the King strove to please the People and they were willing to gratifie him by conniving at his Faults But besides all this the Law of Nature is to be considered and this Law cannot be extinguished by any other Laws whatsoever And this I never heard any man deny The Law of Nature commands Self-preservation and then I would ask whether I am to obey him that will destroy me If we shall have a Prince that plainly declares either by his Words or Actions that he will change our Government and Religion or that he will give us up to a Foreigner or else that he will govern by a standing Army and take away our Properties must I obey him must I not endeavour to rescue my Self and Country from Ruine for in the Saxons time Treason did not relate to any thing but the Government and the general Concern of the Nation and not to the single Person of the King and now though it be Treason to kill the King yet it is only in order to the Publick Good and therefore with the Saxons all Indictments against Legience concluded Feloniae Proditoriae but against the Person of the King only Feloniae But in our days we find things are crept in that is difficult to tell how or when they came in And you shall find in all our ancient Laws that whatever was decreed or enacted was for the Common Good and the King was not concerned otherwise than so far as related to the Common-wealth though I know in our days another Opinion is asserted which I am sure cannot be maintained That all things must give place to the King 's particular Interest For my own part I will obey the King but I think my Obedience is obliged no further than what he commands is for the Common Good Our Government ever since the Conquest has proceeded upon the Saxon Principles and they were grounded upon Self-preservation which I do not find to be repeated by any Act of Parliament for all our Lawyers do agree That it is Treason to subvert the Government and if so without doubt our Allegiance the Laws of God and of Nature command us to defend them I will detain you no longer but only to consider this one thing Whenever we have a Popish King we must expect an alteration at least in our Religion for though he take all the Oaths and Declarations that can be devised yet it ever stands in the way to oppose the Interest of Rome they must all give place and it is meritorious to break those Engagements for that purpose or at worst hand be certainly pardoned if he presume to do it without a Dispensation and it is no more in his power to preserve our Religion than it is for him to work an Impossibility And therefore whether it is better to oppose a Popish Successor seeing we have the practice of our Forefathers to justifie us in it and besides he cannot if he would defend us or else to suffer him to rest in the Throne to destroy all we have and bring in a Religion that will damn Millions of Souls from Generation to Generation And if we may not defend our Religion then we must absolutely depend upon Providence in every thing and not put out our Hand to help our selves up when we are fallen into a Ditch This is the Case and here is an end of all Human Policy but without doubt it is our Duty to do our Endeavours and leave the Success to God Almighty and his Will be done THE CASE OF WILLIAM EARL Of Devonshire ON Sunday the 24th of April 1687. the said Earl meeting on Collonel Culpepper in the Drawing Room in White-hall who had formerly affronted the said Earl in the said King's Palace for which he had not received any satisfaction he spake to the said Collonel to go with him into the next Room who went with him accordingly and when they were there the said Earl required of him to go down Stairs that he might have Satisfaction for the Affront done him as aforesaid which the Collonel refusing to do the said Earl struck him with his Stick as is suppos'd This being made known to the King the said Earl was required by the-Lord Chief Justice Wright by Warrant to appear before him with Sureties accordingly April 27. he did appear and gave Bail in 30000 l. to appear the next day at the King's Bench himself in 10000 l. and his four Suretles in 5000 l. a piece who were the Duke of Somerset Lord Clifford the Earl of Burlington's Son Lord De-la-mere and Tho. Wharton Esq eldest Son to Lord Wharton The Earl appeared accordingly next morning and then the Court told him that his Appearance was recorded and so he had Leave to de part for that time but upon the sixth of May he appear'd there again and being then requir'd to plead to an Information of Misdemeanour for striking the said Collonel in the King's Palace he insisted upon his Priviledge That as he was a Peer of England he could not be tryed for any Misdemeanour during the Priviledge of Parliament and it being then within time of Priviledge he refused to plead the Court took time to consider of it till Monday which was the last day of the Term and the Earl then appeared and delivered in his former Plea in Parchment the Judgment given by the House of Lords in the Case of the Earl of Arundale 3 Car. was urged on the behalf of the Earl viz. That no Lord of Parliament the Parliament then sitting or within the usual times of priviledge of Parliament is to be imprison'd or restrain'd without sentence or order of the House unless it be for Treason or Felony or for refusing to give Surety for the Peace And also that the like Priviledge was about two years before allow'd in the Case of my Lord Lovelace The Court over-rul'd the Earl's Plea and requir'd him to plead to the Information