not been his Friend After the Sale of the Towns was agreed on the next Debate was What should become of the Souldiers in Garison But let them look to that for the King being Rex Pacificus had no need of them they might go where they pleased all the Care the Favourites had was how to share the Money among themselves The dishonourable Delivery of the Dutch Towns made no Allay in his Affections to his new Favourite tho wholly unacquainted with State-Affairs who was as much given up to the Pleasures of Venus as the King was to those of Bacchus neither the Sale of the Dutch Towns nor the seizing Somerset's Estate would answer the Expence of his Pleasures and Bounty the disposing of all Places and Offices Ecclesiastical and Civil all waved as he nodded and herein his Venality was as profuse as his Venery One of the first that felt the Effects of his Power herein was Sir Edward Coke who at this time sat very loose and uneasy he had highly disgusted the Court and high-Church-Party in opposing Arch-bishop Bancroft's Articles against granting Prohibitions at Common-Law He opposed my Lord Chancellor Egerton taking notice of a Cause in the King's-Bench after Judgment given contrary to the Act 4 Hen. 4. 23. and refused to give any Opinion in the Case of Commendums being a Judg before it came judicially before him And however my Lord Chancellor Egerton upon the swearing Sir Henry Mountague when he succeeded Sir Edward Coke in the Office of Chief Justice declared Sir Edward's deposing was for being so popular yet I have it from one of Sir Edward's Sons that the Cause of his Removal was That Sir Nicholas Tufton being very aged and having a Patent for Life of the Green-wax-Office in the King's-Bench the Viscount Villiers by his Agents dealt with Sir Nicholas that if he would surrender his Patent the King would make him Earl of Thanet and in the mean time Sir Francis Bacon treated with Sir Edward to know whether in case Sir Nicholas surrendred his Patent the Viscount should prefer another to the Office Sir Edward would give Sir Francis no other Answer than this That he was old and could not wrestle with my Lord. However after Sir Nicholas had surrendred Sir Edward refused to admit of a Clerk by Villiers's Nomination but stood upon his Right and that the Judges of the King's-Bench served the King to their Loss and therefore he would so dispose of the Office that the other Judges of the King's-Bench's Salaries should be advanced and that hereupon he was turned out of his Place and Sir Henry Mountague put in who disposed the Office as the Favourite pleased But tho the Favourite's Displeasure began here with Sir Edward it did not end so nor the Titles of our new Favourite for upon the 5th of January following he was created Earl of Buckingham however Sir Edward might have been restored again to the place of Chief Justice if he would have given a Bribe but he answered A Judg ought not to take a Bribe nor give a Bribe See the second Part of the Bishop of Lincoln's Life fol. 120. Tit. 116. We begin this Year 1617 after the King had created the Earl Marquess of Buckingham on the first of January with the Story of Sir Raleigh's Voyage to Guiana which was the Cause of his Death tho upon another score being condemned in the first Year of the King for High-Treason in Cobham's Conspiracy for endeavouring to have hindered the King's coming to the Crown But before we proceed we 'll stay a little and take a view of him Sir Walter was of an antient Family but a younger Brother and as he was a Person of admirable Parts excellently adorned with Learning not Pedantick but of a nobler Strain so he had a Mind far above his Fortune and accounted Poverty the greatest of Misfortunes and to advance his Fortune he became a Courtier to Queen Elizabeth who was as great a Discerner of Men and their Qualities as any Prince in her time or perhaps before or since and as such and not as imposed by Favourites she esteemed and preferred them and upon this account she entertained and favoured Sir Walter The Queen made him Captain of her Guards Lieutenant-General of Cornwall and Lord Warden of the Stanneries but these were rather Honorary Titles than much profitable and being at Enmity with the Earl of Essex the Queen's greatest Favourite and the whole Family of the Cecils who governed all in State-Affairs these put a full stop to Sir Walter 's further Rise at Court Sir Walter thus balk'd at Court seeks Adventures abroad to raise his Fortunes thence and the Wars continuing between the Queen and the King of Spain in the Year 1595 he mans out a Ship to Guiana in the West-Indies and by the Intelligence which he had with some of the Indians and some Spanish Prisoners he had taken believed he had made a Discovery of several rich Mines and had certain Marks whereby to discover them again if occasion should happen But if he got nothing else by his Voyage he got this Advantage by it that adding Experience to his excellent Theory in Navigation he justly merited the Applause of the best Director of Sea-Affairs of his time After Queen Elizabeth's Death he was kept 12 Years a Prisoner in the Tower where he compiled his History of the World a Design so vast that no other Man of less Parts both of Body and Mind could have accomplished And while he was thus confined he was the first which made publick the Growth by Sea of the Dutch and the Riches they derived by their fishing upon the Coasts of England and Scotland and the Consequences which would necessarily follow not only to the loss of the King's Soveraignty of the British Seas but to the Trade and Navigation of England otherwise After that one Tobias Gentleman set forth another Treatise of this Nature and how this Fishery might be carried on from the Ports of England and dedicated it to the King but the King wholly giving himself up to Pleasure neither minded the one nor regarded the other Sir Walter had been discharged out of the Tower about two Years and an half before but by what means I do not find and then Poverty stared him in the Face for Somerset had begg'd his Estate which to him was more intolerable than his Imprisonment and how to extricate himself out of it was all his Business There was a new face of Court to what was in Queen Elizabeth ' days and Sir Walter unknown to any of them His being freed out of Prison was such a Favour as any further was not to be hoped for Happy had Sir Walter been if he had been still confined where in the restraint of his Person he enlarged the Faculties of his Mind to nobler Pleasures than can be found in Sensuality or any Temporal Greatness where by his Freedom pursuing these besides other concomitant Calamities he brought
