pye and Sir Henry Mildmay do Examine the Officers of the Tower now at the Door what Persons suspected have been lately put into the Tower and to ask them if they will all take the Protestation and to acquaint them That this House sent for them in respect that they have a good Opinion of them thinking they might have had occasion to use them but at this time they have not and so to dismiss them The House was then informed Lieutenant of the Tower at the Commons Bar. That the Lieutenant of the Tower Sir John Byron was at the Door who was called in to the Bar and kneeled there a while and then rising again delivered an humble Petition to the House which was read and it was Ordered That the Serjeant should acquaint him that the House hath read his Petition and in due time will take it into Consideration The Commons having desired the Lords to joyn with them Friday January 14. in an Order for several Counties to raise Force to Suppress the pretended Army of the Lord Digby assembled at Kingston the Lords this Day made a general Order for suppressing all Tumults and unlawful Assemblies throughout this whole Kingdom as follows WHereas Information hath been given to the Parliament Order for suppressing Tumults That the Lord Digby Son to the Earl of Bristol and Colonel Lunsford with others have gathered Troops of Horse and have appeared in warlike Manner at Kingston upon Thames in the County of Surrey where the Magazine of Arms for that part of the County lies to the Terror and Affright of his Majesties good Subjects and disturbance of the Publick Weal of the Kingdom It is this Day ordered by the Lords and Commons in Parliament That the Sheriffs of the several Counties of England and Wales calling to their Assistance the Justices of the Peace and the Trained Bands of the several Counties or so many of them as shall be necessary for the Service shall suppress all unlawful Assemblies gathered together to the Disturbance of the Publick Peace of the Kingdom in their several Counties respectively and that they take Care to secure the said Counties and all the Magazins in them And it was Ordered to be Printed and
with the Earl of Strafford trusting too much on the same so High is Pride that at length he presumed to oppose and set himself against the proceedings of the whole House against the said Earl Obstinately refusing to be admonished concerning the same and yet keeping his Friends many of the Lords was by his Majesty as a Baron called to their House and aspiring yet higher obtained his Princes favour not being yet acquainted with his secret Intentions by which means too confident of his safety and security in his Designs adventured openly to comply with the publick Enemies both of King and Country As especially now with this other Person of whom I am to speak this Collonel being by his Majesty advanced to that dignity and trust could not so content himself but imitating the water Toad seeing the Shadow of a Horse seem bigger then it self Swell to compare with the same and so Burst even so this Gentleman having obtained first this Place of Command and afterwards Lieutenant of the Tower and being found of such a Malignant Spirit that he was unfit and uncapable for that great Place of Trust and therefore removed taking the sameâ—â— great dishonour to his worth now endeavours by Traiterous and Desperate Actions to defend himself and be revenged of his pretended Adversaries and to that purpose they have between them joyntly raised Arms against the State met together in peaceable Consultations for the good of Church and Common-wealth Mr. Speaker These attempts made by these Persons are of dangerous consequence and this their Insurrection by taking up of Arms without Warrant both from his Royal Majesty and this High Court of Parliament only to do Mischief in raising Sedition and Contention thereby to preserve themselves from being called to an account for their desperate Actions and Disloyal taking up Arms will prove harder to Appease and Suppress then any Troubles we have yet suffered Mr. Speaker I conceive quick dispatch in our Intentions for the Apprehending and Suppressing these Persons is the only means to prevent future danger And to that purpose I desire to present to your considerations these particulars 1. That Warrants may Issue forth for the speedy and private apprehending of them in what places soever they shall be found and immediately to bring them before the House 2. If this cannot be effected to Issue forth Proclamations for their calling in within a certain time perfixed under penalty of being Prosecuted and Proceeded against as Traytors to their King and Country 3. That Warrants be forthwith sent for the Guarding and Securing of all the Ports of this Kingdom and for the Intercepting of all Paquets or Letters intended to be conveyed into Forraign Kingdoms or any brought from thence hither 4. That Order be sent down into the several Counties of this Kingdom where it is suspected either of these Persons have any Friends or Favorites well-wishers to their Cause with command to the Sheriffs and several Officers of such Counties to stand upon their Guard and to raise Force for their own Defence and Safety and to endeavour by all means Possible to apprehend and suppress them and such of their Conspiracy as shall be taken presently to be sent up to this House to be Examined and Prosecuted according as they shall be found 5. That Order may be made by the Parliament that no Officer that shall be found to have a hand in this Plot may be imployed in any Service of publick Command either for Ireland or any other of his Majesties Dominions or any private Affairs of this Kingdom 6. That we may without further delay proceed to Sentence against all Delinquents by this Honourable House accused for any Crime whatsoever in whose Defence or for whose cause these Persons now accused pretend to take up Arms. 7. That his Majesty may be moved Graciously to be pleased to declare himself against these Persons and all others that do any ways pretend to his Authority or Warrant for what they do 8. And Lastly His Majesty may be moved to avert his intended Journey for Portsmouth for the safety and security of his Royal Person til such time as their dangers be removed and the Peace and Vnity of all his Majesties Loyal Subjects be procured and settled And thus Mr. Speaker having presented such things to this House which I humbly conceive to be necessary to suppress and prevent this new danger threatned by those two Disaffected and Male-contented Persons the Lord Digby and Collonel Lunsford I leave the same to the further consideration of this Honourable House desiring from my heart that it would please God to end all the Troubles and Distempers of this Common-wealth and that this High Court of Parliament may prove the firm Settlement of all things amiss both in Church and State After this Mr. Pierpoint Reports from the Committee appointed yesterday for putting the Kingdom into a Posture of Defence That the Opinion of the Committee was Mr. Pierpoint's Report concerning Posture of Defence and the Commons Vote upon it and so it was by the House Resolved upon the Question That the Knights and Burgesses of the several Counties shall by two of the Clock this afternoon deliver in the Names of such Noble Persons as they think fit to be appointed Lord Lieutenants in the several Counties and that those Gentlemen of this House that have Estates in the Bishoprick of Durham shall nominate such a one as they shall think fit to be Lord Lieutenant in that County Sir Richard Cave then acquainted the House That according to the Command of the House he had returned thanks to the States Embassador for his affections Expressed to the service of this State Who answered That he thinks himself much honoured by the acknowledgements of his service from this House and knows that the desires of this House will be upon all occasions very acceptable to his Masters the States It was also Ordered That Alderman Pennington and Mr. John Goodwin do speak with the Executors of Sir James Cambell and to desire them from this House that in the disposing of the Estate which Sir James Cambell hath given for Charitable Vses they will specially take into consideration the War in Ireland which will be an acceptable service to the Common-wealth Serjeant Wild then Reported the Conference had on Thursday night last with the Lords concerning Mr. The Examination of Mr. Attorney General Reported by Serjeant Wild. Attorney's Exhibiting Articles in the Lords House against Members of this House The Conference consisted of two Parts First the Narrative Part That these Articles Exhibited by Mr. Attorney and entred in the Lords House was a Breach of Priviledge of Parliament and that in due time this House would desire that Justice may be done upon Mr. Attorney The Second Part was to Examine Mr. Attorney upon certain Questions and to receive his Answer First He being asked Whether he Contrived Framed or advised the said Articles or any of them if not then