the first day of the next Term and to be a Plea as of this Term and so he had Leave to depart but his Sureties were not called for to see if they would continue as his Bail The next Term he appeared and pleaded guilty to the Information and so the last day of the Term the Court did award That he should pay a Fine of 30000 l. be committed to the King's Bench till it be paid and to find Sureties for the Peace for a year To all which Proceeding and Judgment three notorious Errors may be assign'd I. The over-ruling of the Earl's plea of Priviledge II. The Excessiveness of the Fine III. The Commitment till it be paid 1. The over-ruling the Earl's plea of Priviledge is a thing of that vast consequence that it requires a great deal of time to comprehend it aright and is of so great an extent that more may be said of it than any one man can say The Judgment seems to be very unnatural because an inferiour Court has taken upon it to reverse a Judgment
Courage did not out-run their Discretion for they did not adventure to name the Prince of Orange but pretended the contrary to the Duke of Newcastle and used as much Artifice to delude him as if it had been of the highest consequence to secure him though he was attended by none but those of his own Family And there was as much preparation and consulting in order to surprize York as if it had been the most considerable Garrison in England though kept only by twenty Men and they as ready to yeild and declare for the Prince as they could have wisht And when they were possest of the Town they set strict Guards at every place and suffered none to go out or come in till they were fatisfied with their business and were as wary as if a considerable Force had been ready to sit down before the place And with the like Steps they moved at Notingham and other places And though no doubt they ingaged in the business with a great deal of Zeal and Resolution yet the Declaration of the cause of their Assembling was penn'd with great caution perhaps as a considerable Man amongst them said to keep themselves within the Statute for their Declaration neither charged King James with Male Administration nor complained of the danger we were in but the Sum of it was to joyn with the Prince of Orange in declaring for a Free Parliament Whereby they put it into King James his power to oblige them to put up their Swords as soon as he pleased for when ever he issued out his Proclamation for a Free Parliament they were bound in Honour to lay down their Arms And then what very great Service can they boast of who could hold their Swords in their hand no longer than King James pleased And though they may pretend to Merit highly yet not to the degree with those who moved forward to Joyn the Princes Army For by their Motion they prevented King James from having a true Account of their Numbers and as they would daily increase so every Account he had of them would make them still more confiderable They shewed thereby that they were resolved not to look back but would either conquer or dye They did not mince the Matter but spoke plain English of King James and of our Condition and thereby animated the Country as they Marcht and made all sure behind them so that the further they Marcht the greater Service they did for 500 Men thus moving would in a short time occasion 40000 to rise in Arms whereby in a few days they would not only be reported but in effect be so considerable and formidable as to support the Cause they had espoused and either reduce King James to Measures or drive him out of the Kingdom So that this seems to be the great thing that so astonished King James and put him to his Wits end For as to the Princes Forces their Number was not valuable and if pressed very hard would not too obstinately stand it out because it was evident they had a Retreat in their thoughts and accordingly had provided for it The desertion in his Army he could not much regard because it did not amount to 2000 Men till he ran away But as to those who intended to Joyn with the Prince of Orange his Army he would with dread behold the Storm coming upon him for he might observe the Cloud no bigger at first than a Mans hand increased so fast that it would quickly over spread the whole Heavens and prove so great a weight that it would bear down all before it for their Numbers would quickly swell very high and it could not be foreseen where and at what degree they would stop He might plainly see that they had thrown away the Scabbard and contemned the thoughts of asking quarter for as they could never hope for another opportunity to recover their Liberties if they failed in this so they very well knew the inexorable temper of King James that it would be to no great purpose to sue for his Mercy whereby being made desperate and abetted moreover by the whole Nation he must expect the utmost that could be done by the united Vigour of Courage Revenge the Recovery of Liberty and Despair all which would make up too strong a Composition for King James his tender Stomach and turn his thoughts from fighting to contrive the best way to save his Life and this was the Storm that drove him away from Salisbury Observations upon the Attainder of the Late Duke of Monmouth THAT which is done by King Lords and Commons is so Sacred as not to be called in question by any power on Earth and what they do is so very good that the Wit of Man cannot devise any constitution that can proceed with more Justice or be less subject to err than they when rightly in Conjunction And