Presence of God That I will not violate or infringe the Matters and Things therein contained but to my Power observe the same and cause them to be observed and shall in all other things to the best of my Vnderstanding govern these Nations according to the Laws Statutes and Customs seeking their Peace and causing Justice and Law to be equally administred In the former Impression I followed Cromwel's Instrument of Government as it is set forth by Dr. Bates but finding this differ from Mr. Whitlock not only in the Number of the Articles but in the Substance of several of them I shall now follow Mr. Whitlock as being of better Authority tho not particularly recite them all being long but make Remarks upon several of them to shew how inconsistent this Instrument was with Cromwel's Oath and how he observ'd it in his future Actions Cromwel ' s Council was Philip Lord Viscount Lisle now Earl of Leicester Charles Fleetwood his Son-in-law John Lambert Sir Gilbert Pickering Sir Charles Woolsley Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper after Earl of Shaftsbury Edward Mountague after Earl of Sandwich John Desborow his Brother-in-law Walter Strickland Henry Lawrence William Sydenham Philip Jones Richard Major Francis Rouse and Philip Skipton Esquires The 5th Article is That the Protector with the Consent of the major part of the Council have Power of War and Peace How well he observed this in his Peace with the Dutch and French and War with Spain will appear afterward The 6th Article is That the Laws shall not be altered suspended or repealed nor any new Law made nor any Tax Charge or Imposition laid upon the People but by common Assent in Parliaments save only as is expressed in the 30th Article How does this Article agree with the 27th That a constant Revenue shall be raised for the maintaining 10000 Horse and 20000 Foot in England Scotland and Ireland and 200000 l. per Annum to himself beside the Crown-Lands or with the 38th Article To repeal all Laws Statutes and Ordinances contrary to the Liberty Cromwel grants to all tender Consciences as he calls them in the next preceding Articles where he excludes Popery and Prelacy Or how did Cromwel observe this Article when he imprisoned the Royalists which would not give Security for their Good Behaviour to him and whether they did or not took from them the tenth part of their Estates and put them to Death by his High Court of Justice as he call'd it The 8th Article is That Parliament after the first Day of their Meeting shall sit five Months and not in that time be Adjourned Prorogued or Dissolved without their Consent Yet he dissolved the next Parliament as he called them within five Months after their first sitting with their Consent and if they refus'd had his Janizaries in Westminster-hall and in the Court of Requests to have forced them as he did by the Rump this is true of my own Knowledg and declared what should be Treason See Whitlock's Memoirs fol. 563. b. The 34th Article is That the Chancellor Keeper or Commissioners of the Great Seal the Treasurer Admiral Chief Governours of Scotland and Ireland and the Chief Justices of both the Benches shall be chosen by the Approbation of Parliament and in the Intervals of Parliament by the Approbation of the major part of the Council to be afterwards approved by Parliament I deny any of these Officers were ever chosen or approved by Parliament if any were it lies upon another to prove them to be so chosen or approved by Parliament Thus by manifold Perjuries deepest Dissimulation Hypocrisy and foul Ingratitude Cromwel waded through a Sea of Blood in England Scotland and Ireland and then deposed them who had raised him for which he had murdered thousands for but attempting to do what he had done He aspired to the Dominion of Britain and Ireland which the Rump had conquered to his hand and by Monk's Victories over the Dutch Holland lies at his Mercy so that as Cromwel was the most absolute Tyrant that ever raged in England so was he not less terrible to his neighbouring Nations And now he had it in his Power to do what he will let 's see how like a Beast he did what he did Of all our neighbouring Nations the Dutch and French were the most formidable to the English the Dutch being not only Competitors with the English in Trade but Contenders with them in the Dominion of the Seas and the French the most formidable and faithless by Land and of all Nations the English Trade to France was the worst being as much to the enriching France as the impoverishing England Spain neither a neighbouring Nation to England except some part of Flanders nor any ways formidable to England by Sea or Land yet of all others the English Trade with Spain was the most beneficial and enriching to the English Now let 's see how diametrically contrary to the English Interest Cromwel acted in every one of these After Cromwel had assumed the Protectorate Mr. Whitlock says he observed new and great State and all Ceremonies and Respects were paid to him by all sorts of Men as to their Prince and Stubbe says upon the 20th Notice was given to the Dutch Plenipotentiaries by Cromwel's Master of the Ceremonies of his being Protector and how ready he was to treat with them and how kind he would be to them but they must pay him the same Honour and Respect which was heretofore exhibited to the English Kings and in their Writings and Discourses give him the Title of Highness which was in Use before that of Majesty that they not being in the Quality of Ambassadors but Lords Deputies Plenipotentiaries must be uncovered in his Presence In this state Cromwel takes the Treaty of Peace out of the Council's Hands tho it ill agreed with his Oath to the Instrument of his Government and upon the 26th of December but ten Days after his assuming the Protectorate by his Secretary Thurloâ— brought the Dutch Plenipotentiaries a Writing wherein the Satisfaction of the 3d Article demanded by the Council was wholly omitted but the Claims of the East-India Merchants and others were to be compounded The 15th Article was changed so as that neither the Dominion of the Seas was mentioned nor their Ships to be searched but they were to strike the Flag and lower their Top-sail to any English Man of War within the British Seas with several other Concessions Now the Dutch Artifice after having made so many Protestations of agreeing with Cromwel upon better Terms than they would if he would dissolve the Rump and Barebone's Parliament appeared for notwithstanding Cromwel had omitted the Satisfaction demanded by the third Article and qualified the fifteenth yet looking upon Cromwel's state uncertain and that he stood in as much need of them as they of him without giving any Answer upon the 28th of December desired a Passport to depart Now Cromwel perceived how the Plenipotentiaries had deluded him
and shaken that the Legions which governed Britain were recalled by Ecius the Roman General under Honorius and Valentinian the 3d to make Head against Attila the poor Britains disarmed and only made use of to serve their imperious Masters and so utterly destitute of Martial Discipline easily became a Prey to the Picts and Scots not subject to the Romans who treated them more intolerably and tyrannically than the Romans had done For Redress whereof the Britains sought Succours from the English Saxons who came to their Relief in the Year 409 as Bede says lib. 1. cap. 15. of the Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation but these Saxons used the poor Britains worst of all and expelled the whole Race of them out of that part of the Island now called England Tho the Saxons had their Wills of the Britains they were before the Heptarchy at continual Variance among themselves and so after that it is almost as unaccountable to give a History of the Succession of their Kings as it was of the Britains before Julius Caesar Egbert about the Year 800 viz. 391 Years after the Saxon Invasion was called the first of the Saxon Monarchs tho the Kingdom of the Mercians was not united to his Monarchy who by Merit as well as Birth obtained the Dignity and succeeded Brithric Ethelwolph succeeded Egbert in the Kingdom of Westsax but not to those of Kent Sussex and Eastsax or Essex these being given by Egbert to Egbert's younger Son Ethelwolph by his Will divided his Kingdoms between his two eldest Sons Ethelbald and Ethelbert to Ethelbald he gave the Kingdom of the West Saxons to Ethelbert the Kingdom of Kent and the Eastern Southern and middle