Whether he doth know or have heard who did Frame Contrive or advise the same or any of them To this he answered That he would deal clearly freely and Ingeniously and that he should say the same which he had before delivered to the Lords and should need no long time to answer this for that he had done none of these three that is neither Framed Advised these Articles or any of them and would be contented to die if he hid Secondly Being demanded whether he knew the truth of these Articles or any of them of his own knowledge or had it by Information To this he Answered He did know nothing of his own knowledge of the truth of these Artitles or any part of them nor hath heard it by Information All that ever he hath heard concerning this was from his Master Thirdly Being asked whether he will make good these Articles when he shall be thereunto called in due course of Law To this he Answered He cannot do it nor will not do it otherwise then as his Master shall Command him and shall Enable him no more then he that never heard of them can do it Fourthly Being asked from whom he received these Articles and by whose direction and advice he did Exhibit them He answered He did Exhibit them by his Masters Command and from his hands he did receive them Fifthly Being asked whether he had any Testimony or Proof of the Articles before the Exhibiting of them He gave this Answer That he received the Command of his Majesty but whether he had any proof then offered or intimation of Testimony to make good those Articles he desired time to consider of it he was pressed again to make answer to this but desired time to consider of it saying there was a secret trust between a Master and Servant much more in this Case The great Design of this Examination was to have got out who were the Witnesses of this Accusation that so they might have fallen upon them and worried them to death and though nothing was more justifiable then this Plea of Secrecy to which Mr. Attorney was obliged by his Oath from which they could have no power to Absolve him Yet it did so Exasperate the Faction that it was Ordered That some way be thought of for Charging Mr. Attorney by this House as Criminous for Exhibiting those Articles in the Lords House against Members of this House without any Information or proof that appears and that this House and the Gentlemen Charged by him may have Reparation from him and that he may put in good Security to stand to the Judgement of Parliament And it was Resolved Votes against the Attorney General c. That this Act of Mr. Attorney 's in this Impeachment against Members of this House is Illegal and a High Crime Resolved c. That the Lords shall be desired That Mr. Attorney may put in good Security to stand to the Judgement of Parliament And Mr. Whitlock Serjeant Wild Mr. Hill Mr. Glyn Mr. Brown Mr. Rigby and Mr. Buller were appointed a Committee they or any three of them to withdraw presently and prepare a Charge against Mr. Attorney upon the Votes of the House And that Posterity may see how Zealous these People after all their pretensions were for the Relief of Ireland Collonel Hill and Lieutenant Bowles Delinquents for raising Volunteers for Ireland It was Resolved c. and Ordered That Collonel Hill and Robert Bowles his Lieutenant shall be forthwith sent for as Delinquents by the Serjeant at Arms attending on this House for beating up Drums and raising of Men contrary to the Ordinance of Parliament And that all Constables and other Officers be assisting to the Serjeant in the Execution of his Warrant And that Mr. Whistler Mr. Pury Mr. Smith and Mr. Hill shall search in such Offices as they shall think fit to see if any Commissions or other Warrants have been granted to any Person or Persons for Levying of Men. A Paper was delivered by Mr. Hambden from the Scotch Commissioners which was read in these words OUr Treaty concerning the Irish Affairs being so oft interrupted by the Emergent Distractions A Paper of the Scotch Commissioners offering their Mediation to the King c. gives us occasion to desire your Lordships and those Noble Gentlemen of the House of Commons for to present to the Honourable Houses of Parliament that we having taken to our Consideration the manifold Obligations of the Kingdom of Scotland to our Native and Gracious Soveraign his Person and Government confirmed and multiplyed by the great and Recent Favours bestowed by his Majesty on that Kingdom at his last being there and settling the troubles thereof and considering the mutual Interest of the Kingdoms in Welfare and Prosperity of others acknowledged and Established in the late Treaty And finding our selves warranted and obliged by all means to labour to keep a right Understanding betwixt the Kings Majesty and his People to confirm that Brotherly affection begun between the two Nations to advance their Unity by all such ways as may tend to the Glory of God and Peace of the Church and State of both Kingdoms to render thanks to the Parliament of England for their assistance given to the Kingdom of Scotland in settling the late Troubles thereof wherein next to the Providence of God and the Kings Majesties Justice and Goodness they do acknowledge themselves most beholding to the Mediation and Brotherly kindness of the Kingdom of England and likewise to proffer our selves for removing all Jealousies and mistakings which may arise betwixt the Kings Majesty and this Kingdom and our best indeavours for the better Establishment of the Affairs and quiet of the same We do therefore in the name of the Parliament and Kingdom of Scotland acknowledge our selves next to the Providence of God and his Majesties Justice and Goodness most beholding to the Mediation and Brotherly kindness of the Kingdom of England in many respects especially in condescending to the Kings Majesties coming to Scotland in the midst of their great Affairs whereof we have tasted the sweet and comfortable Fruits and do heartily wish the like happiness to this Kingdom And as we are heartily sorry to find our Hopes thereof deferred by the present distractions growing daily here to a greater height and out of the sense thereof have taken the Boldness to send our humble and faithful advice to the Kings most Excellent Majesty for remedying of the same to the just satisfaction of his People so out of our duty to his Majesty and to testifie our Brotherly Affection to this Kingdom and acquit our selves of the Trust Imposed upon us We do most Earnestly beseech the most Honourable Houses in the deep of their Wisdoms to think timously upon the Fairest and Fittest Ways of Composing all present differences to the Glory of God the good of the Church and State of both Kingdoms and to his Majesties Honour and Contentment Wherein if our
Faithful endeavours may be any way useful we shall be most ready at all occasions to contribute the same 15th of Jan. 1641. Ja. Primrose The very same Paper Verbatim was 〈◊〉 their request presented to the Lords by the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland After the reading of this Paper Sir Philip Stapleton Mr. Long and Mr. Arthur Goodwin were Ordered to return thanks from the House of Commons to the Scotch Commissioners for their good Affections Exprest to this State and Parliament and likewise to desire to know of them what it is that they have sent unto his Majesty by way of Advice To which Sir Philip Stapelton brought this answer That most of the Commissioners were gone from the place of Meeting not expecting any Message from this House besides they have not as yet sent the Paper to the King by reason they could not get Post-Horses and till such time as his Majesty hath first received the same they conceive it not so fit it should be made known But upon Monday morning they make no doubt to give this House full satisfaction I know no reason I have to make the Reader stay till Monday whose Expectation may be as willing to be gratified with a sight of this Paper as the House of Commons were and therefore I present him with it as followeth To the King 's most Excellent Majesty The Humble desires of the Commissioners of his Majesties Kingdom of SCOTLAND WE your Majesties humble and faithful Subjects The Petition and advice of the Commissioners of Scotland to the King by way of Mediation considering that the Mutual Relation betwixt your Majesties Kingdoms of Scotland and England is such as they must stand or fall together and the disturbance of the one must needs disquiet and distemper the Peace of the other as has been often acknowledged by them both and especially in the late Treaty which is ratified in Parliament and confirmed by the publick Faith of the Estates of your Majesties ancient and Native Kingdom of Scotland so that they are bound to maintain the Peace and Liberties of one another being highly concerned therein as the assured means of the safety and preservation of their own And finding our selves Warranted and obliged by all means to labour to keep a right Vnderstanding betwixt your Majesty and your People to confirm that Brotherly Affection betwixt the two Nations to advance their Vnity by all such ways as may tend to the Glory of God and Peace of the Church and State of both Kingdoms and aykways to proffer our service for removing all Jealousies and mistakes which may arise betwixt your Majesty and this Kingdom and our best endeavours for the better Establishment of the Affairs and quiet of the same that both your Majesties Kingdoms of Scotland and England may be Vnited in the enjoying of their Liberties in Peace under your Majesties Scepter which is the most assured Foundation of your Majesties Honour and Greatness and of the security of your Royal Person Crown and Dignity We have taken the Boldness to shew your Majesty that we are heartily sorry and grieved to behold these Distractions which increase daily betwixt your Majesty and your People and which we conceive are entertained by the wicked Plots and Practices of Papists Prelates and their Adherents whose aim in all these Troubles has not been only to prevent all further Reformation but also to subvert the Purity and Truth of Religion within all