therefore whoever he be that proposes to have any of their Acts reviewed must take care to set his words in great order by reason that that which in an Inferiour Court might be called error will scarcely indure the soft name of a mistake if done by King Lords and Commons But however it does appear that they have reconsider'd what they have done and thereupon have many times found that they might do better than to adhere to their first resolve especially in cases of Bills of Attainder which for the most part have rather been expedient than that the strict Rules of Justice were pursued and though in so doing their wrath did seem to burn very hot yet in effect for little more than a moment and even to end with the blow that struck off the Criminals Head for upon the Petition of his Heir his Blood has seldom been deny'd to be restored and this proceeds from the great humanity of this Government The Law of England being a Law of Mercy does in many Cases appoint a grievous punishment rather in Terrorem than that the penalty should be rigorously exacted for which reason it is that so few Attainders are now in force If then those Cases have met with so much compassion the Case of the Duke of Monmouth may well hope for the like favour since there is not any argument for the reversing of any other Attainder that cannot be urg'd with as great force in the case of the Duke and besides there is no president of the like case to be found and whilest it remains in force is of dangerous Consequence The Law is so very careful to do right in every case that it will not allow that any Man be judg'd without being heard or at least that a convenient time be allotted him for it if he think fit to appear and it does also require that the fact be fully and sufficiently proved without both of which no Man can be convicted of any offence in the ordinary course of Justice and this is and has ever been reputed the undoubted Right and Priviledge of every Subject of
England and these things are so much of the essence of Justice that by how much they are infring'd and invaded by so much the justice of England is the less able to stand and subsist Now in the case of the Duke of Monmouth these were not only dispensed with but the usual Method of proceeding upon Bills in Parliament was not observ'd for in one and the same day that Bill of Attainder was begun and passed both Houses That the Duke of Monmouth was then Landed and in Arms was currant News at that time and believed by every Body But the question is whether the Two Houses of Parliament were informed of it in due manner and with the circumstances of Legal Evidence for it 's a very different and quite another thing both as to form and substance what may satisfie a Man in his private Judgment and what is sufficient to guide and convince him in point of Law and Justice since that which might perswade one as a Spectator to believe the Prisoner guilty of the Crime with which he stands charg'd may not in any sort be evidence to find him guilty if he were one of his Jury For put the case a Man is accused of Treason or Felony before a proper Magistrate and the Persons who afterwards happen to be his Jury are present at his Examination and the Fact is not only point blank proved but the Party Accused confesses it Yet when he stands upon his Tryal unless he do there again confess the Indictment or the Fact be proved by sufficient Evidence the Jury must acquit him Or thus If a Man is Indicted for Treason or Felony though Twenty or a greater number of Men of undoubted Credit and Probity should declare upon their Words and Reputation nay with great asseverations and Imprecations that they knew the Indictment to be true yet if neither they nor any Body else will swear to the Indictment the Jury must find for the Prisoner and yet those Men so seriously and folemnly declaring themselves would sufficiently satisfie all By Standers and even the Jury too as to their private Judgments But their Testimony not being such as the Law calls Legal Evidence it cannot affect the Prisoner In case of Treason the Law requires Two Witnesses who must be of good Reputation indifferent to the Prisoner and their Evidence is to be clear and direct to the Fact and void of all implication for if they are Men of Evil Fame have Malice to the Prisoner or are Bribed Swear doubtfully either as to the Time place or Manner of the thing any of these renders their Testimony invalid It is granted That from any thing in the Act of Attainder it cannot be objected That the Two Houses had not before them sufficient and Legal Evidence of the Dukes being then in open Hostility it being needless to express it because they are supposed not to proceed without it But it is notorious that all the Evidence they were then possest of was a Letter sent to King James in the Name of the Mayor of Lyme and a Printed Declaration under the Name of the Duke of Monmouth As to the Letter of the Mayor of Lyme First there was no proof who wrote it Secondly The Letter declared him that wrote it to be in great disorder at the instant of writing it Thirdly It gave an account of not above Sixty Persons that were come on Shoar with the Duke And Fourthly That upon their approach he fled out of Town and believed that by that time his House and most of the Town was pillag'd and ransack't These are such uncertainties as would render it insufficient to be Evidence in a much less case for it being not proved who wrote it it might in construction of Law be rather look't upon as his that