said the Duke in his own Justification and Defence in the Star-Chamber Tory. He denyed it and examined divers Witnesses about the matter Tant And what then Tory. Nothing more the Cause never came to Judicial Hearing in that Court Tant Then let us hear no more of it I am sick of it my self I never heard so much before Go on Tory. After the Parliament was Dissolv'd and things well husht the Privy Council Order'd all Customs to be paid and the Refusers Punisht by Fines Imprisonment this was deem'd one New-council and Loans another Tant Loans prythee Tory what were they Tory. The King sent to the Rich a Letter beginning Trusty and Well-beloved c. under the Privy Seal requiring him or them to send him within twelve dayes so much Money as for Example in the West-riding in York-shire to Sir Thomas Wentworth 20 l Sir Francis Fuljam 20 l Sir Edward Osburn 30 l Godfrey Copley Esquire 15 l promising in the Name of the Kings Majesty his Heirs and Successors to repay the Money so lent Tant Ay when le ts hear that Tory. Within eighteen Months Tant And was the Money Repayed Tory. Pish that 's a silly question then of the City of London the King bid them lend him a hundred thousand pound Tant Well said a few such Summs from Towns or Cities would do the business but did they lend the Money Tory. No the City desir'd to be excused Tant And what then Tory. Then the Privy-Councel required them all excuses set apart to return a Direct and speedy Answer to his Gracious Majesty or in default thereof that his Majesty may frame his Councils as appertaineth to a King in such extream and Important occasions Tant And were they not afraid and apprehensive of the Innuendo Tory. The Commands rested not here for they also commanded the City to Equippe twenty of their best Ships in the River with all manner of Tackle Sea-stores and Ammunition men and Victuals for three Months Tant And did they do it Tory. They grumbled at it saying it was without President as did also the Deputy-Lieutenants and Justices of Peace at Dorset having received the Kings Commands for setting forth Ships from Pool Weymouth and Lime but the Council checkt them for daring to dispute Orders instead of obeying them and whereas they mention presidents they might know that the presidents of former times were Obedience not Direction Whigg It would puzzle a good Historian to find presidents of Obedience in England to Arbitrary-sway and Orders of Privy-Council for Impositions without Law to back them Tory. How Did not stout King Edward 1. Command Roger Bigot Earl of Norfolk and Lord Marshal of England and several other Lords to go to the Wars in Gascoygne in France which they refusing except the King himself went also in Person But the King threatned then to take away their Lands and their Lives saying to the Lord Marshal and Swearing By God Sir Earl you shall either Go or Hang. Whigg Ay but the Earl answered the King at the same moment I Swear by the same Oath I will neither Go nor Hang and so without leave went out of the Room and departed and shortly after he and Humphrey Bohun Earl of Hereford and other Lords and Noble-men Assembled and other their Friends to the number of thirty Bannerets one thousand five hundred men at Arms well appointed and stood upon their Guard but the King Dissembled his Resentments at that time being about to go to Flanders where he spent much Money and for recruit Summons a Parliament to meet at York promising from thenceforth never to charge his Subjects otherwise than by their Consents in Parliament and also to Pardon all such as had denyed to attend him in this Journey Tant And did they trust the Kings word Tory. Yes but he broke it and all his other Oaths and Confirmations of the Peoples Charters made in Parliament two Years after having obtained and bought a Pardon for so doing as aforesaid of his Holiness nay he begun to play his Arbitrary Pranks long before that for in 8 Edw. 1. he sent out his Writ of Quo Warranto a fine Engine to get Money to examine by what Title men held their Lands which upon flaws found in their Charters and pryed into by the Lawyers brought him in much Money 'till John Earl of Warren stopt the Current and stem'd the Tyde for calling upon him to show his Title He drew out an old rusty Sword and said He held his Land by that and by that would hold it to Death and having many Backers it made the King desist from his Project Tant An old rusty Sword dost say that was more than the old Christian Weapons Prayers and Tears Tory. And stopt the Kings Tyranny and lawless Usurpations more than a thousand Petitions Prayers and Tears Tant Still I say Subjects Christian Subjects should use no Weapons but Prayers and Tears Whigg What not against Robbers Thieves and Murderers Tant Not against Magistrates that Rob by Law Whigg Thou talk'st like an Asse every day more than other Rob by Law a Contradiction in terminis if there be Law for it it is not Robery Theft nor Murder and if it be against Law or without Law all violent taking of mens Goods one Subject from another is Theft and Robbery except the Law enjoyn it and may lawfully be Resisted without all doubt in like manner and with such Weapons as the Onset or Assault is made Tant What in an Officer a Commission-Officer Whigg No man can be Authoriz'd to do an ill thing or an illegal thing by any mans Commission much less by the Kings Commission or the Broad-Seal for the King can do no wrong if it be wrong it stands for nothing it is not the Kings act nor the Kings Commission but Surreptitious and punishable Tant And who shall Judge of its Legality or the legality of the Resistance Whigg The Judges and the Law and the Juries Tant Nay then we are well enough yet Whigg If you be well keep you so whil'st you are well but remember Belknap Tresilian c. many Judges have been Hang'd right right and good Reason for corrupt and false Judgment there are they that shall judge the Judges Tant Ay but when at the day of Judgment Whigg Yes yes no more on 't but this Doctrine of resisting with other Weapons than Prayers and Tears Force with Force Violence with Violence in our own just Defence seems so strange to the new Tantivee-men that herein join with the old Error of the Anabaptists condemned in the 37 Article of the Church of England as also the Family of Love who Condemned all Wars as did the Manichees nay the learned Ludovicus Vives saith Arma Christianum Virum tractare nescio an fas sit I know not whether or no it be lawful for a Christian to Fight at all or go to the Wars and wear Weapons Lactantius also was against all Killing right and
Magna Charta is such a fellow that he will have no Soveraign I wonder this Soveraign was not in Magna Charta or the confirmations of it If we grant this by Implication we give a Soveraign power above all these Laws mind that for all Power and Liberties and Prerogatives are bounded and limited by the Laws and though they be great as the Sea yet have their bounds the Law saying Hitherto shalt thou go and no further and here shall thy proud Waves be stay'd no Prerogative is infinite in England nor any power omnipotent except that of God alone the Law limits and bounds us all from the greatest to the least And therefore Sir Eward Cook goes on telling the House That Power in Law is taken for a power with force The Sheriff shall take the power of the County what it means here God only knows It is repugnant to our Petition that is the King shall not Billet Souldiers raise Money by Privy Seals Loans Imprison without cause in Law shewn c. saving by his Soveraign Power our Petition is a Petition of Right grounded on Acts of Parliament Our Predecessors would never endure a Salvo Jure suo no more than the Kings of Old could endure for the Church Salvo Honore Dei Ecclesiae we must not admit of it and to qualifie it is impossible Let us hold our Priviledges according to the Law that Power that is above this it is not sit for the King and People to have it disputed further Tant The Oath of Allegiance binds