your Majesties Kingdoms for which end their constant Endeavours have been to stir up Divisions betwixt your Majesty and your People by their Questioning the Authority of Parliaments the lawful Liberties of the Subjects and real Weakning your Majesties Power and Authority nay all upon pretence of Extending the same whereof by Gods Providence being disappointed in your Majesties Kingdom of Scotland these have now converted thir Mischievous Councels Conspiracies and Attempts to produce these distempers in your Majesties Kingdoms of England and Ireland And therefore according to our Duty to your Majesty to testifie our Brotherly Affection to this Kingdom and acquit our selves of the trust Imposed in us We do make offer of our humble Endeavours for composing of these differences And to that purpose do beseech your Majesty in these Extremities to have Recourse to the sound and faithful advice of the Honourable Houses of Parliament and to repose thereupon as the only assured and happy means to Establish the Prosperity and quiet of this Kingdom And in the depth of your Royal Wisdom to consider and prevent these Apprehensions of Fear which may possess the Hearts of your Majesties Subjects in your other Kingdoms if they shall conceive the Authority of Parliament and the Rights and Liberties of the Subject to be here called in Question And we are confident that if your Majesty shall be graciously pleased to take in good part and give Eare to these our humble and faithful Desires that the success of your Majesties Affairs howsoever perplexed shall be happy to your Majesty and joyful to all your People over whom that your Majesty may long and prosperously Reign is the Fervent and Constant Prayer of us your Majesties Faithful Subjects and Servants It was likely to come to a hopeful issue for his Majesty and all his Loyal Friends when those who had by Rebellion wrested from him so great a share of his Sovereignity and Regal Authority undertook to be Umpires and Mediators in a difference to which they were Principal Parties and to compose those differences which the Faction following their Example were resolved should be determined by no other terms of Accommodation then his Majesties parting with the Sword which Guarded his Septer and which they were resolved either to have or to force it from him by the down-right strength of a most deep rooted and formidable Rebellion But what thanks soever they had for this officious diligence from the King they received many thanks from both Houses for the affection expressed to the Kingdom in the advice which they gave the King in this Paper which was mightily to the Grace of the Faction and Tuned to the humor of the Times which charged all the Miseries and Distractions upon the King 's refusing the sound advice of his great Council the Parliament This day an Order was made in the Lords House Munday January 17. The Lo. Nettervile's Son ordered to be brought before the Lords for the bringing up to the Lords in Parliament Mr. Thomas Netterville Son to the Lord Neterville who was stayed in Chester by the Mayor of the place upon Suspicion and the Lord Admiral was Ordered to write to the Mayor thanks from the House of Lords for his care in staying the said Mr. Netterville Then the Lord Duke of Richmond Reported the King's Answer to the Message delivered to him Jan. 15th The King's Answer to the Bill for adjournment Hull c. 1. Concerning his Majesties Assent to be given to the Bill for the Adjourning of the Parliament
from Westminster to London or any other Place his Majesty saith he will take further time to consider of it 2. That his Majesty hath Signed a Warrant to the Earl of Newport Master of the Ordnance for issuing out of Arms and Ammunition and Transporting them for Ulster as is desired 3. And as touching the securing of the Town and Magazine of Hull His Majesty conceiveth he hath formerly given a satisfactory Answer After which the Lord Keeper signified That the King had Commanded him to deliver this Message to both Houses of Parliament to let them know that there hath been much Powder Arms and Ammunition issued out of the Stores for the Supply of the occasions of Ireland and his Majesty hopes that both Houses will take care the Stores be replenished for the security and defence of this Kingdom Which was Communicated to the House of Commons A Message was brought up from the Commons by Sir John Evelyn to desire That the Army and Ordnance at Fox-Hall at Lambeth-House at the Arch-Bishop of Yorks and at the Bishop of Winton 's Houses may be removed to London and kept there in safe Custody Also the House of Commons presented their Lordships with an Order for Guards which they desired their Lordships to join with them in The Order was read as followeth An Order and Declaration of the Lords and Commons in Parliament for the providing of Guards and other necessary Defence for the Safety of his Majesty the Parliament and Kingdom FOrasmuch as the necessity of providing Monies and other supplies for the present relief of Ireland An Order for Guards c. and for defence of this Kingdom requireth the speedy Care and Consideration of both Houses of Parliament and for that it appears by many wicked Practises and Designs that have been lately discovered that the said Houses cannot sit in safety without strong and sufficient Guards from the City of London and parts adjacent It is therefore Ordered and Declared by the Lords and Commons Assembled in Parliament That there be necessary Guards raised out of the City and Parts Adjacent and the same to be in Order for the Defence and Safety of the King Parliament and Kingdom And it is declared by the said Lords and Commons That for the providing of Guards and other necessary Defence for the purpose aforesaid as well the Sheriffs of the City of London and Middlesex as of all other Counties of this Realm may and ought to raise the Posse Comitatus and in case they fail of their Duties herein which they are accountable for to God the King and the Parliament then every good Subject may and ought in their Duties to God their King and Country * * Now they made the Design of that wicked and insnaring Oath appear by their Solemn Oath of their late Protestation to maintain and defend to the uttermost of their Power the Person of his Majesty and of every Member of each House of Parliament being the Persons whom they have intrusted with their Lives Liberties and Fortunes from all Force and Violence whatsoever And the said Lords and Commons do farther declare That the Sheriffs of London and Middlesex as well within the City as without and that for the Safety of the King Kingdom and Parliament which is now in imminent and apparent Danger the Commission of the Lord Mayor being but a Commission of Lieutenancy and Illegal the Lord Mayor Aldermen and Common-Council or the greater number of them ought to make use of the Train'd Bands or any other Forces of the City for the preserving of the Peace of the Kingdom Person of his Majesty and all the Members of Parliament from violence and dangers both within their Limits and without And that there being yet no declaratory Law for the Regulating of the Militia of the Kingdom though in Agitation in Parliament the said Lords and Commons do declare That in this pressing and extraordinary Occasion the Lord Mayor Aldermen and Common-Council of the City of London or the greater number of them ought to appoint such Officers that the necessary Guards and Forces aforesaid may be governed in a due and orderly manner and that the Officers aforesaid may beat up their Drums for the safety of his Majesty the Kingdom and Parliament and that the performance of the Premisses shall be taken for a good and acceptable piece of Service to both Houses of Parliament And it is further Ordered and Declared by the said Lords and Commons That Captain Skippon shall be Sergeant Major General of the City Forces until the City resolve to the Contrary and not to depart from this Service upon any Command or Counter-mand until Order be taken by the Parliament and he shall have Power if violence be offered to make defence or offend and that all the Train'd Bands both of London and Westminster and the Parts Adjacent and all the Captains and Officers of the said Bands shall be Commanded by him and receive Orders from him from time to time for beating the Drums or Service and all Soldiers thereupon under his Command shall resort to their Colours in Arms without expecting further Order from the Lord Mayor And that all Citizens or others that will mount themselves on Horseback shall be under the Command of the said Sergeant Major Skippon and that Ammunition of all sorts shall be issued out of the Chamber of London in such a proportion as he shall think fit and direct And it is further Ordered and Declared by the said Lords and Commons That whereas there is a Committee chosen of the Common-Council of the City of London to Treat and Confer with a Committee of the House of Commons touching the safety of the King and Parliament City and Kingdom That the Persons of the said Committee of the Common-Council shall not be apprehended or otherwise restrained without the leave of the Commons House of Parliament first obtained during the time that they shall be Committees for the business aforesaid for any thing done or to be done in pursuance thereof and that none of the said Committee of the said Common-Council presume to depart out of the said City to any place upon any Intimation whatsoever without leave first obtained from the said Committee of the Common-Council or the greater part of them And lastly it is Declared and Ordered by the said Lords and Commons That all Actions of the said Citizens of London or of any other Person whatsoever for the Defence of the Parliament or the Privileges thereof or for the preservation of the Members thereof are according to their Duty and their Protestation and the Laws of this Kingdom and if any Person shall Arrest or Trouble any for so doing he is declared to be a violater of the Liberty of the Subject and of the Rights and Priviledges of Parliament and a Publick Enemy of the Common-wealth To this Message and Declaration this Answer was given That their Lordships will take it into Consideration