deliver'd it than to be sent by Mr. Mayor But had it been proved to be his yet the disorder he own'd he was in renders the purport of his Letter of very little credit or if he had been more composed the coming of Sixty Persons only into the Town was no great indication of their Hostility having not offer'd violence to any Body or if they had been a far greater number yet for ought he knew they were retir'd to their Ships and gone away because he ran out of Town upon their approach Besides this there was nothing express'd in the Letter wherefore he did believe that such disorders were then committed in the Town for he neither saw nor heard of any Man that had receiv'd the least injury whilest he stay'd nor had the Duke then declared for what intent he came The people of the place might perhaps flock to see the Duke yet that could be no Evidence of an intended outrage it being no new thing in England for the People to crow'd together when an Eminent Person is to be seen and especially on account of the Duke Besides as his Disposition did make him averse to commit any inhumanity such as was suggested by the Letter so in point of prudence it highly behoved him to treat the place as obligingly as was possible for it had been the falsest step imaginable to have done the least violence to any body So that this part of the Letter destroys the Credit which the rest of it might otherwise have obtain'd And take it altogether is so weak and frivolous that a Letter found in the Streets would amount to as good Evidence in any case as this could for at best hand it could not be of greater weight than to corroborate a Legal Evidence To allow a Paper standing alone to be good evidence cannot be safe and must be very dangerous if such as this may pass because that evidence will not be wanting when a turn is to be serv'd As to the Printed Declaration It passed indeed under the Dukes Name but there was no proof that he drew it approv'd it order'd it to be Printed or Dispers'd or that he ever saw it or was privy to it It was read in the House of Lords by the Kings Command or else it had been a secret to them as well as to the World that there was such a thing for as that was the first time that it was heard of so not any more of those Prints came publickly abroad and not one Man of a Million that either saw or heard the Contents of that Print and for that reason it 's not altogether improbable but that that Declaration was a Contrivance of the Court and shamm'd upon the Duke of Monmouth But to let that pass That which makes a Man guilty of Treason or any other Crime is his Privity or Consent to it and that not being proved it could no more render the Duke Criminal of that Declaration than it could him that casually heard it read For if the Printing of a Treasonable Paper in a Mans Name will make him answerable for it then no Man can be safe longer than he is out of the thoughts
send for any person but without that they cannot and therefore I do not see wherein a Justice of Peace has a greater power than the Privy Council or if he had yet it would not be so great a Mischief for he can only send for any person that is in the County but the Privy Council are not limited to this or that County but their power extends all over England But besides it is unjust to be punisht without a cause and restraint or being debarr'd of Liberty is a punishment and whoever he be that would have the Privy Council to exercise this Power when he has known what it is to be brought up by a Messenger upon an Idle Story let him then tell me how he likes it and answer me if he can A SPEECH AGAINST THE Bishops Voting In Case of BLOOD OF all the things that were started to hinder the success of the last Parliament and is like to be so great a stumbling-block in the next That of the Bishops Voting in Case of Blood was and will be the chief Now they that deny that the Bishops have right to Vote in Case of Blood do labour under two great difficulties first because this is a new thing at least it is very long since the like Case has come into debate And next because they are put to prove a negative which is a great disadvantage But Truth will appear from under all the false glosses and umbrages that men may draw over it And I doubt not to make it evident that the Bishops have no right to Vote in Case of Blood at least I hope I shall not be guilty of obstinacy if I do not alter my opinion till what I have to say be answered It is strange the Bishops are so jealous of their Cause as not to adventure it on their great Diana the Canon Law by which they are expresly forbidden to meddle in case of Blood Perhaps they would do by the Canon Law as it is said by the Idolaters in the Old Testament that part of the timber they made a god and fell down and worshipped it the rest of it they either burnt in the fire or cast it to the dunghil For they tell you that the Canon Law was abolisht by the Reformation and that none but Papists yeild obedience to it and therefore now they are not tyed up by the Canon Law but may sit and Vote in case of Blood if they please I should be very glad if they were as averse to Popery in every thing else and particularly that they would leave Ceremonies indifferent and not contend so highly for them whereby they make the breach wider and heighten the differences among Protestants in the doing of which they do the Pope's work most effectually I wish they would consent to have a new Book of Canons for those that are now extant are the old Popish Canons I like Bishops