us all to maintain the Kings Prerogative Whigg No doubt on 't and let it be for ever Sacred let no Prophane Hand or Tongue touch it no nor so much as think upon it Irreverently both it and the Peoples Liberties as aforesaid are vast and great but they are not Infinite they have their known Bounds and ancient Land-marks and Cursed is that evil Councellor that makes such a Stir to Encroach or Remove them extend them or Stretch them such deserve to Stretch for it For 't is certain that there is no Soveraign Power or Prerogative wherewith any King of England hath been intrusted either by God or Man but what is for Edification not for Destruction for the Weal of his People and for their Protection Safety and Happiness Tant Our Gracious Soveraign in his late Declarations pretends to no other Prerogative but what is legal Whigg All the better for him and us his Royal Father of Gracious Memory seem'd to Disgust his Lords as aforesaid when he told them that he meant not to shew the Power of a King by diminishing their Priviledges Tory. He wanted not bad Instillers sometimes as he Confest afterwards Whigg The Summer shall want Flies e're the Crown want Sycophants swarming about it yet like Musketoes too they usually Burn their Wings in the Flame to this sort some ascribed those words in the Kings Speech I owe the account of my Actions to God alone c. But as for Tunnage and Poundage it is a thing I cannot want Tant No why should he Whigg The matter of taking it was not so much the question as the manner of taking it namely taking it before and without the gift thereof to the King by them that had the only power to dispose thereof Tant Then there was hard Measure to some as well as hard Imprisonment if the Parliament had the only power to give Tunnage and Poundage for the Kings Commission to the Customers begins thus C. R. WHereas the Lords of the Council taking into Consideration our Revenue and finding that Tunnage and Poundage is a principal Revenue of our Crown and has been continued for these many Years have therefore Order'd all those Duties of Subsidie Custom and Import as they were in the Twenty first of King James and as they shall be appointed by Us under our Seal to be Levyed Know ye that we by the Advice of our Lords Declare our Will that all those Duties be Levyed and Collected as they were in the time of our Father and in such manner as we shall appoint and if any Person refuse to Pay then our Will is that the Lord Treasurer shall Commit to Prison such so Refusing 'till they Conform themselves And we give full Power to all our Officers from time to time to give Assistance to the Farmers of the same as fully as when they were Collected by Authority of Parliament Whigg This occasion'd Debates that ended in the Dissolution of that Parliament after which the King call'd no more of eleven long Years and Straits and Necessities were urgent and remediless without a Parliament and woful work in Conclusion Tant Why did the Parliament meddle with the Customers Whigg Because they collected Customs in Tunnage and Poundage without Authority of Parliament Tant King James had them before they were given to him in Parliament Whigg King James had them by Authority of Parliament from the day before his first Parliament begun but the Statute gave him Power so to do but not from the first day of his coming to the Crown for he came to the Crown March 24. 1602. His first Parliament began at Westminster March 19. 1603. and took many things into Consideration and Enacted them before they took into consideration Tunnage and Poundage but 1 Jac. cap. 33. the Commons by the Advice and consent of the Lords gave the King the Subsidy of Tunnage and Poundage at a very low rate namely but three Shillings a Tun for Wine and so proportionably for quantities greater or lesser than a Tun but this expir'd with the Kings Life his only Son and Successor took it without Authority of Parliament as his Father took it by Authority of Parliament to the great Disgust of his Parliament who did at length grant him Tunnage and Poundage upon certain Trusts and Confidences from the 9th of August 1641. for about three months 16 Car. 1.22 Tant What no longer Whigg Not at one loose then by 16 Car. 1.25 they trusted the King with the Customs from November 30. 1641. to February 1. namely for two Months longer Then the other Hitch for five Months namely from February 1. 1641. until July 2. 1642. Then they continued it for some little time by 16 Car. 1. c. 29. cap. 31. cap. 36. Tant But did the Free Free-Parliament in 12 Car. 2.4 give it to our gracious King for no longer time Whigg Yes yes for his Life but upon trust too so sayes the Act namely The Commons Assembled in Parliament reposing Trust and Confidence in your Majesty in and for the Guarding and defending of the Seas against all Persons intending or that shall intend the Disturbance of your said Commons in the Intercourse of Trade and the Invading of this Realm c. Tant Then it was granted for these Uses and Considerations belike and should be made Use of for no other end you would say Whigg Yea I do say so as the said Statute sayes Tant
from Trent Northwards and also against his Deputy Justice in Oyer from Trent northwards the right Honourable Viscount Dunbar Deputy Lieutenant in the East riding of York-shire his Wife and Mother and the greatest part of his Family being Popish Recusants also against William Lord Eure a convict Popish Recusant and in Commission for the Sewers Henry Lord Abergavenny John Lord Tenham Henry Lord Morley John Lord Mordant John Lord St. John of Basing Captain of Lidley Castle in Com. Southampton Em. Lord Scroop Lord President of his Majesties Council in the North Lord Lieutenant of the County and City of York and of Kingston upon Hull Anthony Viscount Mountague in Commission of the Sewers Sir William Wray Knight Deputy Lieutenant Collonel to a Regiment his Wife a Recusant Sir Edward Musgrave Sir Thomas Lampley Justices of Peace and quorum Sir Thomas Savage Deputy Lieutenant and Justice of the Peace his Wife and Children Recusants Sir Richard Egerton a Non-communicant Thomas Savage Esquire a Deputy Lieutenant a Recusant and his Wife Indicted and Presented William Whitmore Sir Hugh Beeston Sir William Massy Sir William Courtnâ—y Knight Vice-warden of the Stannery and Deputy Lieutenant a Popish Recusant Sir Thomas Ridley Sir Ralph Conyers James Lawson Esquire Sir John Shelley Knight and Baronet a Popish Recusant William Scot Esquire a Recusant John Finch Esquire not convicted but comes not to Church Sir William Mullineux Deputy Lieutenant and Justice of the Peace his Wife a Recusant Sir Richard Houghton Knight Deputy Lieutenant Sir William Norris Captain of the General Forces and Justice of Peace a Recusant Sir Gilbert Ireland Justice of Peace a Recusant James Anderton Esquire Justice of Peace and one of his Majesties Receivers Edward Rigby Esquire Clerk of the Crown Justice of Peace himself a good Communicant but his Wife and Daughter Popish Recusants Edward E Robert Warren Clerk a Justice of the Peace justly suspected for five Reasons there mentioned Sir Henry Compton Knight Deputy Lieutenant Justice of the Peace and Commissioner for the Sewers Sir John Shelly Knight and Baronet himself and his Lady Recusants Sir John Gage a Popish Recusant with a vast number more of Justices of Peace and Commissioners of Sewers either Papists or justly suspected Wherefore they humbly beseech your Majesty not to suffer your loving Subjects to continue any longer discouraged by the apparent sence of that Increase both in number and power which by the Favour and Countenance of such like ill affected Governours accreweth to the Popish Party but that according to your own Wisdom Goodness and Piety whereof they rest assured you will be graciously pleased to Command that Answer of your Majesties to be effectually observed and the Parties above named and all such others to be put out of such Commissions and Places of Authority wherein they now