through this little Artifice and therefore the Merchants c. being withdrawn after much consideration the Question was put Whether this House will joyn in an humble Petition with the House of Commons to his Majesty to remove Sir John Byron Knight The Lords refuse to joyn with the Commons in a Petition to displace the Lieutenant of the Tower Several Lords enter a Protestation against the Vote for not joyning with the Commons about the Lieutenant of the Tower from being Lieutenant of the Tower of London and to place Sir John Conyers in that Place And it was Resolved Negatively These Lords following before the Question was put demanded their Right of Protestation and that they might have liberty to Enter their Dissents to this Vote which the House gave leave unto Lord Admiral Earl of Bedford Earl of Pembroke Earl of Leicester Earl of Sarum Earl of Warwick Earl of Holland Earl of Bolinbrook Earl of Stamford Viscount Say and Seal Lord Wharton Lord Pagett Lord North Lord Hunsdon Lord Willoughby de Parrham Lord St. Johns Lord Spencer Lord Kymbolton Lord Brooke Lord Roberts Lord Grey de Warke Lord Newnham Lord Howard de Escrick After which the Committee of the House of Commons were called in and the Councel of the Bishops standing at the Bar the 12 Bishops were severally brought in one after another First The Bishops answer to the Impeachment of the Commons The Arch-Bishop of York was brought to the Bar and after he had kneeled as a Delinquent he was commanded to stand up And then the Speaker by direction of the House told him That this Day was appointed for the 12 Bishops to put in their several Answers to the Impeachment of the House of Commons of High Treason against them and that their Lordships do require him to put in his Answer thereunto His Grace Answered That he had received an Order Dated the 30th of December last with an Impeachment against himself and 11 other Bishops of High Treason from the House of Commons And likewise divers Orders of several days that were appointed for them to put in their Answers and the last Order for this day which accordingly he is come to obey their Lordships Commands And for his own Answer to the aforesaid Impeachment of High Treason he gives his Answer in this manner I John Arch-Bishop of York saving to my self all advantages of Exceptions to the insufficiency of the said Impeachment for my self say That I am not Guilty of the Treason Charged by the said Impeachment in manner and form as the same is therein charged Then he desired a present and speedy Tryal and so withdrew In the same manner Thomas Bishop of Durham Robert Bishop of Coventry and Litchfield Joseph Bishop of Norwich John Bishop of St. Asaph William Bishop of Bath and Wells George Bishop of Hereford Matthew Bishop of Ely Robert Bishop of Oxon Godfrey Bishop of Glocester John Bishop of Peterborough and Morgan Bishop of Llandaff were severally brought to the Bar and gave the same Answer The Bishops having given in their Answers the Committee of the House of Commons went to their own House Then a Petition of the Bishops was read as followeth To the Right Honourable the Lords Assembled in the House of Peers The Humble Petition of John Arch-Bishop of York and other the Bishops Impeached by the House of Commons of High Treason the 30th of December last Humbly Sheweth THat your Petitioners by your Honourable Order of the date of the Impeachment The Bishops Petition to be speedily Tryed or Bailed were to put in their Answers thereunto the 7th of this Instant and have had sit hence several days for that purpose assigned them and are now this 17th of this Instant brought hither by your Lordships Order They always having been as now they are ready to obey your Lordships Commands and many of them already much Impaired both in their Health and Estates Do most Humbly Pray That a Speedy proceeding may be had therein and that in the mean time they may be admitted to Baile And your Petitioners shall ever Pray for increase of Honour and Divine Blessing upon your Lordships Jo. Eborac Godfr Glouc. Jos Norvic Tho. Duresme Jo. Asaph Guil. Bath Well Geo. Hereford Mat. Eliens Ro. Oxon. Jo. Petriburg Mor. Landaff Ro. Cov. Litch Hereupon It was Ordered by the Lords The Bishops remanded to Prison That the day of Tryal for the twelve Bishops which are Impeached of High Treason by the House of Commons shall be on Tuesday the 25th of this Instant January at the Bar of the Lords House In the mean time the Bishop of Durham and the Bishop of Coventry and Litchfield shall be remanded to the Custody of the Gentleman Vsher attending this House and the other ten to be presently remanded to the Tower there to remain until the further Pleasure of the House be known And a Message was sent to the House of Commons by Mr. Serjeant Finch and Mr. Serjeant Glanvile to acquaint them with this Order The Lord Keeper being indisposed had by the leave of the House retired himself but before his going had delivered a Letter from the King to the Speaker of the Lords House for the time which was read as follows To Our Trusty and Right well-beloved Councellor Edward Lord Littleton Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England A Letter and Message to both Houses from the King concerning the Prince CHARLES R. O Or Will and Command is That you deliver to the Parliament in Our Name the Message inclosed concerning the Marquess of Hertford's Attendance upon Our Son and for so doing this shall be your Warrant Given at Our Court at Windsor the 17th Jan. 1641. His Majesty hath seen the Order of the Lords upon the Motion of the House of Commons given to the Marquess of Hertford concerning his Care in attendance upon the Prince not without Wonder that the Parliament should make such an Order which can hardly be otherwise understood but as if there had been a Design of sending the Prince out of the Kingdom which must necessarily have reflections upon his Majesty the Prince being now in the same Place with him And his Majesty hath shewed himself both so good a Father and a King that he thinks it strange that any should have such a thought as that he would permit the Prince should be carried out of the Kingdom or that any durst give him that Counsel Whereupon it was Ordered That this Message be communicated to the House of Commons at Grocers-Hall And then the House was adjourned till the 20th of Jan. In the Commons House Mr. Quelch balled It was Ordered That Mr. Quelch now in the Serjeant's Custody by order of the House shall be forthwith bailed It was rare that ever they absolutely discharged any Person who once came under their Hands though but for the slightest Information and they rather chose to let them go under Bail by which Artifice they
Authors of our miseries is the Bishops and their Adherents favourers of the Romish and Arminian faction that have with a high hand and stretched out Arm in their several places of Power and Jurisdiction both spiritual and temporal exercised crueâ—â—â— and tyranny over the Children and Saints of God binding the Consciences of free Subjects only to their opinions and commands in the Exercise of their Religion with extremity and greatest severity inflicting punishment upon those of tender Consciences that shall refuse the same enjoyning all of the Clergy under their Authority to teach only such things as may serve only to the defence and maintenance of their devised doctrines and Tenents of their superiours preaching the same out of Fear not Conscience these corrupt Bishops Lords over their brethren and fellow servants in the Administration of the Mysteries of Salvation have been the prime Authors of all the troubles we are now incumbred withal I speak not Master Speaker altogether against their persons but even their Offices and Places of authority as now they are used contrary to the true intent of the Apostles in the first admitting of the ordination of Bishops in these particulars as I under favour conceive First their denomination and style Lord Bishops we find not any where allowed nay not named in Scripture Secondly they joyn not with their authority teaching and constant preaching of the word of God warranted by the same but separated contrary thereto Thirdly joyning with their Spiritual Power temporal Jurisdiction usurping to themselves the only Office of the Magistrate Fourthly procuring to themselves places of Judicature chief Judges in great Courts as their High Commission late Star-Chamber and the like which are all contrary to the rules and ordinances of Divine-Writ We cannot otherwise conceive or expect as long as their Offices thus corrupted remain without limitation or correction that ever there will be true Religion setled in this Land or any peace or unity of hearts and affections in this Kingdom being too apparent to all the world that from age to age since the Prelates have had such power and command in the Common-Wealth they have bin either the roots and