Angles But there were two other Sons Ethelred and Alfred Ethelbert after the Death of Ethelbald succeeded him in the Kingdom of the West Saxons and after the Death of Ethelbert Ethelred succeeded in the whole viz. of the West Saxons and of the Kingdoms of Kent the Eastern Southern and Middle Angles Alfred after the Death of Ethelred by universal Applause the famous the youngest Son of Ethelwolph succeeded Edward Son of Alfred was chosen by the Nobles on Whit-sunday in 901. Athelstan after the Death of Alfred tho a Bastard was elected by the Nobles of whom 't was said there was nothing ignoble in him But Athelstan dying without Issue his younger Brother Edmund succeeded him without any Opposition and tho he left two Sons Edwy and Edgar yet Edmund's younger Brother succeeded him Edwy after Edred's Death Edred's elder Brother 's elder Son succeeded but being a vicious Prince the Mercians and Northumbrians chose Edgar his younger Brother King in the Life of Edwy and Edgar after the Death of Edwy became King of the whole Nation Edward Son of Edgar after his Death was chosen by the Bishops and Nobles by the Command of his Father Edgar but he being murdered by his Step-mother Edward's younger Brother Ethelred succeeded And after his Death the Saxon Monarchy being rent in pieces by the Danes and Saxons Edmund Ironside Son of Etheldred by an obscure mean Woman tho he had two half-legitimate younger Brothers Edward and Alfred born of Etheldred's Wife was chosen King by one part of the Nobility and Canutus the Dane by another Thus the whole legitimate Race of the Saxon Kings were excluded one part chusing Ironside a Bastard the other Canutus a Stranger to the Saxon Royal Race Edmund Ironside being treacherously murdered by his Brother-in-law Edric Edmund leaving two Sons Edwy and Edward Canutus the Dane became sole Monarch of the Saxon Monarchy So that this was the beginning of the Danish Dynasty which lasted not long Harold Son of Canutus succeeded him and Hardicanute his Brother succeeded Harold neither the Issue of Etheldred Edward or Alfred nor Edwy or Edward the Sons of Edmund Ironside so much as taken notice of with this Hardicanute ended the Danish Rule with the Slaughter and Expulsion of the Danes Edward Son of Etheldred called the Confessor Uncle to Edwy and Edward Sons of Edmund Ironside after Hardicanute was advanced to the Royal Dignity principally by means of Earl Goodwin a powerful and imperious Lord upon the account of Edward's marrying the Earl's Daughter so little was the Hereditary Succession of the Saxon Kings regarded And that Edward's Reign might be more secure this Earl Goodwin caused the Eyes of Alfred the King's Brother to be put out and some say took away his Life Edward the Confessor growing old having no Issue and the Family of the wicked Earl Goodwin growing not only insolent but intolerable to him declared Edward the Son of Edmund Ironside his Cousin his Heir And to the end he might better succeed the King sent to the King of Hungary to return his Nephew Edward whom the King of Hungary had married to his Niece Agatha Daughter to Henry Emperor of Germany which the King of Hungary did and upon Edward's return the Confessor declared that he or his Sons should succeed in his Hereditary Kingdom of England But the Confessor did not long hold in this Mind for his Nephew Edward soon after dying and leaving a Son Edgar unfit for Government either as to his Body or Courage he decreed that his Kinsman William Duke of Normandy tho a Bastard should succeed him in the Kingdom of England which came to pass and so a new Race of Kings have succeeded in England of the Norman Race whose original Title was from a Grant of a King of the Saxon Race and so the beginning creates little Title to an Hereditary Succession in the Norman Race And now we 'll see how an Hereditary Succession was observed in it yet as in the Saxon so in the Norman Kings none succeeded who was not of the Royal Blood as all the Kings of Judah were of the Family or Tribe of Judah William Rufus the second Son of the Conqueror succeeded his elder Brother Robert then alive So did Henry the First his elder Brother Robert living Stephen the Son of the Conqueror's Sister succeeded Henry tho Henry left a Daughter Maud or Matilda Henry the Second succeeded Henry's Mother yet living so his Succession was not Hereditary for Haeres non est viventis Richard the First succeeded Henry the Second John succeeded Richard Arthur the Son of John's elder Brother then alive Henry the Third succeeded Arthur's Sister then alive who was Heir before him So that of seven Successions after the Conqueror but one Richard the First succeeded as Heir to his Father or the Conqueror Admit Edward the First succeeded as Heir to Henry the 3d and Edward the 2d as Heir to Edward the First yet Edward the 3d did not succeed as Heir to Edward the 2d he being then alive Admit Richard the 2d was Heir to Edward the Black Prince eldest Son to Edward the 3d yet neither Henry the 4th 5th or 6th were Heirs from Edward the 3d but the Descendants of Phillippa the Daughter of Lionel Duke of Clarence John of
might not another Parliament upon better Information alter what the Parliament 21 Jac. had done Which neither of these Parliaments did but granted and voted him and his Father greater Supplies than ever before were given to any of his Predecessors in three-fold the time But when the King enter'd into a View of his Treasure he found how ill provided he was to proceed effectually with so great an Action It seems by this one Action the King only designed the War against Spain But why does not the King set forth the Causes why his Treasure was so ill provided It was not ten Months before his Father's Death that the Parliament 21 Jac. which gave his Father three Subsidies and three Fifteenths was adjourned and his first Parliament gave him two Subsidies more within two or three Months after his Father's Death And what came of all this but the raising ten thousand Foot and two thousand Horse under Mansfield the Expedition against the Rochellers and to Cadiz to neither of which latter he was ever invited by his Father or any Parliament The King makes the â—lague to be the Cause of the Dissolution of the Parliament at Oxford yet he might as well have secured the Members by a Prorogation as Dissolution And in this Parliament he tells how the House of Commons voted him three Subsidies and three Fifteenths and after four Subsidies and three Fifteenths and of the Letter he sent them the 9th of June to speed the passing these Supplies and how that the House being abused by the violent and ill-advised Passion of a few Members never so much as admitted one Reading to the Bill of Subsidies but voted a Remonstrance or Declaration which they intended to prefer to him tho palliated with glossing Terms containing many dishonourable Aspersions upon his Majesty and upon the sacred Memory of his deceased Father which his Majesty taking for a Denial of the promised Supplies upon mature Advisement he dissolved them But from whence should this mature Advisement come We do not find the Privy Council had any hand in it and the House of Lords petitioned against it But lest the Credit of this Declaration should not find Faith enough against the Commons Representatives the King sends a Proclamation after it wherein he takes notice of a Remonstrance drawn by a Committee of the late Commons to be presented to him wherein are many things to the Dishonour of himself and his Royal Father of blessed Memory and whereby through the sides of a Peer of this Realm they