very well but I wish that Bishops were reduced to their primitive Institution for I fear whilst there is in England a Lord Bishop the Church will not stand very steddily But I will leave this though I need say no more and proceed to other things that are very clear as I conceive My Lord Cook in the Second Part of his Institutes the first Chapter treating of Magna Charta when he reckons up the Priviledges of the Church he tells us that Clergy-men shall not be elected or have to do in secular Office and therefore he tells us that they are discharged of such and such burdens that Lay persons were subject to and good reason it should be so that they might with greater ease and security attend the business of their Function that is to govern and instruct the Church But whether they had these Immunities granted them that they might study the Pleas of the Crown and Law Cases or else that they might apply themselves to the work of the Ministry let any Man judge for saith he Nemo militans Deo implicet se negotiis secularibus And if to sit and judge in case of Blood be not a secular Matter I have no more to say and I hope my Lord Cook 's Authority will be allowed And because as I conceive that my Lord Cook 's Authority may pass Muster in this point I will offer some things out of him that will make it evident that the Bishops are only Lords of Parliament and not Peers and if so it is against the Law of England for them to sit and judge upon any Peer for his Life for the Law says that every Man shall be tried by his Peers In the Second Part of his Institutes the first Chapter he tells us that every Arch-Bishop that holds of the King per Baroniam and called by Writ to Parliament is a Lord of Parliament But in the 14th Chapter when he reckons up who are Pares in the Lords House he says not a word of the Bishops but repeats all the other Degrees of Lords as Dukes c. And without doubt he would not have made so great an omission if the Bishops ought to have been taken into the number Besides this if the Bishops be Pares how comes it to pass that an Act of Parliament shall be good to which their consent is not had passed by the King Lords Temporal and Commons But it was never allowed for an Act of Parliament where the Lords Temporal had not given their Vote And for proof hereof see my Lord Cook in his Chap. De Asportatis Religiosorum where he gives you several Instances of Acts of Parliament that passed and the Bishops absent But then in the Third Part of his Institutes he there puts the matter out of all controversie and shews that Bishops are to be tried by Commoners for says he in the second Chap. treating of Petty Treason None shall be tried by his Peers but only such as sit there ratione Nobilitatis as Dukes c. and reckons the several Degrees and not such as are Lords of Parliament ratione Baroniarum quas tenent in Jure Ecclesiae as Arch-Bishops and Bishops and formerly Abbots and Priors but they saith he shall be tryed by the Country that is by the Free-holders for that they are not of the Degree of Nobility So that with submission this is as clear as any thing in the World If the point be so clear that the Bishops may Vote in case of Blood it would do well that some Presidents were produced by which it might appear that they have ever done it at least that they have made use of it in such times when the Nation was in quiet and matters were carried fairly for Instances from Times of Confusion or Rebellion help rather to pull down than support a Cause But my Lord Cook in his Chap. that I mentioned even now De Asportatis Religiosorum gives you several Presidents where the Bishops when Capital Matters were to be debated in the Lords House withdrew themselves particularly 2 of
and here 's the short and long of the case And therefore the Parliament must never yield that the Bishops shall Vote in case of Blood for the consequence of it will be to alter the very Frame of our Government and cursed be he that removes his Neighbours Landmark A SPEECH AGAINST THE PENSIONERS IN K. Charles II. Reign WIthout doubt the last Parliament had great Matters in agitation and the inquiry they made about the Pensioners of the preceding Parliament was no small one but rather one of the chief things they had in hand for had they been permitted to have perfected that it had been a good recompence for the disappointment which the Nation sustain'd in their other expectations by the suddain Prorogation And without all question nothing is fitter for the thoughts of a Parliament than to take into consideration how to punish them that had proved the Pest and had almost if not altogether ruin'd the Nation and how to prevent the like mischief for the future The Name of a Pensioner is very distastful to every English Spirit and all those who were Pensioners I think are sufficiently despised by their Country-men And therefore I will mention only two or three things that will lye at their doors before I offer my advice what is to be done Breach of Trust is accounted the most infamous thing in the World and this these Men were guilty of to the highest degree Robbery and Stealing our Law punishes with Death and what deserve they who beggar and take away all that the Nation has under the Protection of disposing of the Peoples Money for the honour and good of the King and Kingdom And if there were nothing more than this to be said without doubt they deserve a high censure Besides the giving away such vast Sums without any colour or reasonable pretence There is this great mischief