are in your Majesties Realm of England Contrary to the Acts and Laws of State in that behalf Tant Those last words were Pungent Tory. Not prevalent surely for the Parliament was soon after Dissolved and the House of Commons having Intimation of their intended Dissolution made what hast they could to perfect a Remonstrance or Declaration against the Duke of Buckingham and concerning Tunnage and Poundage taken by the King since his Fathers death without consent in Parliament and which were never payable they say in their Remonstrance to any of his Majesties Ancestors but only by a special Act of Parliament and ought not to be levyed without such an Act. Tant And did the King go on Collecting and taking Tunnage and Poundage notwithstanding Tory. Yes he said he could not want it and sent them a former Message that if He had not a timely supply He would betake himself to New Councils Tant New Councils what were they Tory. The Commons in their said Remonstrance often with thoughtful Hearts remember the words New-Councils repeating and Repeating them as if they were somewhat against the old Parliamentary Councils and course of this Kingdom and they Order'd every Member of the House to have a Copy of the said Remonstrance for they had not time to Present it to his Gracious Majesty but were Dissolv'd though the Lords also prepared a Petition to stay the Kings purpose in Dissolving the Parliament sending Viscount Mandevil Earl of Manchester Lord President of his Majesties Council the Earls of Pembrook Carlisle and Holland to entreat his Majesty to give Audience to the whole House of Peers But the King returned Answer that his Resolution was to hear no motion for that purpose but He would Dissolve the Parliament and he was then as good as his Word for he immediately Dissolved them by Commission under the great Seal Dated at Westminster June 15.2 R. R. Car. 1. 1626. To that purpose And withall Publishes a Declaration in Print concerning the Grounds and Causes which moved his Majesty to Dissolve this as also the former Parliament Dated June 13. 2 Car. 1. two dayes before the Date of the Commission Tant It was the readyer against the time of using it Coleman was as provident Tory. Right And also a Proclamation was published against the said Remonstrance of the Commons commanding all Persons of what Quality soever who have or shall have hereafter any Copyes or Notes of the said Remonstrance forthwith to Burn the same that the Memory thereof might be utterly abolished upon Pain of his Majesties Indignation and high Displeasure Tant Then the Tide did run very high Tory. The King also Published another Proclamation against Preaching or Disputing the Arminian Controversies Pro or Con but the effects of that Proclamation how equally soever intended became the stopping of the Puritan's Mouths and an uncontroul'd Liberty to the Tongues and Pens of the thriving Divinity-men the rising side Mountagues Party And though the Parliament was Dissolv'd so that the Duke of Buckingham for that nearly-reflecting Article the last against him which the King in Honour and by the Bonds of natural Affection and Piety to the Memory of his Deceased Father thought himself obliged to Call him to a publick account for so Daring an Insolence in applying a Plaister to the Kings breast against his Will and without the Advice and contrary to the Opinion of the Sworn Physitians of King James who attributed the Cause of his trouble unto the said Plaâ—â—â—â—â— and a Drink that Buckingham gave him as was Alledged in the Thirteenth Article of the Dukes Impeachment and the said Drink twice given to the King by Buckingham's own Hands and a third time refused by the King who felt great Impairment of his Life and Health complaining of the Drink that the Duke gave him His Physitians telling him to Please him and Comfort him that His second Impairment was from cold taken or some other ordinary Cause No no said his Majesty It is that which I had from Buckingham as more at large much aggravated and insisted upon by Mr. Wandesford who managed the Thirteenth Article of the Impeachment against Buckingham Tant But what
byas't the wrong way does not call it Rebellion nor is the word Rebellion once mentioned in the late Act of Oblivion after the happy Return of his Gracious Majesty But instead of calling it Rebellion which old Hodge would have Eccho'd and Mouth'd twice in each line Sir Richard Baker's note is That while the King was altogether rul'd by Gaveston and Gaveston himself was altogether irregular the Common-wealth could have but little of Justice but was sure to Suffer as long as Gaveston was Suffered and this may be sufficient to Justifie mark that the Lords that it be not Interpreted to be Rebellion which was indeed but Providence After that the two Spencers were the new Minions that trod in the very steps of Gaveston and Seduc't the easie King Pimps to his Lust for these onely were his Favourites whereupon the People rise as one man with the Earls of Hereford and Lancaster who confederating by a solemn League and Covenant to live and dye together in maintaining the Right of the Kingdom and to procure the Banishment of the two Spencers the great Seducers of the King and the Oppressors of the State and under this pretence they take Arms and coming armed to St. Albans they send to the King then at London requiring him as he lov'd the quiet of the Realm to rid his Court of those two Traitors the Spencers Condemn'd in many Articles of High Treason by the Common-wealth mark that of the Land and withall to grant his Letters Patents of Pardon and Indemnity both to them and such as took part with them Tory. By that desire of Indemnity they tacitly acknowledg Guilt Whigg Yes against the Letter of the Law in strict construction and a Judge and Jury of your Principles Tory it is not safe trusting you when necessity had forc't them to Courses that otherwise were Illegal which yet the Historian calls Providence not Rebellion Tant But did the King Pardon them Whigg Pardon them No I trow that had been too wise an Action for such a weak Prince as was that ill-advis'd King Tant But prythee what Answer did the King give to the bold Covenanters Whigg He Swore he should never Violate the Oath made at his Coronation by granting Letters of Pardon to such notorious Offenders who Contemn'd his Person Disturb'd the Kingdom and Violated the Royal Majesty Tant Well said and how did this Answer work upon the armed Confederates Whigg It exasperated them and presently they March't to London the Citizens being their sure Friends and lodged in the Suburbs 'till they had leive of the King to march into the City where they again more peremptorily urge their demands Tant And what did the King then why did he not Hang them all at Tyburn Whigg He could not find Hangmen that would undertake so great a work besides to Hang them all would be a tedious long work and long a doing Tant What did all People hate him and forsake him Whigg No they all lov'd him so universally and wisht him so well that they also desired he might be quit of his two Diseases the two Spencers that made the Head ake and the whole Body sick and ill at ease and so at last he yields to their Banishment But this Kings Goodness and Truth went and came like Ague-fits by Paroxismes and intermissions no trust in his Word and Promises for he Consents to their Banishment onely to hush the present Commotion Hugh Spencer the Father was then beyond Sea and kept himself there but young Spencer lurk't here and there hiding himself in England expecting the turn of a better Season which soon came about for Fortunes-wheel to the Comfort of the Afflicted and terrour of the Prosperous never stands still but is alwayes in Motion and upon the Turn as in this Kings Reign was frequently demonstrated for the next year Anno 1322. the King defeated the Lords and Beheaded his Unkle the Earl of Lancaster and four years after the Parliament Deposed King Edward or rather forc't him to Depose