wound their Soveraign's Honour and to vent their Passions against that Peer and prepossess the World with an ill Opinion of him before his Case was heard who hinder'd it had scatter'd Copies of it Wherefore the King to suppress such an unsufferable Wrong upon pain of his Indignation and high Displeasure commanded all who had Copies thereof to burn them But why was not the Duke's Cause heard and who dissolved the Parliament to prevent it Had not the Earl of Bristol answered every Particular of the King 's and Duke's Charge against him And was there not an Order of the House of Lords the Duke should answer the Earl's Charge against him Where is this Answer to be found and why was it not Now see the Justice of this King and how he made good his Promise in his Declaration that he would so order his Actions as should justify him not only in his own Conscience but to the whole World for the very Day the Parliament was dissolved he committed the Earl of Bristol Prisoner to the Tower and left the Duke free to pursue his ungodly Designs Here I 'll stay a little and add this Augmentation of Honour to the Escutcheon of this noble Earl notwithstanding this Usage For when the Long Parliament in 1640 had put a full Stop to the King 's Absolute Will and Pleasure which if it had not God only knows where it would have ended and after that this King's Flatterers and Favourites his Lord Keeper Finch and Secretary Winde-bank had run into other Countries to save themselves from being hanged in this and that the Earl of Manchester after he had flatter'd this King and his Father in all the Shapes of Earl Viscount Baron Lord Chief Justice Lord Privy Seal Lord Treasurer and Lord President of the Council and his Son and the Earls of Pembroke and Holland and both the Sir Henry Vanes Father and Son and Sir Henry Mildmay c. sided with the Parliament against the King yet this noble Earl followed the King in all his Adversity however he had been persecuted by him in his Prosperity The late Keeper as he gave his Opinion against the War with Spain in King James's Reign so did he against the Expedition against Cales in this King's Reign his Reason was which you may read in the second Part of his Life fol. 65. That the King must make himself sure of the Love of his own People at home before he bid War to such a rich and mighty Nation But the Keeper's Counsels were as much feared and hated by the Duke as Bristol's and the Commons Articles were against him and therefore he resolved to be rid of them all and pursue the King 's and his own Designs without any Controul and the very same Day the Parliament was dissolved he caused the Earl of Bristol to be committed to the Tower as you may see in Stow's Chronicle fol. 1042. Nor would he have his Renown and Valour less known abroad than his Justice at home and France shall now be the Theatre upon which he will act it in spight of Spain or the Parliament and Nation of England without whose Assistance he will act Wonders by his own Power and in Vindication of his own Honour however some Cause must be shewed by others since the Duke concealed the true Cause Rushworth fol. 427. makes the Causes of this War to begin between the Priests of the Queen's Family and the Bishops by Articles of Agreement upon the Marriage and that the Pope had declared them Apostates if they should seek for any Establishment from the King being an Heretick and that the Queen sided herein with the Priests against the King and that Unkindnesses hereupon grew between them so as the King informed his Brother of France he could no longer bear them And much to this purpose has Mr. James Howel in the Life of Lewis XIII fol. 75. But these were but Pretences for this War the Cause was of another Complexion And herein we will cite the Authority of the great Nani who had better Means to enquire into the Causes than either Rushworth or Howel and was not biass'd by Interest Affection or Flattery You have heard before of the Emulation between Richlieu and Buckingham and of their Inclinations for the Queen's Favour and of the Queen 's noble Aversions to them both but I think Nani was therein a little mistaken for if I be not misinformed as I think verily I
Fleet and an Army in readiness to compel the Covenanters to Obedience but not to consent to the calling of a Parliament or General Assembly till the Covenant be given up that now his Crown and Reputation for ever lies at stake that he had rather suffer the first which time would help than the last which is irreparable that the Explanation of the damnable Covenant makes him to have no more Power than a Duke of Venice which he will rather die than submit to Yet without dying he did submit to the Revocation of the Service-Book Canons High-Commission and the Articles of Perth forsakes the Bishops and by a Proclamation Sept. 22 1638 commands the Covenant to be subscribed by the Privy-Council and all his Scotish Subjects but this would not content the Covenanters because it came not from a General Assembly and because the Band of mutual Defence was not in the Proclamation Having gone thus far there was no going back and the King's Army and Navy was not yet ready the King therefore indicts a General Assembly to be held the 21st of November 1638 at Glasgow and a Parliament to meet at Edinburgh the 15th of May following The General Assembly met accordingly but the Marquess and the Assembly were at Variance about the Elections and Votes of the Lay-Elders and the Bishops sitting in the Assembly and the Votes of the King's Assessors in it But what the Marquess would have the Covenanters would not whereupon the Marquess on the 28th dissolves the Assembly upon Penalty of High-Treason The Covenanters and General Assembly protest against this Dissolution and sit notwithstanding yet profess all Duty and Obedience to the King in its due Line and Course which in plain English is They 'll do what they will and if the King will do what they would have him they will be obedient Subjects And in this Session they depose and excommunicate all the Bishops of Scotland To this State within less than two Years has his Grace of Canterbury brought the Church of Scotland and a terrible Cloud hangs over that of England whereby his Grace will have the Glory of becoming a Martyr in it Weston Earl of Portland died in the Year 1634 and Dr. Juxton Bishop of London was made Lord-Treasurer by whose prudent Management it 's said that in less than five Years he had lodged 900000 l. in the Exchequer and now the King had raised an Army of about 20000 Horse and Foot made the Earl of Arundel General Lord Viscount Wentworth Lieutenant-General and Earl of Holland General of the Horse and had fitted up a Navy with 5000 Land-Men commanded by Marquess Hamilton to compel the Scots to their Obedience and marches at the Head of this Army himself It was time for the Scots were up in Arms too had seized the Regalia at Dalkeith and brought them to Edinburgh taken Dumbarton and routed the Scots who took the King's part at Aberdeen which they likewise took This King 's good Nature never more appeared than in his Necessities so that when he came to York by Proclamation he recall'd 31 Monopolies and Patents formerly granted by him he not before understanding how grievous they were to his Subjects The Scots that the English might have no Jealousy of an Invasion had resolved not to come within ten Miles of the Borders with their Army When the King came to Berwick the Earl of Holland made two vain and inconsiderate Incursions into Scotland and upon the Approach of the Scots retreated and these were