founders or Actors and Competitors with others of all the divisions and dissentions that have ever been in this Kingdom either between the Prince and his People or between the Prince and his Parliaments and still such persons of perverse Spirits possess such Offices Secondly I come to shew you these their practises how they have and still endeavour to bring to pass their wicked designs they are known already I verily believe both to you and almost all men that is * * Most notorious falshood by Innovating Religion joyning with the Church of Rome approving as well of the Doctrine as Ceremonies thereof endeavouring to bring all others into the same opinion with them especially the Lords and Grandees of this Kingdom to perfect this they raise divisions between the King and his Subjects between King and Parliament between Lords and Commons and between the Commons themselves to raise Mutinies Insurrections Rebellions amongst his Majesties good Subjects open Wars between his Majesties Kingdomes one against another and all under pretence of the Religion to defend the Office Power and Jurisdiction of Bishops above all others yea that their Spiritual power is above the Kings in Ecclesiastical causes and the like all which we have had woeful experience of Thirdly and lastly the means whereby we may remedy these evils is First to regulate and rectifie their unlawful and usurped Power and Jurisdictio and settle such a form of Government in Religion as shall seem to the Wisdom of this House to come nearest the Word of God And Secondly with all speed as we possibly can upon Triall bring to deserved punishment these Prelates and Bishops that have been the only Authors of all our miseries Thus did these Vultures and Harpies accuse the innocent Doves upon whom they intended to prey and Quarry but God be praised We have found though by woful Experience who were the Occasions of all those dreadful Miseries those Wars and Bloodshed that Tyranny and Usurpation under which the Nation so long groaned which from the Day that it saw the Bishops excluded from the Execution of their Function and from their Right never saw one happy Day till by the Miracle of Providence they were by the Restauration of the Illustrious Son of the Glorious Martyr repossessed of their Office and Rights Then Sir Philip Stapleton Reported the Paper of Thanks to be returned to the Scots Commissioners which was in these Words The House of Commons having considered The Thanks of the House of Commons to the Scots Commissioners for their Papers to the King and Parligment both that Paper given in to them from the Scottish Commissioners upon Saturday last as likewise their Advice lately given to his Majesty by occasion of the present Troubles which at the intreaty of the said House they have communicated to them and finding therein a large Testimony of their Fidelity to the King of Affection to this State and of Wisdom for the Honor Security and Peace of his Majesty and Kingdoms doth hereby declare That they have herein done that which is not only acceptable to this House but likewise that which is of great Advantage to both Nations and therefore have Ordered That Sir Philip Stapleton Mr. Hampden Mr. Fiennes Mr. Pym Mr. Arthur Goodwin Sir Henry Vane ju or any three of them shall return them very hearty and affectionate Thanks in the Name of this House and this House doth further desire them That according to their Affections already expressed they will continue their Care and Indeavors to remove the present Distractions among us as also to preserve and confirm the Vnion between the two Nations so happily begun And that this might appear to be not only a verbal Acknowledgment It was this day Ordered That the Citizens that serve for the City of London do take Care that the Scots Commissioners do pay nothing for their House Rent and Furniture belonging unto the same and this House will undertake to see the same satisfied After this one Ralph Hope being at the Bar informed the House of Commons That 4th Jan. instant Serjeant Dendy came to Mr. Weekes his House at the Gate-House Information against Serjeant Dendy and required of him if Mr. Hollis lay there whereupon he asked the Serjeant What his Business was the Serjeant bid him tell him his Name he answered if he would tell him his Business he would tell him his Name whereupon he said I charge you upon your Life to tell me where Mr. Hollis is for he is a Traitor how dares Mr. Weekes lodg a Traitor in his House he said he must have him and would have him for he was a Traitor Whereupon it was Resolved c. That Mr. Dendy Serjeant at Arms shall be forthwith sent for as a Delinquent by the Serjeant at Arms attending
the English who lived under them rise against them with great Malignity and joyn with the Rebels They defaced the Chargeable Buildings and profitable Improvements of the English to their uttermost Power They threaten all the English to be gone by a time or they will destroy them utterly and indeed they give out publickly That their purpose is totally to Extirp the English and Protestants and not to lay down Arms until by an Act of Parliament here the Romish Religion be Established and that the Government be settled in the hands of Natives and all the old Irish restored to the Lands of their supposed Ancestors These and other Miseries and Calamities the English and Protestants of all Conditions here do suffer which we cannot mention without horror and grief of Heart Besides in these high Disturbances and general mischiefs the Irish inhabiting on the Borders of the Counties of Meath and Lowth adjoyning to the Counties of Cavan and Monaghan do make daily Incursions on all the English near them and Rob and Spoyl them of all they have whereby many are utterly undon and ruined in their Estates The Rebels finding their numbers to increase which we are informed to be very many and in many Places insomuch as it is conceived that they are not less than thirty thousand already declared assemble themselves in great Parties whom notwithstanding we dare meet with far fewer numbers as we hope to be Armed and Horsed they for the most part being as yet meanly provided of any Arms or Munition but such only as they got from the English whom they Robbed and the Kings Magazins which they surprised They sent a Party of their men to the Town of Dundalk an antient Corporation which held firm to the Crown in all the times of the late Rebellions in this Kingdom When they approached the Town on Saturday last it was rendred up to them without a blow strucken in the defence of it They are now advancing immediately to Drogheda a Walled Town upon the Sea Coast within twenty Miles of Dublin and if they can prevail there it is conceived they will March immediately hither to Besieâ—e this City and Castle In this straight and therein our extream want of Money and Arms as well as men adding to our grief We conceived it became of absolute necessity to find means to imploy some strength as well to deter the Rebels and their Adherents as to countenance and if it be possible to preserve the good Subjects especially in these Parts And therefore having sent what Supplies of Arms and Munition we could to Drogheda we raised here a thousand Foot consisting of as many English as we could possibly gather yet a great part of them are Irish whom we are necessitated to trust and have Armed them and they are now Marched with two Troops of Horse towards Drogheda But if through the defection of these Irish in that Regiment or any other accident it should so happen as God forbid that the Rebels should prevail against them then considering the present State and Condition of this City we must utterly dispair of being able to keep it against the Rebels unless we be with all possible speed relieved from thence with Men Money and Arms and on the other side not to send forth those Troops would be extreamly Dangerous as giving not only too much heart to the Rebels when they should see themselves able to come so far without resistance but also great Discouragement and Terror to the well affected when they should see us unable to shew any strength for their defence We hold it our duties thus to acquaint your Lordships with the Lamentable State wherein this Kingdom stands that so his Majesty and the Parliament there may understand it and then we hope they will provide for relieving us Immediately with ten thousand Foot and one thousand Horse for the present well Armed and further Provision of Arms to furnish the Stores as also some able Commanders and one hundred thousand pound in money to pay them and answer other occasions here which being now speedily sent us may prevent the Effusion of very much English Bloud and the vast expence of Treasure hereafter which must of necessity be spent if we be not presently thus relieved We must also make known to your Lordships that upon this occasion many of the Noblemen and Gentry of the Pale coming to us for Arms as also many in this City and other Towns We held it the safest way to avoid their Suspition of our Jealousie of them and so we yielded to set some prime Men and some Counties also to have Arms and Munition for their defence against the Rebels upon deep professions of their Loyalty to the Crown who we hope will be a strength to us But however there was no safety to let them lodge any thoughts of Jealousie in us against them And our Issuing of Arms in that manner hath very much lessened our stores Sir Faithful Fortescue coming lately from Drogheda shewed us a Paper which he told us was dropped under a Stall at Drogheda and so was brought