himself and Invest his Son which if he refused they threatned to Chuse a King of another Race and he was Killed soon after by his Keepers Gourney and Matrevers Tarleton Bishop of Hereford writing to them to that effect in doubtful sence viz. Edvardum occidere nolite timere bonum est but they guess'd at his meaning for that Bishop Adam Tarleton had a little before at Oxford Preach't before the Queen and Roger Mortimer her bosom friend on this Text Caput meum doleo My Head aketh whence he inferred that the Kingdom being now deadly sick of its Head it was fit to remove that Head and put a sounder in his place this was the Loyalty of your Bishop when Interest c. Tant How did the Queen approve that Doctrine Whigg She did not dislike it to be sure but her Minion Roger like't it well enough as appeared afterwards Tant It was an Impudent Whores-trick of her first to make the King a Cuckold preferring the Love of Mortimer and then to Vnking him by Deprivation and then to Vnman him by Murthering him Whigg She did not own the Murtherers that did the Deed. Tant But she did not punish the wicked Bishop that Preach't up the King-killing Doctrine and who did give the Murderers also Commission to do it Whigg No he was her chief Favourite-Bishop and fit for her turn but such was the general Hatred to King Edward 2. that he dyed Vnlamented though perhaps not unpittyed he had so disoblig'd his People by espousing two or three unfortunate Minions and their dependants before and above his peoples welfare that ought to have been his chiefest Care Tant I protest though 't is hard measure first to be made a Cuckold and then by the same Engineers to be Depriv'd and then Kill'd this is worse than what befell the Earl of Essex General of the Parliaments-Forces in 41. First the Duke of Som made him a Cuckold then He and she disparage her Husbands virility then for that reason gets her Divorc't from him as not man sufficient And Lastly to make the Church Father all the escapes he Legitimates them by making her an honest woman and Marrying her Tory. Not Man sufficient sayst thou Parson why what one man is sufficient for a Whore if the Church admit that for a sufficient Plea for Divorce they 'l have as many Customers for that as they have for Licenses for Marriage Tant The better trading for us we are men that know our Interest and Advantage as well as carnal men Tory. Ay Ay who doubts it but say Mr. Whigg did the Earl of Essex put up this affront Whigg No I told you he was the man that first headed the Parliaments forces that afterwards took more than sufficient Vengeance on the Church and all that sided or bandyed with her Manet aliâ mente repostum Evil Actions carry their furies along with them Vengeance attends them For the said Kings unfaithfulness to his
Vnhappy Expeditions and sometimes by Lending them to France in a time when we had more need to Borrow and by such Whimzees but the Parliament gave it a worse name calling them Treasons they reduc'd the King and Kingdom into great Straits weakness and necessities which was the design of the Popish Plot the Favourites were only the Instruments and perhaps saw not what they did But they did so many Irrational Senseless and Destructive Acts that almost all lay at Stake as you have heard and was just upon the go What must be done That was the Question in these Necessities and Straits To call a Parliament was the proper natural true certain and only English Remedy Tory. Ay so it was I must needs say Whig Well and so the King found too late but the Minions had done such unanswerable things that in all their Consultations they did as all Private Councellors do stear their course with an Eye and main respect to their own particular Safeties and welfare and not to the general good welfare and Salvation of the Ship of the Commonwealth that they guided at the Helm and they were so Conscious of their own wickedness that the Earl of Strafford very prudently foreseeing his own destruction when the Parliament was called humbly craves excuse from attending it chusing rather to stay with his Army in the North. Tory. He had nothing else to trust to but an Army and Force for by Force and an Army he Ruled in Ireland and nothing but the same methods could possibly preserve him nor indeed any Tyranny and Oppression Whig True Violence only can justify Violence not could his sins be safe but by attempting greater yet he had something else to Trust to besides an Army Tant What I pray let me hear that Whig The Royal Word and the Promise of a King who to perswade him to come to the Parliament besides the Peremptory Command that would take no denyal or excuse but come he must the King engaging and promising that as he was King of England he was able to secure him from any danger and that the Parliament should not touch one Hair of his Head Tant But they did reach every Hair of his Head and the Head also the King also Passing the Bill But what said the Earl when he first heard that the King had past the Bill against him as in a Complemental Letter he gave him leave Whig He held up his Hands as Coleman did at the Gallows when he saw he must go to it not using the very words that Coleman did There is no Truth in men but to the same Tune lift up his Eyes to Heaven and laying his Hand on his Heart said Put not you Trust in Princes nor in the Sons of men for in them there is no Salvation Tant Ay Coleman indeed was left in the Lurch some thought by his last words And thus the Devil Huggs the Witch But at the Gallows leaves the Wretch To the Embrace of Squire Ketch Laughing when her Neck does Stretch That he her Soul to Hell may Fetch Tory. But what said King Charles in his own excuse For giving up Strafford contrary to Promise Whig He was Sorry for it but it could not be help'd it was so lately done but the King nevertheless sent a Letter by the Prince to the Lords written with his own Hands Intreating them that they would Confer with the House of Commons to spate the Life of the Earl and that it would be a high Contentment to him Tant And what did the Lords thereupon Whig Just nothing at all as to sparing his Life but so confirm'd the King that he said also Fiat Justitia But the King in a Speech a little before he Signed the Bill of Attainder against the Earl told both the Houses of Parliament that in Conscience he could not Condemn the Earl of High Treason that he Answered for as to the most of the main particulars of the Charge against him Tory. Ay ay the Earl did not durst not have attempted such things as he did if some body had not been privy to it besides himself Whig The King also told the two Houses at the same time that neither Fear nor any other respect should make him go against his Conscience Tant But it seems his Royal Resolution was Changeable Whig Yes and yet he was naturally constant to his Opinions and Tenacious of them some thought even to Offence sometimes But the Crimes against the Earl's Arbitrary Government Arbitrary Sway Arbitrary Councels Arbitrary Force Arbitrary Taxes and Ruling by an Army and making his Will his Law was so Apparent that the fault mustly upon some body and upon whom more fit than upon such an evil Instrument and evil Councellor as Strafford was whom the very King himself could not deny to be guilty as he publickly acknowledged to both Houses in his Speech aforesaid of such Misdemeanors that he thought the Earl not fit to serve him or the Commonwealth in any place of Trust no not so much as a Constable and concluded his said Letter with these words If no less than his Life can satisfie my people I must say Fiat Justitia which words he repeated when the Lords in Answer to his Majesties said Letter denyed to spare his Life as unsafe for the King and Royal Family Tory. I am clear too of Opinion that either the King was privy to his Misdemeanors before that time as the King intimated as aforesaid or else he and all other Kings may think the better of Parliaments as long as they live for representing men in their true