the only Actions of this War by the English Upon the Retreat of the Earl the English Army was contemned by the Scots who advanced to the Borders and pitched their Tents in sight of the English before any notice was given of their Motion this raised a Murmur all over the English Army where Provisions were not only scant but their Bread and Biscake mouldy nor was there any prospect of a further Supply However the Scots propose a Treaty of Accommodation which the King's Necessities compell'd him to submit to which being made the Terms you may read in Rushworth's and Franklin's Collections the King disbands his Army and withdraws his Navy this was all the Scots cared for for the Treaty being upon equivocal Terms the Scots were resolved to make their own Interpretation and stand by it and to that purpose hold Correspondence with the French King and stile him Au Roy and also with the discontented in England and buy Arms and Ammunition at Bremen and Hamburg To forment these Jealousies and propagate the Popish Interest Cardinal Richlieu employs one Chamboy or Chamberlain in Scotland and Con or Cunaeus his own Chaplain in England whose chief Confidents were the Earl of Arundel General of the King's Army and his Countess Sir Francis Windebank Principal Secretary of State Sir Toby Mathews Endymion Porter English and one Read and Maxwel Scots See this at large in Rushworth's Collections fol. 1318 1319 1320 1321 to 1326. This Year my Lord-Keeper Coventry died and Sir John Finch Chief-Justice of the Common-Pleas was made Lord-keeper of the Great Seal no doubt for promoting the Legality of Ship-money and enlarging the Bounds of the Forests The Cloud rising so thick in the North presaged a Storm which to dissipate the King summons a Parliament to meet the 23d of April 1640. the Arch-bishop and the Earl of Strafford giving out according to the Advice which Sir Robert Cotton gave the Duke of Buckingham that they were the first Movers of it At the opening of this Parliament the King lays before them his Necessities for Money in the first place as he had done in all the three Parliaments before and that Delay was all one with a Denial and communicates to them the Covenanters Letter to the French King imploring his Assistance But the House of Commons having found the Effects of giving Money before Grievances were redrest both in the 18th of his Father's Reign and in the first of his began at Grievances now multiplied by the Additions of Ship-Money breaking the Bounds of the Forests and Monopolies multiplied without end the Arbitrary Power of the Star-Chamber and High-Commission against those who opposed the Proceedings of the Innovations brought into the Church and the Imprisonment and unheard-of Censures of their Members for their Proceedings in the House last Parliament so that instead of enjoying any Benefit by the Petition of Right the Church and State was in a manifold worse State than before they had now found by Experience that no Laws or Judgments in Parliament could bind the King's Prerogative but that he would act quite contrary as in the Cases of Mountague and Manwaring c. and how could the Parliament rely upon his Royal Word which he would upon all occasions give when they found no Assurance in any Law nor so many Declarations of his observing them However the Commons upon the 2d of May resolved to take care of supplying the King upon the 4th when Sir Henry Vane
Strangeness of the Discovery of Prance by Bedlow who had never but once seen Prance before and that by Candle-light and in a Peruke should yet upon the first Sight of him know him again without Peruke the other is the Clearness of Sir Godfrey's being murdered and the Body's being in Somerset-house upon Monday after the Murder the Saturday before and from hence it was that Prance became an Evidence in this Discovery Now let 's see how things stood upon the Meeting of the Parliament upon the 21st of October 1678 both abroad and at home And herein both Houses were as warm in Enquiry into them as the Court was cold It was but in January before that the Parliament had given the King 1200000 l. for carrying on a War against France in Conjunction with the Dutch and their Allies and upon their Meeting they found a treacherous separate Peace made by a Faction of the Dutch with the French and upon French Terms wherein the King had taken Money of the French to join with this Dutch Faction in it Besides the King's Guards which he might encrease as he pleased as well as keep up those he had there was now another Army raised which now it was of no further Use abroad they dreaded as much as they did the French Arms now he had subdued the Confederates by the Dutch Disjunction from them and the Discovery of the Popish Plot carried on at home whilst these things were thus agitated abroad was to them a Demonstration the same Councils which governed abroad did so at home And if the Parliament were thus amazed at their Sitting it was no way lessened when as they found that in this very Month no less than 57 Commissions were discovered for raising Soldiers granted to several Romish Recusants with Warrants to muster without taking the Oaths of Allegiance and Supremacy and the Test countersigned by Sir J. W. Secretary of State whereupon the Commons committed him to the Tower yet the King next Day discharged him with a Reprimand to the Commons but upon the Commons Address to the King about it the King as before in his Declarations of Indulgence promised to recal them However the Commons appointed a secret Committee to enquire to the Bottom of the Popish Plot who having made some Progress in it upon Friday the 1st of November came to this Resolution Nemine contradicente That upon the Evidence that has already appeared to this House this House is of Opinion That there hath been and still is a damnable hellish Plot contrived and carried on by Popish Recusants for assassinating and murdering the King subverting the Government and rooting out and destroying the Protestant Religion Which being the same Day communicated to the Lords they unanimously and readily concurred with the Commons in it and upon the 5th the Commons impeached the Earl of Powis the Viscount Stafford and the Lords Arundel of Warder Petre and Bellasis of High Treason The Commons having proceeded thus far in searching into the Popish Plot upon the 27th of November proceeded in their next Fear of the Army raised and now indeed in Flanders where the French Army raged after the Dutch had made their separate Peace without Opposition and the English Army only a Burden to the Country and of no Use to restrain the French Ravages and Voted 1. That it is necessary for the Safety of his Majesty's Person and preserving the Peace of the Government That all the Forces which have been raised since the 29th of September 1677 and all others which have been since that time brought over from beyond Seas from foreign Service be forthwith disbanded 2. It is the humble Opinion of this House That the Forces which are now in Flanders may be immediately called over in order to their disbanding 3. That the House would to Morrow Morning resolve it self into a Committee of the whole House to consider the Manner of disbanding the Army The five Popish Lords had been impeached by the Commons about a Fortnight and no Articles exhibited against them when the King gave the Commons an Account that he had given Order for seizing Mr. Mountague's Papers upon Information that he had held several Correspondences whilst he was Ambassador in France with the Pope's Nuncio without any Direction or Order of his