will follow upon it Every man very well knows that it has put the King into an extraordinary way of expence And therefore when he has not such great supplyes it must of necessity bring the King into great want and need And shall not only give him an ill opinion of all Parliaments that do not supply him so extravagantly but perhaps put him to think of ways to get Money that otherwise would never have entred into his thoughts so that whatever ill may happen of this sort these Pensioners are answerable for it Furthermore they have layd us open to all our Enemies whoever will invade may not doubt to subdue us For they have taken from us the Sinews of War that is Money and Courage all our Money is gone and they have exhausted the Treasure of the Nation and when People are poor their Spirits are low so that we are left without a defence and who must we thank for bringing us into this despicable condition but these Gentlemen who notwithstanding this had the face to style themselves the Kings Friends and all those who opposed their practices were Factious and Seditious They had brought it to that pass that Debates could not be free if a Gentlemans Tongue happen to lye a little awry in his Mouth presently he must be called to the Bar or if that would not do whensoever any Gentleman that had a true English Spirit happen'd to say any thing that was bold presently away to seek the King and tell him of it and often times more than the Truth And thus they indeavoured to get an ill Opinion in the King of his best Subjects And their practice was the more abominable because their Words and Actions gave the occasion to force those smart Expressions from the Gentlemen that spoke them for their honest hearts were fired with true Zeal to their King and Countrey when they beheld the impudence and falseness of those Pensioners It 's true we find that in or about the 10th year of Richard II. it was indeavoured to get a Corrupt Parliament for our English Story says that the King sent for the Justices and Sheriffs and enjoyn'd them to do their best that none should be chosen Knights and Burgesses but such as the King and his Council should name but we find it could not be effected The next that occurs to my thoughts is that in the 4th year of Henry IV. the Parliament that was called at Coventry named the Lay-mens Parliament for the Sheriffs were appointed that none should be chosen Knights or Burgesses that had any skill in the Laws of the Land The next that I remember is that in Henry VI. time in the year 1449 or 50 when the Duke of Suffolk was Accused by the Commons and Committed to the Tower the King Dissolved that Parliament not far unlike our case of my Lord D but it differs in this that Suffolk was Committed to the Tower as of right he ought but we were deny'd that Justice against D only Henry VI. made the cases thus far even that he set Suffolk at liberty after he had Dissolv'd that Parliament Soon after a Parliament was called wherein great care was taken in choosing of Parliament Men that should favour Suffolk But they so far failed of their purpose that his appearance at the Parliament gave great distaste to the House of Commons and they were so far incensed that they began the Parliament with a fresh Accusation against him and others So that you may see that it was not in the power of the Court to corrupt the House of Commons In the time of Henry VIII about the 20th year of his Reign when the Parliament was active against Pluralities and Non-Residence there was an Act passed to release to the King all such Sums of Money as he had borrowed at the Loan in the 15th year of his Reign it 's said that it was much opposed but the reason that is given why it passed is because the House was mostly the Kings Servants but it gave great disturbance to the Nation And this is the only case that I can remember that comes any thing near to our Pensioners but we cannot find that they or any Parliament took Money to Vote So that we must conclude that there was never any Pensioners in Parliament till this Pack of Blades were got together Therefore Sir what will you do Shall these Men escape shall they go free with their Booty Shall not the Nation have Vengeance on them who had almost given up the Government It was they who had perverted the ends of Parliaments Parliaments have been and are the great Refuge of the Nation that which cures all its Diseases and heals it Soars But the Men had made it a Snare to the Nation and at best had brought it to be an Engine to give Money If therefore these go away unpunisht we countenance what they have done and make way to have Pensioners in every Parliament but far be any such thought from any Man that sits within these Walls And having said this I will in the next place humbly offer