colours and letting them see that the Persons and chief Favourites Admirals and Generals of their Armies and when they trust as King Charles did Strafford with the management of their chief Affairs are really and truly such wretches that they are not fit for the meanest Trust no not so much as worthy to be Petty Constable Whig That Dilemma is unanswerable Tant But Prythee Whigg what Opinion had men in those days of the Court as to Arbitrary Government Popery or Affection to Popery Whig Men strangely differ'd in Opinion in those days as now which bred that great difference amongst men as it seems was not to be decided without Blood great unnatural and uncivil Bloodshed Tory. We that were Cavaliers believed the King when he took the Sacrament upon it and pass'd so many Acts of Parliaments against Popery and Papists and promis'd to proceed Vigorously against Papists and that he also did abhor the Thoughts of Arbitrary Government Really we believ'd so many Oathes Sacraments Vowes and Royal Words and Promises publick and private Declarations and Proclamations Whig Ay ay so you did we Whiggs too have a great deal of Faith if we let upon a belief we will not to our own Eyes give Credit we are for Implicite Faith sometimes as well as you Tory. Well but Answer to the purpose was not the King counted a Gracious good King Whig Yes
them can tell what or who is the Church but usually by the Church they mean themselves the Clergy that is the promoted and Dignifyed Clergy-men and how the Vilest and worst of Clergy-men came to be promoted by their Vileness and Villanies you have heard for no other Clergy-men could be found so to Debauch their Consciences the Laws of England and the Protestant Religion and these are the men Forsooth whose Spitle we must all lick up and be punish'd if we speak never so little against them Ten thousand times more than when by Curses and Oaths we Blaspheme the Holy Name of God Oh brave World and brave Holy Religion and bravely managed Tant You are warm upon us Whig Is this a time to be Meally-mouth'd To sit weeping and wailing and wringing of hand with Prayers and Tears only when Tant When what Speak out Whig I will not Catch-pole you do but ly at lurch to undo a man for speaking Truth if you can but by hook or Crook drill him in and bring him within the reach or swing of some Old Stretch'd Law to colour as well as vindicate safely the private Spleens and Revenge every body sees you and yet you think you walk invisible and now too having got Tory here to be a Fellow-witness with you Oh how you will Strain a word and your own Consciences To bring a man that Thwarts your Evil purpose to be Maul'd by Law especially when you get which is not difficult a Jury and for your Turns Tory. You speak feelingly Whigg Jeet on and mark the end on 't there is an over-ruling Providence and God of Justice the very Heathens apprehend it and the Wheel of Fortune comforted the Captive Prince that drew the Conqueror's Chariot the Wheels whereof turning round and the upmost side forthwith undermost and the undermost again uppermost comforted and cheer'd his Captivity with the certain incertainty inconstancy and vicissitude of things And therefore good Rampant Tory let not him that putteth on his Armour boast himself yet you think you have got the World in a string and since the days of Blessed Mary Popery Coleman says had never so fair and likely a Prospect Tant I am not for Popery Whigg No not for the Name I believe thy Religion is 1500 l per Annum call it by what Name any body pleases Tory. But did not you say Whigg that you would prove by Common-Law Statute-Law Reason and Equity that the Law determines how and when Parliaments shall sit or be Dissolv'd How long they shall sit and when they shall be called all which I understand lay no where but in the Hallow of the Kings-Breast His Will and Pleasure Whig No Acts of Justice as a King lyes so incertainly only as at the will and pleasure of the King so as not to be determined by Law though some Acts of Mercy and Pardon are purely Arbitrary to adorn the Throne For if that did all our other Laws are nothing worth but at the good pleasure of the King and His Ministers Arbitrarily For for all their Transgressions none can call Evil Ministers to Account but a Parliament at least none more properly And if they can stave off a Parliament at pleasure and Dissolve it at pleasure we hold all our other Liberties Charters and Properties at pleasure which they have often oppress'd and invaded as aforesaid and when a Parliament call'd them to a Reckoning and Account for their Roguery and worse than march them off Here the Remedy by this Rule is left to the mercy and good will and pleasure of the Disease when Evil Ministers Disease the Common-wealth and this Disease may not be inquired into by the only Physitians the Parliament For Alas the Judges know who gives them and continues to them their Places and Soft Seats Tory. You see as aforesaid in King Charles I. his Speeches his Declarations c. Still he inculcates and bids them remember that the Calling Adjourning Prorogueing Holding and Dissolving Parliaments are in his Power Whig I believe you mistake for the Houses usually if not always do Adjourn themselves but they are Prorogued and Called and Dissolved by the King so all Criminals or so suspected are Indicted by the King that is in the Kings Name but the Law directs it both how and wherefore Tory. So you would say the Law directs the formal part also of Calling and Dissolving of Parliaments to be by the King in His Name but the wherefore or cause of Calling and Dissolving Parliaments is limited and determined by the Law and the time of Intervals which the King cannot pass or dispute with Whig Yes surely or else the great foundation of our Laws Parliaments the banks that limit and bound the out-ragious swellings and overflowings of Arbitrary and unlimited dominion would be strangely deficient and lame in not providing first and especially for its own Preservation against Arbitrary Will and Pleasure Tant Nay I suppose you are a Learned and Stout Champion for the Laws and for the Laws of Parliament and much Skill'd in them Whig I pretend to no Skill therein nor to the Honour of it all I have to say or have said on this Subject is only as an Historian of Whiggism a bare summary Collection of what others have done and said as to these particulars in the Reign of King Charles I. to rub up your memory with my brief Notes not to tell you any thing you have not heard before but with little Cost and Charge give you the Marrow of greater and more Elaborate works at an easier rate and minute Expence both of Money and Time Tant Well said I like that very well for I have not much of either to spare but first say what the Common Law enjoynes as to the Holding or Dissolving Parliaments Whig Few know what the Common Law is Coke says it is founded in the Immutable Law and Light of Nature agreeable to the Law of God requiring Order Government Subjection and Protection containing Ancient usages warranted by Holy Scripture and because it is generally given to all King and People Poor and Rich Lords and Commons it is therefore called Common Now consider that never any King of England had any Prerogative but what the Common-Law or Statute-Law gives them nor any Liberty or Priviledge but by Law The Prerogative is a Royal Priviledge Privilegio quasi privatae Leges Priviledges are Private Laws which always yields to the Common-Law Common-weal and Common-Benefit The King has no Priviledge or Prerogative contrary to the Publick-weal Order Government and Protection of the People Apply this to the question in hand concerning Holding or Dissolving of Parliaments And therefore in the Mirror of Justice a Book so commended by the Lord Coke that he saith it contains the whole Frame of the Ancient Common-Laws of this Realm from the time of King Arthur till near the Conquest Citesout of it one Law Concerning Parliaments made Reg. R. Alfred Anno Dom. 880.