Majesty But Mr. Mountague the same Day produced two Letters from my Lord Treasurer whilst he was Ambassador in France which being read the House resolved to impeach the Treasurer and the same Day ordered a Committee to draw up Articles against him which on Saturday the Committee did and on Monday following impeached the Treasurer upon them whereas the Commons had not yet exhibited any against the Popish Lords This was upon the 23d of December But if the Treasurer was constant to himself I do not understand how the Commons Impeachment of him in the 4th Article could consist with the King's Displeasure against him for the quite contrary viz. That he suppressed the Evidences and reproachfully discountenanced the King's Witnesses in Discovery of the Popish Plot And Sir William Temple says pag. 391. That the Treasurer was fallen into the King's Displeasure for bringing the Popish Plot into Parliament against the King's absolute Command However the Parliament granted the King 693388 l. to disband the Army and also an Additional Duty upon Wines for 3 Years but no more Money being like to come this Sessions upon Monday the 30th of December he prorogued the Parliament to the 4th of February next and then told them That it was with great Vnwillingness that he was come to tell them that he intended to prorogue them that all of them were Witnesses he had not been well used the Particulars of which he would acquaint them with at a more seasonable time but when will that be for he never saw them after In the mean time he would immediately enter upon the disbanding the Army and do what Good he could for the Kingdom and Safety of Religion and that he would prosecute the Discovery of the Popish Plot to find out the Instruments of it and take all the Care that is in his Power to secure the Protestant Religion as it is now established How well this was performed you 'll soon see and before the 4th of February he dissolved this Eighteen-year-old Parliament The Vogue went It was upon the Account of my Lord Treasurer tho I believe upon severer Thoughts it will seem rather to have been done upon the Account of the Popish Lords and Popish Plot. These Feuds in the Nation and Jealousies between the King and Parliament stifled the Apprehensions of the dreadful growing Power of the French King and made fair Weather for him to prosecute his boundless Ambition without any Regard of his Faith or Honour where-ever he could extend it Never did one Parliament succeed another so early as the next did this long Parliament for the King by his Proclamation dissolved the Long Parliament upon the 25th of
the Revenues of the Crown and Aids given in Parliament and these being of both Nations Scotch as well as English made them to be the more intolerable All things being at Peace Abroad Publick Affairs were neglected or scarce thought of whilst the Dutch still grew more powerful at Sea and without any Aid from the King were Matches for the King of Spain by Land and Henry the 4th of France was accumulating incredible Treasure at Home and laying the Foundation of vast Designs Abroad whereof the King took no notice his Genius lying another way In these Debates at Home and Lethargy of State of Foreign Affairs the Prerogative-Clergy swelled the High Commission to such an height that it was complained of as a Grievance in Parliament as you may read in Wilson's History of Great Britain â—ol 46. Nay Bancroft this Year notwithstanding the Judges Answer to the Articles exhibited to the King against granting Prohibitions and that the Parliament was still sitting repeated his Exhibitions But however the King inclined to favour Bancroft he had not Courage enough to over-rule the Judges Answer to them it may be for fear the Parliament should interpose or indispose them to grant him more Money whereof already he stood in great need But the Parliament however they gratified the King for their Deliverance from the Popish Conspiracy did not think fit to pour it forth so plentifully now in times of Peace to be profusely thrown upon Favourites and Minions who were no more Friends to them than they to the established Church of England To supply the King's Necessities as he made them one Doctor Cowell no doubt set upon by Bancroft and those called the Church the next Year after published his Interpreter wherein he premises these three Principles First That the King was Solutus a Legibus not bound by his Coronation-Oath Secondly That it was not ex Necessitate that the King should call a Parliament to make Laws but might do it by his Absolute Power Thirdly It was a Favour to admit the Consent of the Subjects in giving Subsidies Cowell's Interpeter approved by the King as the Civil Law was highly extolled by the King See Wilson fol. 46. was not only printed but publickly sold without Impunity and this gave Encouragement to the publishing many others to the same purpose among which one Blackwood published one which concluded that we were all Slaves by reason of the Conquest The Commons tho they took no notice of Bancroft and his Articles against Prohibitions took Fire at these and intended to have proceeded severely against him but the King interposed and promised to call in these Books by Proclamation as he did but they were out and the Proclamation could not call them in but only served to make them more taken notice of But this had not the desired Effect of getting more Money than one Subâ—dy and one Tenth whereupon the King by Proclamation dissolved them the 31st of December 1609 after they had sat near seven Years wherein the King set forth that he had proposed many things far differing and surpassing the Graces and Favours of former times both in Nature and Value 〈◊〉 â—â—pectation of a good Conclusion of some weighty Cause which had been there in Deliberation not only for the Supply of the Necessities of his Majesty's Estate but for the Ease and Freedom of his Subjects but these being the two last Sessions little taken notice of and that the Members by reason of the length of the Parliament were debarred from the Hospitality they kept in the Country and that divers Shires Cities and Boroughs had been burdened with Expence of maintaining their Members for these Reasons he dissolved them so that they should not need to meet at the Day set by their Prorogation CHAP. II. A Continuation of this Reign to the Dissolution of the Second Parliament 1614. BUT how precarious soever the King was to get Money of the Parliament he had not Courage enough to demand the 100000 l. per Annum by the Treaty between Queen Elizabeth and the Dutch States in 1598 whereby Eleven hundred thousand Pounds was due to him much less to demand the principal Debt viz. two Millions and also two Millions and two hundred thousand Pounds due for eleven Years Interest at 10 l. per Cent. Now by the Mediation of several Princes but especially by King James this Year a Truce or Peace for twelve Years was concluded between the King of Spain and the Arch-Dukes Albert and Isabel and the Dutch wherein the Dutch were declared Free States and independent upon the Crown of Spain or Arch-Dukes But tho the King had not Courage enough to demand the Monies due to him from the Dutch by the Treaty with Queen Elizabeth he had so much as to enter into a Treaty with the Dutch for a Tribute to be paid to him for License to fish upon the Coasts of England and Scotland but the Dutch observed this no better than that with the Queen and the King got less by it Long Parliaments beget long Intervals in which Grievances become so multiplied and fixed that they become so much more