to him it seems to be a Declaration of some of the reasons pretended by the Rebels for taking up Arms which Paper we humbly offer to your Lordships here inclosed as also two Proclamations Published by us by occasion of this Rebellion since our last dispatch to the Lord Lieutenant The Lord Magwire and Mr. Mahown the two Principal Prisoners we have we should think fit to send into England for their more safety and to take a way from the Rebels all hope of delivering them from Prison by their coming hither to besiege this Place wherein therefore we humbly 〈◊〉 a speedy Signification of his Majesties or your Lordships good pleasure to be hastened unto us To quicken our Supplies from thence without which and that with all possible speed we cannot expect to live to give his Majesty an account of this Place We have now written our Letters to the Lords and Commons House of Parliament there and have for the particulars referred to these our Letters to your Lordships humbly beseeching your Lordships to Communicate them to both Houses yet so we hope as those Parts thereof which your Lordships may easily judge are fit to be kept secret and being published may discover our Disability to make defence and our Apprehensions of great and Eminent danger may not come to common view We have also so extreamly necessary it is sent this Bearer Richard Fitz Gerald Esq as an Express Agent or Sollicitor from this State to attend his Majesty and your Lordships that so by his Majesties gracious Interposition and your Lordships Mediation for us to the Parliament there the succors we expect may be seat us which if they come not immediately we crave leave to repeat it again and again the Kingdom will be utterly lost and all the English and Protestants in Ireland destroyed and so England instead of Subjects will have Enemies here who
fruition of your future favours The fixion our Confidence in you before any other of the Peers and privy Councellors of the Kingdom doubleth this Obligation Your Lordship may therefore be pleased to acquaint the Lords Justices and Councel to be imparted unto his Sacred Majesty with our Grievances and the causes thereof the reading of which we most humbly pray and the manner of it First the Papists in the neighbouring Counties are severely puniâ—â—ed and their miseries might serve as Beacons unto us to look unto our own when our Neighbours Houses are on fire And we and other Papists are and ever will be as loyal Subjects as any in the King's Dominions For manifestation whereof we send herein inclosed an Oath solemnly taken by us which as it received indelible Impression in our hearts shall be sign'd with our hand and seal'd with our Blood Secondly There is an incapacity in the Papists of Honour and the Immunities of true Subjects the royal Marks of distributive Justice and a disfavour in the Commutative which rais'd Strangers and Forreigners whose valour and vertue was invincible when the old Families of the English and the Major part of us the meer Irish ddi swim in blood to serve the Crown of England and when Offices should call Men of worth Men without Worth and merit obtain them Thirdly The Statute of the 2 Eliz. of force in this Kingdom against us and they of our Religion doth a little disanimate us and the rest Fourthly The avoidance of Grants of our Lands and Liberties by Quirks and Quiddities of the Law without reflecting upon the Kings Royal and real Intention for confirming our Estates his Broad Seal being the pawn betwâ—â—t his Majesty and his people Fifthly The restraint of purchase in the meer Irish of Lands in the Escheated Counties and the taint and blemish of them and their posterities doth more discontent them than that plantation Rule for they are brought to that Exigent of poverty in these late times that they must be sellers and not buyers of Land And we conceive and humbly offer to your Lordships consideration Principiis obsta that in the beginning of this Commotion Your Lordship as it is hereditary for you will be a Physitian to cure this Disease in us and by our Examples it will doubtless beget the like auspicious scucess in all other parts of the Kingdom For we are of opinion it is one sickness and one pharmach will suffice Sublata causa tollitur Effectus And it will be recorded that you will do service unto God King and Countrey And for salving every the aforsaid Soars your Lordship is to be an humble Suitor in our behalf and of the rest of the Papists that out of the abundance of his Majesties Clemency there may be an Act of Oblivion and general pardon without restitution or Account of Goods taken in the time of this Commotion a liberty of our Religion a repeal of all Statutes formerly made to the contrary and not by Proclamation but Parliamentary way A Charter free Denizen in ample manner for meer Irish All which in succeeding Ages will prove an Union in all his Majesties Dominions instead of Division a Comfort in Desolation and a Happiness in perpetnity for an eminent Calamity And this being granted there will be all things Quae sunt Caesaris Caesari and Quae sunt Dei Deo And it was by the Poet written though he be prophane in other matters yet in this prophetically Divisum Imperium cum Jove Caesar habet All which for this present we to leave your Honourable Care And we will as we ever did and do remain Your very humble and assured ever to be Commanded Hugh mac Gillernow Farrall James Farrall Bryan Farrall Readagh Farrall Edmond mac Cael Farrall John Farrall in Carbuy Garret Farrall Lisagh mac Conel Farrall Bryan mac William Farrall James mac Trig Farrall his Mark Morgan mac Carbry Farrall Donnagh mac Carbry Farrall Richard mac Conel Farrall William Mac James Farrall James Farrall Taghna mac Rory Farral Cormack mac Rory Farrall Conock mac Bryne Farrall John mac Edmund Farrall John Farrall Roger mac Bryne Farrall Barnaby Farrall Redeagh mac Lisagh Farrall Connor Oge mac Connor Farrall Edmond mac Connor Farrall Cahel mac Bryne Farrall Before the Parliament broke up the Popish Lords deputed the Lord Dillon to go into England to carry over their Desires to the King and to represent the Means which they thought fittest for the suppressing of the Rebellion and he with the Lord Taaf imbarqued for England but by stress of Weather the Vessel was driven into Scotland and they took their way by Land for London But the Parliament having notice of their coming they were by Order of the Commons seized upon and brought up in safe Custody and all their Papers searched and Examined So unwilling it seems was the Faction that any Address should be made to the King or that any Steps should be made towards the reducing that Kingdom to his Majesties Obedience by any sort of Treaty or Accommodation By this procedure though they gained upon the good Opinion of the People whose favor they most industriously courted and to whom nothing sounded more pleasant then what seemed to express a Hatred and Detestation of the Irish Rebellion and Religion yet certainly was it a means of running the Rebels into such Extremities as dispair of Mercy are wont to produce in those who have transgressed the Bounds of Law and Duty and know their Lives and Estates without it to be forfeited to Justice But for the better understanding of this and some other Particulars the Reader may peruse the following Extracts of some Letters from the Board in Ireland which I found among the old Papers of the Clerk of the Parliaments Office Extract of a Letter of the Lords Justices and Council of Ireland to the Lord Lieutenant dated the 25th of November 1641. THe Rebels in the County of Wexford increasing daily Extract of divers Letters of the Lords Justices Council of Ireland to the Lord Lieutenant received the 6 of December by Mr. Fitz-Girald read Dec. 10. 1641. have taken the Castles of Arickloe Limbrick the Lord Esmond 's House and Fort-Chichester places of good Strength and Importance The Rebels also in the County of Wickloe have laid Siege to his Majesties Castle of Wickloe those in that Castle were in fight with them Yesterday what the issue is we yet hear not and some of those Rebels in the County of Wickloe have dared to come within four Miles of this City and swept away great droves of Cattle And in both Counties as well Wickloe as Wexford all the Castles and Houses of the English with all their substance are come into the hands of the Rebels and the English with their Wives and Children strip'd naked and banished thence by their fury and rage The Rebels in the County of Longford do still increase also as well in their Numbers as in their