the Strangest Law in the World if it should give a Prerogative to destroy it self and so become felo de se it s own Executioner having so carefully fenc'd against Arbitrary sway in all Ages and so Industriously and zealously too have our Ancestors stood up for the same to the last drop of their Bloods as chusing rather to leave us no Lands Charters Priviledges and Fields rather than Akeldama's as one calls them Fields of Blood and such as we must like them be forc'd to Fight for their Defence and our own against Arbitrary Projects Whig There needs no Fighting for them if we make the good Old Laws the Arbitrator of the Good Old Cause For the Law alone gives the King his due and his Subjects their due but because men naturally encline to do what they list without controul wonder not if even the best of Kings surrounded with so many Parasites and pimping Sycophants have been tempted to rule and do as he list without Check-mate of Bishops and Knights and Lords in Parliament Tant Why Has Parliaments then been as Old a Constitution as Kings of England Whig Yes for ought can be known to the contrary The said Famous Old Book the said Mirrour of Justice shows that Parliaments were before a single King Ruled England namely during the Heptarchy when there were seven Kings rather than fail to rule England Tant I shall never have enow of Kings I do so love them Whig Ay but seven Kings were accounted more than enough and after the Heptarchy when the King of the West-Saxons namely Cornwall Devonshire Dor setshire Sommer setshire Wiltshire Hampshire and Barkshire had swallowed up all the rest Parliaments still were or Senates as long before this during the Reign of the Senate and Caesars of Rome here in England So also after Egbert when the Bishop of Winchester Ethelwolph his Eldest Son with much ado was perswaded to leave his Bishoprick and a Religious Life for a Kingdom after he had purchas'd a Pardon from the Pope for breaking his Religious Vow And yet he had much ado to keep his Crown upon his head for breaking but one poor Law for if he had not by death timely death cheated his Lords they had certainly Depos'd him for placing his Queen in a Chair of State which was then contrary to Law made ever since Queen Ethelburg by chance Poison'd her Husband King Birthrick by a Venemous Potion which she said at least she had prepared for another but being a Handsome Whore she fled into France 'till by frequent Adulteries she died Miserably and like a Rotten Whore and for her sake the West-Saxons ordained whence Note they were Law-makers in these days a Law that no Kings Wife should hereafter have the Title or Majesty of a Queen which Law as aforesaid King Ethelwolph being so bold as to dispense with and break the Lords would certainly have Depos'd him but that his Grave prevented them Tant Then belike it was not safe for Kings to break Laws in those days Whig Judge you and long after Stout King Edward I. told the Bishops plainly that he could not being but one Member of the Body though the Head undo what the whole Body had done and Enacted as is before remembred Tant You are full of your Old Storyes to maintain your Whiggism Whig I invent none I write nothing but what I have Authentick Histories and Records to Vouch and Attest the Truth And thus Parliaments continued in the short Reign of Ethelbald Successor to his Fathers Crown and Bed for to his Eternal shame he Married Judith his Fathers Widdow So also in the Reigns of Ethelbert Ethelred and Alfred the four Sons of Ethelwolph who Successively Reigned one after another which Alfred was as Learned as Valiant and first Founded the University of Oxford one of the Oldest Universities in the World Tant I thought Universities had been as Old as Christianity What could Christianity and the Ministry continue in the World nine hundred years in its greatest splendor without an University and an Academian Whig Yea so it seems without either Oxford-Scholar Bloxford-Schollar or Cantabrigian Alas alas Universities were at first the Pope's Invention so also were School-men School-Divinity and Canon-Laws with which he has so defac'd Christianity with his Painting Glazings Glossings Comments Arguments Syllogismes Fallacies Fripperies and Metaphysical-Fopperies that Schollars are forc'd to Fool away a great deal of time in Cracking these Insipid Shells and Outward Rindes that their Teeth are broke and worn out before they come to Taste true and Solid Learning or Christianity nay the Majority never come at the Kernel and Marrow of true Divinity and useful Learning during their whole Life not much unlike that Popish Doctor that had been nine years Doctor of Divinity before he saw a Bible Tant Doctor Subtilis I 'le warrant Tory. Prythee Parson do not thus Interrupt Mr. Whigg with your Impertinent Parenthesis Go on Whigg Whig To serve you Tory I will and will let you know that there were Parliaments to which Knights and Burgesses were Summon'd after the Heptarchy in the Reigns aforesaid and the Reigns of Alfred's Sons King Edward as Stout a man as his Father not so Book-Learn'd but more Successful through the help of his Sister Madam Elfled the Wife of Ethelred Earl of Mereia to whom when she had brought him one Daughter with Grievous Pains in her Travel she turn'd Souldier and Virago helping her Brother most Manfully against the Welsh and Danes and brought them all under her refusing the Nuptial Bed of her Husband saying It was a floolish pleasure that brought with it so Excessive Pains Tant Few of our women now a dayes are of her mind they 'l venture again and again Tory. This Parson is always Interrupting us with his Idle Notes Commentaries and Observations Proceed good Mr. Whigg there is some profit and understanding to be learn'd by you Parson hold your Tongue if it be possible for a Prating Circingle to leave his Impertinence in Company Whig This Old Fundamental frame continued in the Reigns of Athelstone Edgar Ethelred Canutus Harold William the Conqueror c. So that Parliaments are part of the Frame of the Common-Law which no Kings can defeat frustrate or make void nor did ever any attempt the same but it proved Fatal to him nay proved to be his ruine Witness all the Unhappy Reigns and Violent Deaths of English Kings that have broke loose and made Rapes and violent attempts upon the known Chast and Sacred Laws of England the Common-Law to King and People fram'd in the Law and Light of Nature Right Reason and Holy-Writ Secondly According to the said Law made in the Reign of King Alfred Parliaments are to Sit frequently Right and good Reason I do not say as often as you take Physick Spring and Fall at least but however so often as the Noxious Humours abound above the Boundaries Banks and Limits of the Law and
fear of Hell and Purgatory does affright Tant Brave doings In Athens Themistocles was Governour and Rul'd the City his Wife rul'd him and her Son rul'd her where then were lodg'd the Reyns of Government Tory. What 's that to us here in England good Impertinent Whigg Do not interrupt us you Parson with your Nonsensical Prate out of old Notes which you read devoutly out of Sybthorp Manwaring and Mountague do not mistake your self you think the People of Athens had a brave time on 't luscious doings if you had liv'd there you would have known where and to whom you would make your special Addresses and close Applications Tory. Archbishop Abbot was quite out of play for refusing to License that doughty Sermon to which he made many rational exceptions as namely in Page 2. to these words And whereas the Prince pleads not the power of Prerogative and in page 8. The Kings Duty is first to direct and make Laws and page 10. If nothing may excuse from active Obedience but what is against the Law of God or of Nature or Impossible How does this agree with Page 5. That all Subjects are bound to all their Princes according to the Laws and Customs of the Kingdom wherein they live he might have honestly added and no otherwise and Page 12. yea all antiquity to be absolutely for absolute Obedience to Princes in all Civil and Temporal things Tant Hey day this is like Pope Boniface to Philip the fair of France Sciat te in Temporalibus Spiritualibus nobis subjacere Whigg They do not say in Spiritual things they would have their Prince absolute over all but themselves but is that Position agreeable to the great Charter and many more Acts of Parliament in Edw. 1. and Edw. 3. That the Subjects shall not be grieved to sustain any Charge or Aid but by the Common Assent and that in Parliament and the Petition of Right at large Confirms the same by the Repetition of many more Statutes to that purpose Tory. Enough Enough of this Tant What Opinion had Archbishop Abbot of Dr. Laud Tory. He soon found him and said his Life in Oxford was to pick quarrels in the Lectures of the Publick Readers and to give