dangerous time to put the Laws in Execution against the Papists because there are Examples where Magistrates some have been murdered others attempted to be assassinated for putting the Laws in Execution against the Papists and because we appear'd to be zealous in it therefore this care is taken off us I suppose that might be the chief reason why I was put out because I have help't to convict above Five Thousand Papists in Lancashire And furthermore it was necessary to know how we stand in the thoughts of our Country-men whether they have a good opinion of us now we are turn'd out of Office because it look't like a design'd disgrace For my part it has gain'd me ground and I believe every Gentleman else finds his Countreymen not to esteem the worse of him I rather think better therefore seeing our Countreys believe us to be honest Men there 's no great question but we shall be in great esteem at Whitehall now they have had this Tryal of us For White-hall is very apt to incline to the opinion of the Country And that Cart is not well upon the Wheels when it is otherwise Therefore for my part I am very thankful that I am put out I 'le assure you I find my Purse the fuller for it and I find my Countrey to pay me altogether as much respect if not more than formerly There is but one thing that I grudged to part with and that was the Office of Custos Rotulorum which had been in my Family for several Generations and for that I hop'd a particular reason might have been assign'd why they took it from me but from that day to this I cannot learn what was the cause It 's gone and farewel it And that 's all the loss I had by being put out of the Commission of the Peace I have done with our selves and now give me leave to speak a little concerning other Gentlemen who are put out and no reason given for it When any Gentleman is made a Justice of Peace it is out of respect to him and for the good of the Country because he is supposed to be honest and able and without dispute no Man ought to be put out but either that he is unfaithful unwilling to do his part or else he does not understand it And it 's a great injustice to any Gentleman to put him out without hearing him for to judge a Man unheard is not allowed by the Law And what is it but to judge a Mans Reputation a thing most dear to every honest Man For in any Age but this it would be a great reflection upon a Gentleman to be turn'd out of the Commission of the Peace But God be thank't the Nation sees very plainly who and what sort of Persons rule the Rost By all the inquiry I can make I do not find that any Man is put out but such as were very active against the Papists such as are against Arbitrary Power and such as approved of the Bill against the Duke I wish they would give the reason why one Gentleman was put out in my County for besides my self there are but two put out the one was newly put in and had not acted the other is an Ancient Justice of Peace and a Man that cannot be reprehended in relation to the discharge of his trust without reflection or diminution to any Man I think he knows the work of a Justice of Peace as well as any Man in England I except no Man And for his Integrity he may set all Men at defiance to accuse him of the least partiality in the discharge of his trust And I do know that no Man made it more his business than he did that he might ease and serve the Country For as his Ability was not Inferiour to that of any other Man so did he most duly put the Laws in execution especially those against the Papists And therefore Sir on the behalf of my Country I must complain and demand to know the reason why he was put out we are greatly hurt we are deprived of a great assistance and relief and we cannot be quiet till we are satisfied in that particular And my Lord Chancellor or the Privy Council whichsoever of them it is that put him out will they not tell us why Are they asham'd to own the cause What will it not bear water I hate this as I do Arbitrary Power and Popery Brave World that we must be debarrâ—d of the benefit of our Laws for if they are not executed they signifie nothing It is that which gives Life to our Laws And they that do execute them are put out of Office this is a fair step to Arbitrary Power to deprive us of the benefit of the Law It is the same thing not to have Laws as to have Laws and not executed I say no more least I may seem to speak in my own case for I do not desire to have any thing done as to my own particular but as to the Gentleman whose Character I have given you and his Name I will acquaint you with it is Sir Thomas Manwaring you must give me leave to be importunate and press it again and again that he may be again put into the Commission of the Peace A SPEECH For Banishing the PAPISTS I Would be as backward to commit oppression as I will be to do any thing that God has forbidden me For in all our Actions betwixt Man and Man both Publick and Private if we observe that Golden Rule to do as we would be done by we cannot err And if my Conscience should tell me that I transgress'd that Law when I give my Vote to banish the Papists I'll assure you I would not violate either that Rule or my Conscience I would now be silent and give my Vote the other way But that Rule does not so strictly tye us up as that we must forget our selves our Posterity our Laws or our Religion it does not oblige any Man to hurt himself to save another neither does it require that a whole Kingdom shall be lost to save particular Men For Charity begins at home but when the Papists are considered in their Principles and Practices then let any Man deny if he can that the Papists themselves are not the cause of whatever happens to them I will mention but one or two of their Principles because I doubt not but every Gentleman here is very well informed of them The first that I will speak to is this That Faith is not to be kept with Hereticks And this Liberty extends to every thing both as to Religion and Worldly Affairs It 's the same thing to them whether they speak Truth or no when they have to do with a Heretick as they esteem every Man that is not of their Faith so that you cannot tell when to believe them nay though they swear it for to Equivocate is a great part of their Religion The next is this That it is