since we find there is little hope of it for some of the Priests are returned nothing being wrought thereby However it is fit your Lordship should know what we do we must now crave leave to declare to your Lordship That things being risen here to this height threatning not only the shaking of the Government but the loss of the Kingdom as the Supplies of Men Arms and more Treasure are of great necessity to be hastned away hither so is it also needful that we enjoy your Lordships presence here for the conduct in your own person of the great and important Affairs of this State as well in the Martial as in the Civil Government which do necessarily require it in this time of great imminent danger wherein so far as we may be able to contribute any assistance with you we shall be ready to discharge our duties therein with that loyalty and uprightness of heart which we owe to his Majesty and the particular respect due from us to your Lordship but we hope you will bring that strength with you which may befit the greatness of the King our Master to send with his Lieutenant against so numerous Enemies as these Rebels are become as well for the Honour of his Majesty as for the terror of those Rebels By what we have heretofore and now humbly represented to your Lordship you may in part see the greatness of the publick danger wherein this Kingdom now stands and particularly this City and Castle the principal piece thereof that if those be lost which we now again assure your Lordship were never in so great peril to be lost since the first Conquest of this Kingdom by the Crown of England the whole Kingdom must quickly follow that the danger which must thereupon arise to the Kingdom of England is very great in many Respects There is no possibility to prevent those Evils with Honor and Safety to England but by Succors from thence or Scotland or both and that if those Succors come not speedily it cannot be avoided but the Kingdom must be lost And if notwithstanding all this so often and truly made known by us to your Lordship we shall perish for want of Supplies we shall carry this Comfort with us to our Graves or any other Burial we shall have That your Lordship can witness for us to the Royal Majesty and to all the World that we have discharged our Duties to God to his Majesty to that Nation and to this in humbly representing to his Majesty by your Lordship the chief Governour of the Kingdom the Extremities and Dangers wherein his Kingdom and People stand and the necessity of hastning Supplies hither by all possible means for preservation of both so as whatever become of our persons our memory cannot be justly stained with so wretched a breach of Faith and Loyalty to the King our Master as to forbear representing thither the Extremities wherein we are whether we have the Credit to be believed or no and that we write Truth and most needful Truth will be found true when perhaps we shall perish and which is more considerable the Kingdom also for want of being Relieved and Succoured in time And so we remain Your Lordships to be Commanded William Parsons Ormond Ossory Char. Lambert John Temple Francis Willoughby Jo. Burlace R. Dillon Ad. Loftus Charles Coot R. Meredith From his Majesties Castle of Dublin 14 December 1641. Postscript BY our Letters to your Lordship of the 22. of November We did desire to be informed from thence Whether the Parliament here being once Prorogued may not again be Prorogued by Proclamation before they Sit or whether it be of necessity that they must Sit again and the Parliament to be Prorogued the House Sitting And now that this Rebellion hath over-spread the whole Kingdom and that many Members of both Houses are involved therein so as the Parliament cannot Sit We humbly desire to know his Majesties Pleasure therein and if his Majesty shall think fit to Prorogue it which at present we hold expedient that then we may receive his Commandment for Prorogation and that the doubt concerning that be cleared for to assemble at that time cannot be with Safety Our Letters of the Third of December have been hitherto with-held on this side by contrary Winds The Propositions mentioned in this Letter for a Treaty by Sir Thomas Carey and Dr. Cale a Doctor of the Sorbon were First That there should be a Toleration of Religion Some Overtures for a Treaty Secondly That Popish Officers as well as Protestants should be admitted to all Employments Thirdly That the wrongs of Plantations should be repaired since 1610. Fourthly That there should be a Proclamation to take off the File the Title of Rebels and Traitors But Sir Phelim O Neil would not be perswaded to condescend to any manner of Treaty unless the Lord Mac-guire Mac-Mahon and the other Prisoners in the Castle were first set at Liberty which the Board rejecting with Contempt and Indignation that Overture died almost as soon as it was born Though it now began to be notorious that the Lords of the The Board Vindicates Sir Charles Coot and themselves from the Imputation of the Lords of the Pale Pale were deeply in the Conspiracy yet to take away their pretences the Board published a Proclamation and sent it to those Noblemen wherein it was positively Affirmed That the Lords Justices and Council did never hear Sir Charles Coot or any other utter at the Council Board or elsewhere any Speeches tending to a Purpose or Resolution 〈◊〉 Execute on those of their Profession or any other a general Massacâ—â— nor was it ever in their thoughts to dishonour His Majesty or the State by such an Odious Detestable and Impious Action giving them assurance of their safety if they would repair to Dublin the 17th of that Month. In Answer to which The Answer of the Lords of the Pale the Lords of the Pale return a Letter to the Lords Justices wherein they complain That they were so justly affrighted with Sir Charles Coot's severity and deportment that they durst not adventure their persons within the Confines of his Government they heavily charge upon him the inhumane acts perpetrated in the County of Wickloe the Massacre of Santry and the burning of Mr. King's house at Clantorfe contrary to the Publick Faith given but the day before for which severity they said they did not blame their Lordships but Sir Charles Coot for his Rigor in the Execution and therefore desire that no sinister Construction may be made of their stay but that they may have some Commissioners appointed to confer with them concluding with professions of their Loyalty and readiness to give their advice for the advancement of His Majesty's Service and the Common Peace of the Kingdom But though they did not proceed to open Hostilities chusing rather to force the Government to be the Aggressors yet they began to form themselves into a
of the House of Lords 849. At the Bar of the House of Commons 856. A Petition of some Merchants c. against him 881. A Motion of the House of Commons for displacing him dissented to by the House of Lords 882. Cruelty of the Irish Rebels 633. Customers offer 100000 l. for an Act of Oblivion 256. are Ordered to pay 150000 l. ibid. Votes about the Petty-Farmers 258. who Petition the House 265. Custos Regni insisted on by the House of Commons 425. the Judges Opinion about it 430. D. SIr Thomas Danby a Witness for the Earl of Strafford 95. Mr. William Davenant accused for a Conspiracy to seduce the Army 232. a Proclamation to stop him 233. sent for by a Serjeant 245. Committed 246. Bayled 377. Lord Chief Baron Davenport Impeach'd by the House of Commons 343. Articles against him 347. Sir Thomas Dawes a Writ Ne exeat regnum against him 425. Deans and Chapters defended by Doctor Hacket in the House of Commons 240. Speeches in Parliament concerning them 282. 289. Debts of the Kingdom considered by the House of Commons 257. 724. Declaration of the House of Commons concerning several Church-matters without the consent of the House of Lords 481. of the House of Commons of Ireland upon the Queeres proposed to the Judges there 584. of the English Parliament touching the Irish Rebellion 601. of the House of Commons against Inigo Jones 728. of the King in answer to the Remonstrance 746. of the House of Commons concerning the Tower and Collonel Lunsford 778. Declaration of the State of the Kingdom projected 615. debated 664. appointed to be delivered and by whom 689. set down at large 692. c. how received by the King 709. House divided about Printing it 743. Declaration for a Posture of Defence 850. rejected by the House of Lords 857. Declaration concerning Breach of Priviledges 853. Sir Edward Deering Chairman of a Sub-Committee for Scandalous Ministers 245. delivers the Bill for abolition of Episcopacy with a Speech 248. how unfortunate 249. his Speech about Episcopal Government 295. concerning the Order for removing the Communion Table 493. concerning Bowing at the Name of Jesus 610. about the Declaration of the State of the Kingdom 664. against passing it 668. the behaviour of the factious to him 672. Defence of the E. S. to the first Article against him 54. to the second 55. third 56. fourth 58. fifth 60. sixth 61. eighth 63. ninth 64. tenth 65. twelfth 67. thirteenth 68. fifteenth 71. sixteenth 74. nineteenth 78. twentieth to twenty fourth 84. to 87. twenty fifth 89. twenty sixth 91. twenty seventh 94. twenty eighth 99. Delinquents who are so Voted their Estates to be seized 511 Delinquents about the Sope Patent 513. Serjeant Dendy Inform'd against for words 888. Bishop of Derry Impeach'd 566. Articles against him 570. Sir Simon D'ewes his Speech about the Poll-Bill 322. concerning the Palatinate 368. Differences between the Lords and Commons about the Votes for the Protestation 416. Lord Digby one of the Committee to prepare the Charge against the Earl of Strafford 7. appointed one of the Managers of the Evidence against him 28. his Speech at passing the Bill of Attainder 157. which is Ordered to be Burnt by the Common Hangman 160 389. exceptions taken at some Words of his 271. expelled the House of Commons 275. made a Baron and added to all the standing Committees ibid. a Message from the House of Commons about him 791. Information against him 845. Summoned to attend the House of Lords 882. his Apology at large 863. Lord Dillon a Witness for the Earl of Strafford 56 58 60 61 71. made one of the Lords Justices of Ireland 564. displaced to please the Faction ibid. Committed by the House of Commons 786. Directions of the House of Commons for taking the Protestation 229. of the same to their Committee during the Recess 481. Disbanding the Army Votes Orders c. about it 233 286 454 456 457 458 461. Disbanded Soldiers to be permitted to go beyond Sea 495. Dondalk taken by the Irish Rebels 636. Sir James Douglas sent for as a Delinquent 753. Mr. Edward Dowdall's Depositions concerning the Treaty between the Lords c. of the Pale and the Irish Rebels 907. Bishop of Down a Warrant to him concerning Contemners of Eeclesiastical Jurisdiction 63. William Dowson a Witness against the Earl of Strafford 94. Thomas Drinkwater ordered to the Pillory for a Contempt 238. excused 245. Drogheda see Tredagh Dublin Fortified 636. Citizens pretend themselves not able to raise 40 l. ibid. cunningly victualled by the Master of the Rolls 637. Strangers ordered by Proclamation to depart the City and Suburbs 637. Dr. Duncomb Witness for the Earl of Strafford 55. Dunkirkers laden with Ammunition for Ireland stopt 844 857. Durham House assured to the Earl of Pembroke by an Act 426. Dutch Ambassador desired to assist in stoping the Dunkirkers 857. E. EDwards a Witness against the Earl of Strafford 90. Egor a Witness against the Earl of Strafford 36. Election of Members Cases about it 599. 