notice of them to the Bishop of Durham that he might fill the Ears of King James with Discontents against the honest men that took Pains in their Places and settled the truth which he called Puritanisme in their Auditors It was an Observation what a sweet man this was like to be that the first observable Act that he did was the Marrying the Earl of D. to the Lady R when it was notorious to the World that she had another Husband King James did for many years take this so ill that he would never hear of any great Preferment of him The Bishop of Lincoln Doctor Williams got him at length advanc't to the Bishoprick of St. Davids which he had not long enjoy'd before he began to undermine his Benefactor Tant That Ingratitude is inexcusable Tory. He continued his Rancour against him to his utmost to the very last Whigg Ay Archbishop Abbot that had woful cause to know him gave this Character of Land that such was his aspiring nature That he would underwork any man in the World so that he might gain by it Tory. The little man had a high towring Spirit which made the Kings Jester Archee who would needs say Grace before the King when little Bishop Laud was present in these words Great Praise be given to God and little Laud to the Devil Whigg The worst Crime that was laid to his Charge was the Countenancing Arbitrary and illegal Taxes recommended by Sybthorp and Manwaring and abetting these Sycophants which some call Crimen lesae majestatis Legis Regis There cannot be a greater Treason than an endeavour to rob the King of his Goodness Truth Conscience Trust and fidelity to his People nor a readier Road to Ruine The Kings Prerogative is the guard of the Subjects Liberties and Peace he has no Prerogative but what the Law gives him much less any Prerogative against Law Equity Reason Conscience and Justice though Sycophants for vile ends would so have stretch't it They wore the old Text thredbare Give unto Caesar the things that are Caesars in those Tantivee-dayes Tant Why so Whigg If you will not be Angry Parson I 'le tell you a Story a true one of my own certain knowledge and remembrance that will for ever Spoyl hereafter all your Tantivee-Sermons on that Text. Tant Nay if it be such a spoyl-Sermon-story keep it to your self for I have four Sermons upon that Text ready writ and they will last me with Repetitions you know and eeking out two whole Months Tory. Prythee Whigg let 's hear your story however let the Parson storm as he pleases or be disappointed Whigg Before one of the wisest Kings that ever England had King James did one D. Harsnet Preach a Tantivee-Sermon on that Text Give unto Caesar but his Sermon poor man instead of getting thanks for the same had the Hap that afterwards befell Manwarings Sermon it happened to be Burnt by the common Hangman Tant Hard Hap what was the matter Whigg Onely for asserting as thou hast done twenty times That all mens Goods and Moneys are Caesars for which the Parliament though the Sermon was Preached in the Kings Chappel at Whitehall call'd my Gentleman coram nobis taking great offence thereat Tant What was that Doctor Harsnet Whigg He was afterwards made Bishop of Chichester and then Bishop of Norwich just as Mr. Mountague leapt and perhaps upon the same rise and advantage of the ground Tantiviisme and for the same Covetous reason too because the Norwich Bishoprick is the richer and then leapt to Yorks Archbishoprick Tory. But King James disown'd the Doctor in that affair and did not own him therein Whigg Yes yes I told you he was a wise King and used to say that he was a Tyrant that did not rule according to Laws and calmed the business moderating thus and saying that the Bishop onely failed in this When he said the Goods were Caesars he did not add they were his according to the Laws and Customs of the Country wherein they did live Tory. I do not deny but the Bishops had great Sway and influence over affairs both in Church and State if the Lord Faukland's Speech in Parliament to that purpose was well Calculated for those times Tant I have heard much Discourse of the Speech of that Lord so fam'd for his Learning and Loyalty as well as Nobility but I could never get a sight of it Whigg It was call'd the true Picture of those times pourtraying that modern Episcopacy to the life Anno 1640. and here it is Tant Read it Whigg The whole would be tedious I 'le read part of it thus he begins MAster Speaker he is a great stranger in Israel who knows not that this Kingdom hath long laboured under many
in these words Le Roy Alfred ordcigna pur usage perpetuel que a deur foits per lan on plus sovene pur mistier in temps de Peace le Assembler a Londres put Parliementer surle guidement del People de dieu coment gents soy garderent de Pegers viverent in quiet receiverent droit per certain usages Saints Judgments King Alfred Ordaineth for an usage Perpetual that Twice a Year or oftner if need be in time of Peace they shall Assemble themselves at London to Treat in Parliament of the Government mark that of the People of God how they should keep themselves from Offences should live in quiet and should receive right by certain Laws and Holy Judgments Tory. Right for Standing Privy Councels or long Standing Parliaments may be Pentioners to Foraign States may give Councel for their own ends but a frequent Parliament is uncapable of being Brib'd and most improbable to give any Advice against the Common-weal Common-benefit of King and People Tant In Troth I am at a loss to find out a Reason why any should Address and be Thankful for Dissolving a Parliament Whig And yet your Hand was one of the first to an Address of like nature Heark you you know when and where Tant No more of that I am of another mind now But what says the Lord Coke the Laws Oracle and Apollo concerning the said Statute of King Alfred Whig He saith that the threefold end of this Great and Honourable Assembly of Estates is there declared First That the Subjects might be kept from offending that is that Offences might be prevented both by good and provident Laws and by the due Execution thereof Secondly That men might live safely and in quiet Thirdly That all men might receive Justice by certain Laws and Holy Judgments that is to the end that Justice might be the better Administred that Questions and Defects of Law might by the High-Court of Parliament be planed reduced to certainty and adjudged c. In short Si vetustatem spectes est anquessima si dignitatem est Honoratissima si Jurisdictionem est capacissima If you regard Antiquity the Parliament is the most Ancient Court if Dignity the most Honourable if Jurisdiction the most Soveraign and is a part of the frame of the Common-Law which is called usually Leges Anglicae Tant I thought the Parliament had beginning only since Magna Charta in the Reign of Hen. 3. which is not so very Ancient Whig Some of your Tantivees have said so and writ so but it is your ignorance or worse King Hen. 1. Surnamed Beauclark writ to Pope Pascal saying Notum habeat Sanctitas vestra quod me vivente auxiliante Deo Dignitates usus Regninostri Angliae non imminentur siego quod absit in tanto me dejectione ponerem optimates mei totus Angliae populus id nullo modo pateretur Your Holiness may please to understand that as long as I live by the help of God the Dignities and Customs of our Realm of England shall never be impared or diminished to which if I should which God forbid be so high-base as poorly to condescend my Lords and Commons of England would by no means permit the same Judge then how dangerous it is to change the Ancient Customs and usages of the Common Law much less the greatest and most useful of all the rest frequent and uninterrupted Sessions of Parliament without which the Liberties and Franchises have been and may be taken away remedilesly By the Canon Law Children born before Marriage Solemnized were Legitimate if Matrimony afterwards followed which is contrary to our Common Law This was William the Conqueror's Case who is said to be the Son of a Arlot so notorious that all Whores are since called Harlots for her sake yet William of Malmesbury says that Robert Duke of Normandy his reputed Father did after William was Born Marry his Mother Arlot which did Legitimate William by the Canon Law but it reaches not England For in the like Case when the Bishops would have ruled it according to the Papal Decree Omnes Comites Barones una voce respondement quod nolunt leges Anglicae mutare All the rest of the Lords Earls and Barons with one voice cryed out We will not change the Laws of England accounted the wisest Laws in the World but they must be the weakest and most deficient if it be Arbitrary whether Parliaments a Fundamental Constitution may or may not have a Being or only be born to die namely only to be called together that they may be Dissolv'd Therefore even the late Act for holding