difficult to be redressed by how much longer the Intervals are And since the King could not get Money of the Parliament and was afraid to demand any of the Dutch let 's see what Courses he took to get Money during the Interval from this Parliament to the meeting of the next which was five Years and how the Case stood with them In the opening of the first Parliament the King tells them that he was so far from encreasing their Burden with Rehoboam as that he had so much as either Time Occasion or Law could permit lightned them and at that time had been careful to revise and consider deeply upon the Laws made against them that some Overture may be proposed in Parliament for clearing those Laws by Reason which is the Soul of the Law in case they have been in times past further or more rigorously executed by Judges than the meaning of the Law was or might tend to the Hurt as well of the innocent as guilty Persons At the Dissolution of the Parliament the King 's principal Favourites were Henry Howard Brother to the Duke of Norfolk whom Queen Elizabeth beheaded tho a Papist yet Lord Privy-Seal Robert Cecil Earl of Salisbury Lord Treasurer Philip Earl of Mountgomery for a certain Reason Thomas Lord Walden Son of the Duke of Norfolk after created Earl of Suffolk and Sir Henry Rich after Earl of Holland English the Earl of Dunbar Sir Alexander Hay and Sir Robert Carr who in a short time shall overtop them all Scotish There was a Story current in those Times which I have heard from some credible Persons which did live in that time That King James having given Sir Robert Carr a Boon of 20000 l. my Lord Treasurer Salisbury that he might make the King sensible of what he had done invited the King to an Entertainment and so
ordered it that before the King should come at it he should pass through a Room wherein he had placed four Tables and upon each Table lay 5000 l. in Silver when the King came into the Passage he started and was amazed at the sight having never before seen such a Sum he asked the Treasurer the meaning of it who told the King It was the Boon he had given Sir Robert Carr Swounds Man the Oath he usually swore but five thousand should serve his turn and so for that time the Treasurer saved the King the other fifteen thousand Pounds To support these Favourites and other of the King's Country-men of less Note was all the King's Care notwithstanding his Foreign Affairs or his Proclamation at his first coming to London against Monopolies or his Speech at the opening of the Parliament But since Money cannot be had by Parliament other means must be found out There were many ways used for raising Monies during this Interval of Parliament First Monopolies which swarmed more than in any King's Reign before Secondly Payments for new invented Knighthoods never before heard of in England in Times of Peace called Baronets the Prince was 1000 l. and the King to quicken the Market promised to make but 200 of them tho when this Market was done he kept it up all his Life-time after Thirdly Tho the Baronets paid for their Honours yet the King issued our Commissions for reviving the old Obsolete Laws for making Men which could expend 40 l. per Annum to compound for not being Knighted Fourthly Payments for being made Knights of Nova Scotia Fifthly The purchasing of English Honours at certain set Prices a Baron at 10000 l. a Viscount at 15000 l. an Earl at 20000 l. Sixthly Payments for Scotish and Irish Honours I do not find set Prices of these Scotish Honours of the same Title to have the Precedence of an Irish as a Scotish Baron Viscount or Earl to have the Precedence of an Irish and tho an English Honour of like Degree had the Precedence of either of the other yet if either of the other had a higher Title he should precede an English Peer under a less as a Scotish or Irish Viscount shall precede an English Baron so such an Earl shall precede an English Viscount Seventhly Compositions upon defective Titles Eighthly Compositions for Assart Lands Ninthly Monies for making Prince Henry Knight Tenthly Monies to marry the Lady Elizabeth to the Palsgrave Eleventhly A Benevolence Twelfthly Monies borrowed upon Privy-Seals and never repaid besides Sales of Lands Woods and Fee-farm Rents c. During this Interval of Parliament was perpetrated a most horrible Murder upon the Person of Sir Thomas Overbury which is the more remarkable if it be considered how far tho the King detested the Fact Favourites had the Ascendant over the King and how the King influenced the Causes of this Murder and that the Story may more intirely consist it will be necessary to borrow a little of common Fame Sir Robert Carr was made Viscount Rochester the 25th of March 1610 and upon the 22d of April following was made one of the King's Privy-Council and having the Ascendant above all other Favourites over the King he chose a Council of some Persons how to advance himself in this great Power Of these Sir Thomas Overbury a Gentleman of brisk and lively Parts was the chief who had as much an Ascendant over the Lord Rochester as he had over the King and as Rochester was a Favourite so was Thomas Earl of Suffolk who had a Daughter named Frances married to Robert Earl of Essex Son of Robert cut off in the last Year of Queen Elizabeth who after was General of the Army raised by the Parliament in the late Civil Wars Tho of disagreeing Humours the Earl and Countess were of agreeable Years when they were married both about the Age of twelve Years and now had lived above ten Years without any Carnal Knowledg of one with the other as both confessed when the Countess sued for a Divorce whereto the Countess was intolerably bent and if publick Fame may be credited and which is attested by a Writer of the first 14 Years of King James his Life chap. 7. she entred into a Conspiracy with one Ann Turner to have poisoned the Earl But how cold soever the Countess was in her Affections to the Earl they were not less on fire to my Lord of Rochester and that these Flames might soar in an equal height the Countess by the help of Mrs. Turner procures one Doctor Foreman as he was called to bewitch Rochester into equal Desires of mutual Love with the Countess and now Familiarity between the Countess and Rochester becomes publickly scandalous However the Earl continued his Love to the Countess but withal acquainted her with the Dishonour she brought upon him and more upon her self by her loose Life which was now become so publickly taken notice of this was so far from reclaiming the Countess that it stung her to the quick and instead of Reformation she by Letters to Mrs. Turner who the Countess says is all her hopes of Good in this World and by her to Dr. Foreman whom she calls sweet Father and subscribes her self his Affectionate Daughter Frances Essex endeavours to procure the Doctor to bewitch the Earl to Frigidity towards her Sir Francis Bacon in his Charge against my Lord Rochester after Earl of Somerset at his Trial for the Murder of Sir Thomas Overbury gives Sir Thomas hard words as That there was little in him that was solid for Religion or Moral Vertue but was wholly possest with Ambition and vain Glory and was loth to have any Partners in my Lord of Rochester's Favour and that to flatter my Lord in his unlawful Love with the Countess of Essex Sir Thomas had made his Brags that he had won Rochester the Love of the Countess by his Letters and Industry But these stoln Pleasures could not satisfy the Countess's Desires and that she might enjoy them to be compleat she endeavours since the Design of poisoning the Earl did not succeed to make way to her Desires of marrying Rochester by suing out a Divorce against the said Earl which she acquaints Rochester with and Rochester and the Countess acquaint the Earl of Northampton who before was privy and consenting to the Familiarity between them and was easily induced to join in procuring a Divorce Tho this was agreed between them yet the Viscount would not proceed further till he had consulted Sir Thomas Overbury protesting he the Viscount would do nothing without his Advice Sir Thomas told him The marrying the Countess would not be only hurtful to his Preferment but helpful to subvert and overthrow him and who would being possest of so great Possibilities as he was so great Honours and large Revenues and daily in expectation of others cast all away upon a Woman noted for her Injury and Immodesty and pull upon himself the Hatred and Contempt