870. Sir John Elliot 's Case 376. Bishop of Ely his Case with Lady Hatton 270. see Wren Dean of Ely see Fuller Embassadors Voted not to entertain Priests Natives of England 373. French or Spanish Embassadors see French or Spanish Episcopacy a Bill Proposed for the Abolishing of it 248. Sir Edward Deering 's Speech upon it 248. Sir Benjamin Rudyard 's 249. the Lord Newark 's 251. Votes of the House of Lords upon it 255. Report of a Conference about it 259. Debated in the House of Commons 275. two Papers concerning it presented to the House of Commons 301. Votes about it 380. Order to discourage Petitioners for it 655. Epitaphs upon the Earl of Strafford 204. 205. Sir Walter Erle one of the Commissioners to prepare the Charge against the Earl of Strafford 7. appointed one of the Managers of Evidence against him 28. gravell'd in his Management he is assisted by the Lord Digby 100. sent down to secure Dorsetshire 233. Earl of Essex made Lord Lieutenant of Yorkshire 247. and Lord Chamberlain 407. Motion of the House of Commons that he have power over all the Train'd Bands South of Trent 608. lays down that Commission 684. Evidence against the Earl of Strafford Summ'd up by him 104. Examination of Owen Connelly about the Irish Rebellion 520. of Mac Mahan concerning the same 521. of Richard Grave 522. of Mr. Attorney General about the five Members 873. Exceptions taken at some words of the Lord Digby 27. at a Letter from the Speaker of the House of Lords of Ireland 417. at a Message from the House of Lords by one Person only 474. at the Bishop of Lincoln 477. at the Kings Speech 739. Exclusion of the Bishops from Voting in the case of the thirteen Impeached Bishops a Conference about it 500. Execution of the Earl of Strafford 201. Explanation of the Protestation 241. of the Act of Pacification 625. Extract of Letters from the Lords Justices of
wonder and your Policy to be admired amongst the Nations After which his Majesty commanded the Clerk of the Parliament to pronounce the Royal Assent which he did in these words viz. Le Roy Remerciant ses bons Subjects accepte leur Benevolence ainsi le veult For the other two Bills his Majesty said Inregard he had not considered of them being Bills of great Consequence he would inform himself concerning the particulars and return an answer within few days After which the Commons with their Speaker returned to their House highly discontented that his Majesty had not passed the other two Bills for they presently after in some disorder adjourned themselves till Monday This day also Commissary Willmot Petitioned the House Commissary Wilmot's Petition rejected that he might have liberty upon Bail to go into the Country for the Recovery of his Health which was very much impaired by reason of his Imprisonment but the House being already in a great Ferment it was in an ill minute for him for whatever they might have done in a better humor his Petition was now utterly rejected The House of Commons met this Morning Monday July 5. but being highly discontented at the King 's delaying to pass the two Bills for abolishing the Court of Star-Chamber and the High-Commission Court they did not fall upon any business but within an hour the Gentleman-Usher of the Black-Rod came to the House to acquaint them that the King was come to the House of Lords and expected their attendance Upon their coming up his Majesty spake as followeth My Lords and Gentlemen I Come to do the Office which I did on Saturday last The King's Speech at Passing the Bills against the Star-Chamber and High-Commission Court July 5. 1641. to give determination to these Two Bills but before I do it I must tell you that I cannot but be very sensible of those reports of discontent that I hear some have taken for not giving my consent on Saturday Methinks it seems strange that any one should think I could pass two Bills of that Importance as these were without taking some fit time to consider of them for it is no less than to alter in a great measure those Fundamental Laws Ecclesiastical and Civil which many of my Predecessors have established c. If you consider what I have done this Parliament discontent will not sit in your hearts for I hope you remember that I have granted That the Judges hereafter shall hold their places quam diu benè se gesserint I have bounded the Forrest not according to My right but according to late Customes I have established the Property of the Subjects as witness the free-giving not taking away the Ship-mony I have established by Act in Parliament the Property of the Subject in Tonnage and Poundage which never was done in any My Predecessors time I have granted a Law for a Triennial Parliament and given way to an Act for the securing of moneys advanced for the disbanding of the Armies I have given free course of Justice against Delinquents I have put the Law in execution against Papists Nay I have given way to every thing that you have asked of me and therefore methinks you should not wonder if in some things I begin to refuse But I hope it shall not hinder your progress in your great Affairs and I will not stick upon trivial matters to give you content I hope you are sensible of these beneficial favours bestowed on you at this time To conclude You know by your consent there is a prefixed time set for my going into Scotland and there is an absolute necessity for it I do not know but that things may so fall out that it may be shortened therefore I hope you will hasten the dispatching of those great businesses that now are necessary to be done and leave trivial and superficial matters to another meeting For my part I shall omit nothing that may give you just contentment and study nothing more then your happiness and therefore I hope you shall see a very good Testimony of it by passing these two Bills Le Roy le veult This being done His Majesty said as followeth I have one word more to speak unto you and take now an occasion to present unto both Houses that thereby I hope all the World shall see that there is a good understanding between me and my people It is concerning my Nephew the Prince Elector Palatine who having desired Me and the King of Denmark to give way to a writing concerning the Dyet at Ratisbone with the Emperor I could not but send my Ambassador to Assist him though I am afraid I shall not have so good an answer as I expect which my Nephew fore-seeing hath desired me for the better countenancing of the same to make a Manifesto in my Name which is a thing of great Consequence And if I should do it alone without the advice of my Parliament it would rather be a scorn then otherwise Therefore I do propose it unto you that if you will advise me to it I do think it were very fit to be published in my name Mr. Rossetti the Popes Nuncio leaves England Treasurer after the House was returned acquaints them that Rossetti the Pope's Nuncio had left England WHereas William Shepherd now a Prisoner in the Fleet by the Sentence of this House Shepherd one of the Rioters at St. Saviours Southwark released for pressing in with others into the Church of St. Saviour's Southwark and violently breaking and pulling down of the Rails about the Communion Table which Sentence he the said William Shepherd acknowledging to be just and honourable It is Ordered That the said William Shepherd shall be released from his said Imprisonment for this Offence and set at Liberty In compliance with his Majesties Speech the House of Commons took the Prince Elector's condition into consideration the Manifesto was read and a Debate had upon it at which Sir Benjamin Rudyard made this Speech Mr. Speaker THis great Affair of the Palatinate concerneth this Kingdom in Nature Sir Benjamin Rudiard's Speech concerning the Palatinate in Honour in Reason of State in Religion We all know how near in Blood the Prince Elector is to his Majesty Many of us here know what solemn Protestations have been made in this place for the Recovery of the Palatinate by which we are bound in Honour to pursue it with our best Assistance God hath so framed the powers of Man and so ordered the course of things in this World as that in all Actions Right Reason and true Religion may well hold and go together If we consider Religion according to Reason of State we shall find that Christendom divides it self into two sides with the Pope against the Pope His Majesty is the greatest King of the Religion and therefore fittest to be the Head of that Party which will add a greater greatness to him then can be gotten any