Parliaments once in three years or oftner if need be made by that Parliament that from the numerous Pentioners therein is commonly but Improperly called for distinction the Pentioners Parliament amongst the many precious Statutes they made take care and provide that Parliaments shall not only be called but sit and be held or else of what use is this Soveraign Remedy if it be not made use of It would be a Mock-Remedy and Mock-Parliament if it only be call'd together to be Dissolv'd This would defeat the very Letter of the Law as well as the true intent meaning and benefit thereof For if a Gracious and good King as King Charles I. is reported to be had such Horrible Oppressions and Violence committed in his Reign as Loanes Ship-money Illegal Seizures of mens Estates Liberties Free-quarter Coat and Conduct-money and False Imprisonment during his Reign contrary to Law as he acknowledged by after Statutes that condemned them If Papists were prefer'd to Offices of great Trust Military and Civil and if his Favorite the Earl of Strafford raised an Army of Papists 8000. and ruled by them committed such Hainous Enormities and Misdeeds that he was not fit to be a Puny Constable and committed such Tyrannies and Cruelties that no Record can parallel And if no remedy was found to these mischiefs but a Parliament and that not suffered to be for 12 long years together Oh Fruitless Remedy of a Parliament Oh dull and Improvident Ancestors That were wise above all the World to make good Laws for securing our Liberties and Properties of which they were Tenacious to the death And yet that the Law that secures these should not be able to secure it self but to grant a Prerogative to make all null and void at pleasure If such mischiefs happened during the Reign of a Gracious King what may not happen in a Reign less Gracious Penelope's Webb which she weav'd all day and undid all again at night might be a Fable but this the moral of it that our Laws which our wise Ancestors had been long contriving to save us from Arbitrary sway should all be unravell'd again and leave us by a Prerogative of which the Law is the Author to meer good will and pleasure Tory. I must needs say that the Law which should be Wise Holy and Good would be
offend our Liberties Charters Rights and Properties Thirdly By the said Law the place of Meeting then was London Tant Perhaps Westminster and the Banquetting-house were not then built Tory. Thou happens to be in the right on 't Parson for once Whig Parliaments then being so Ancient no Court so Ancient the Lord Coke having trac'd them from the Brittains Saxons Danes Normans to our days I wonder what Tantivees dares as Sybthorp and Bishop Manwaring c. attempt thus to divide separate and make null and void two of the three Estates of this Realm the Lords and Commons to leave us but one Estate a King in use and de facto whilst the the other two the great and main Body have no Subsistance but de Jure stand useless and for nothing years together and always when there is most need of them too If ever any Head liv'd well without the Body give me but one Instance Tant This makes me think of the Fable when the Head and Hand joyn'd together to pull the Gutts out for quoth the Head I plod for all and we quoth Toryhands and Feet have Fought and Wrought for the Head as it annuated and directed and yet the Whiggish Gutts devour all the good Victuals wherefore it was agreed with joynt-forces to tear the Gutts a pieces little considering that both Hand and Head Live and are Nourish'd and grow Fat and Fresh and well-liking by the assistance of the Trading Part the Whiggish-Gutts to whom we grutch that they have a Being and Subsistance though by them we Live and grow Fat and if we offer to tear them apieces and their Ancient Priviledges Charters and Franchises who knows but it may prove our own Ruine Tory. Here 's a wise Tale of a Tub more fit for a Tub-Preacher than a Tantivee Whig Nay for that there shall be no quarrel for Tantivee at an Idle-Pulpit Metaphor or Far-fetch'd Similitude shall match the best Tub-Preacher of them all whilst Tantivee is Pay'd for some as Idle Stories as poor Tub is Fined and Punish'd for Tory. Some men had better Steal a Horse than others to look over the Hedge You have told us what the Common-Law sayes for Parliaments frequent Parliaments Parliaments that Sit and must be held not Mock-Parliaments made like Penelope's-Web only to be Vnravell'd and Dissolv'd But what says the Statute-Law to this point Whig I have not done yet with my Common-Law Tory. Proceed then but be brief Whig The Ancient Treatise called Modus Tenendi Parliamentum which Lord Coke says was rehearsed and declared before William the Conqueror and by him approved and accordingly he held a Parliament for England as appears 21 Edw. 3. fol. 60. wherein we Read that Petitions being truly prefer'd have been Answered by the Law and Custom of Parliament before the end of Parliament Tant But suppose the King will end it before the Petitions and Grievances be redrest by his Prerogative Whig Parson Thou makes Suppositions most dishonourable to Loyal Majesty and that which is scarce to be suppos'd that ever any Head should not permit any Remedy to be applyed to the Gouty or distempered Hands Gutts and Feet For if the Hands be Lame how will the Politick-Head help it self Or if the Gutts be empty or Gutifounder'd how will Head feed its self And if the Feet be Lame and the Heart faint the Head will make Wise-Fighting I believe when it comes too Therefore I cannot imagine a Head to be so Senseless except the Brains be out that should have such an Vnnatural Cruel Stupid and foolish project in the Nodle of it as neither to help the oppressed Gutts and Hands or Feet nor yet permit the Charity and good will of others that are both willing and able to Ease Remedy and Redress the Griefs and Grievances of the Body and all this without a Fee Tant If you apply this to Parliament Redressing Grievances without a Fee you do not mean a Pentioners Parliament I hope Tory. No no such Physitians are payed as many others they got Fees to hasten us the sooner to our Graves Whig But the True-English-Parliament can never be a Long-Parliament nor can the Intervals of Parliament be long nor yet the Sessions of Parliament can be short For Modus Tenendi saith That the Parliament ought not to be ended while any Petition dependeth Vndiscussed and so say the Statutes too as I 'le shew anon irrefragably Or at least to which a determinate Answer is not made Rot. Par. 17 Ed. 3. No. 60.25 Ed. 3. No. 60.50 Ed. 3. No. 212. 2 Rich. 2.134 2 Rich. 2. No. 38. 1 Hen. 4.132 2 Hen. 4. No. 325. and 113. And that one of the Principal ends of calling Parliaments is for Redressing of Grievances that dayly happen of which the King cannot possibly be inform'd so truly as by Parliaments that Parler le ments speak their minds freely without Glozing and Flattery for Kings seldom hear Truth but in Parliament that it is one of the greatest wonders in the World that Kings of all others should not most of all desire frequent Parliamens wherein of all other places he sits in most Majesty and King-like as Gloriously as Powerfully but those Kings that have been Enemies to Parliaments and to frequent Parliaments have been at poor as ever they could creep for go they could not in State and King-like but were glad to make Poor and Beggarly and Illegal Shifts and all to preserve a company of Sneaking Sycophants that care not how Bare and Beggarly the King's Exchequer be so they may but live impune to pull him more bare and bald when there 's scarce a Hair left knowing that they must be Fleec'd too if a Parliament Sir and also must disgorge the ill gotten Goods they have Gourmandiz'd so Greedily and Illegally swallowed up and they are afraid they shall be choak'd when they are forc'd by the Wise Physitians to Spue it up Tory. But if frequent Parliaments to fit so long till all Petitions be Answered and Grievances be Redress'd be secured by Common-Law and Statute-Law How came King Charles I. in open Parliament more than in one Parliament in a kind of Threatning way to tell the Parliaments and bid them remember that the Calling Adjourning Prorogueing Holding and Dissolving was wholly in his Power Whig So it is in his Power that is he alone can do it as many other Kingly Acts Indicting men for Felony Treason c. It cannot be done but in the Kings Name you cannot Arrest a man for Debt that is owing to you but in the Kings Name But still they are things in Course and directed by the Law Besides when King Charles I. had such Principles whisper'd into his head he was but young he liv'd to be wiser before his latter end and to know the Truth of what his Wise Father had told him and his Parliaments very often That as the Head is ordained for the Body and not the Body for the Head so must a Righteous