Countess and Mrs. Turner to be Under-keeper to Sir Thomas and had a Promise of 200 l. Reward when Sir Thomas should be dispatched and that he might with more Secrecy work his Design the Lieutenant had Orders from Northampton and Rochester that no Man else should come at Sir Thomas and Turner only to wait upon him at Table and to give Order for his Diet and Drinks Sir Thomas thus mew'd up and excluded from the Sight of his nearest Relations and Servants upon the 9th of May was begun the Practice of poisoning Sir Thomas in his Broth which Weston brought him and this was continued with many Varieties of Poisoning till the 14th of September when by a Glyster for which the Administer had 20 l. Reward he was dispatched but the Malice against Sir Thomas did not end with his Death for the Blanes and Blisters which the Poison had caused upon his Body were interpreted to be the Effects of the French-Pox and his Body was irreverently buried in a Pit digged in a very mean Place Here we may see the unhappy Fate of Princes above other Men who neglecting their Duty give themselves up to be governed by Minions and Favourites for private Men are accountable only for their own Actions whereas Princes are accountable to God and Fame for all the ill Actions of their Ministers and how many ways was the King's Name used and abused in perpetrating this black and horrid Murder First in getting the King to send Sir Thomas on the Embassage to Russia Secondly in committing him to the Tower for refusal Thirdly in keeping him close Prisoner there which was a Practice never known before for a Contempt that any Man should be close confined from all his Relations and Servants and 't was a greater Villany to practise Sir Thomas his Death while he was the King's Prisoner than if he had been at large as being more immediately under the King's Protection These Considerations little affected the Court and Sir Overbury's Destruction went but half way towards the designed Marriage between Rochester and the Countess of Essex but a Commission of Delegates under the Broad Seal is issued out to the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Dr. Abbot the Bishops of London Winchester Ely Litchfield and Coventry and Rochester Sir Julius Caesar Sir Thomas Parrey Sir Daniel Danne Sir John Bennet Francis James and Thomas Edwards Doctors of the Civil Law at the Suit of the Countess for a Divorce from the Earl of Essex Here you may see the Ascendant Rochester and Northampton had over the King not only in getting this Commission wherein the King's Name and Authority was abused but they procured the King in the hearing of the Countess's Cause to be her Advocate in answering the Objections which the Arch-Bishop made against the Divorce so as this Matter was managed the Bishops of Winchester Dr. Bilson of Ely Dr. Andrews of Litchfield and Coventry and Rochester with Sir Julius Caesar Sir Thomas Parrey and Sir Daniel Dunne were for the Divorce and that the Countess was Virgo non vitiata and that there was Frigidity in the Earl and the Marriage a Nullity and decreed the Earl to repay the Countess her Portion but the ABp the Bp of London and Bennet James and Edwards Doctors of the Civil-Law were against it Thus far was the King's Name and Authority abused in the attaining the Murder of Sir Thomas Overbury and the designed Marriage between Rochester and the Countess of Essex for Overbury being dead and the Divorce obtained the Countess must not lose the Title by this Marriage and thereupon the 4th of November Rochester is created Earl of Somerset All things are now prepared for the hopeful Marriage and that the Solemnity at the ending of it might out-vie that of the Palsgrave and the Lady Elizabeth upon the 6th of December the Earl and Countess were married at White-hall in the Presence of the King and Queen Prince and a great confluence of the Bishopâ— and Temporal Nobility the Bishop of Bath and Wells married them and Dr. Mountaine Dean of Westminster preached the Nuptial Sermon and that Night there was a gallant Masque of Lords but upon the Wednesday following the 29th there was another of the Prince's Gentlemen which quite out-did this and pleased the King so well that he caused it to be acted again on the Monday following being the 3d of January But White-hall was too narrow to contain the Triumphs for this Marriage they must be extended into the City and upon the 4th of January the Bride and Bridegroom accompanied by the Duke of Lenox my Lord Privy Seal Northampton the Lord Chamberlain the Earls of Worcester Pembroke and Montgomery with a numerous Train of Nobility and Gentry were invited to a Treat in the City at Merchant-Taylors Hall where my Lord Mayor and Aldermen entertained them in their Scarlet Gowns At their Entry they were accosted by a gratulatory Speech and Musick the Feast which was most sumptuous served by the choicest Citizens selected out of the 12 Companies in their Gowns and rich Foines After Supper they were entertained with a Wassaile two pleasant Masques a Play and Dancing and after all the Bride and Bridegroom with all this Noble Crew were invited to a Princely Banquet and at three in the Morning the Bride and Bridegroom returned to Whitehall and before this Surfeit of Pleasure and Excess was well digested the Gentlemen of Grays-Inn upon Twelfth-Day invited the Bride and Bridegroom to a Masque Thus these Gaieties though they out-lived the Year yet ended in the Holy-days of Christmas as they began with them being the next Day after Christmas But before the end of this Year these Joys shall turn sharp and sower This Year 1614 as it was the Meridian of the King's Reign in England so was it of his Pleasures the King was excessively addicted to Hunting and Drinking not ordinary French and Spanish Wines but strong Greek Wines and though he would divide his Hunting from drinking these Wines yet he would compound his Hunting with drinking these Wines and to that purpose he was attended with a special Officer who was as much as could be always at hand to fill the King's Cup in his Hunting when he called for it I have heard my Father say that being hunting with the King after the King had drank of the Wine he also drank of it and though he was young and of an healthful Constitution it so disordered his Head that it spoiled his Pleasure and disordered him for three Days after Whether it were drinking these Wines or from some other Cause the King became so lazy and unweildy that he was treist on Horse-back and as he was set so would he ride without otherwise poising himself on his Saddle Nay when his Hat was set on his Head he would not take the pains to alter it but it sate as it was put on And as he thus gave himself up to Pleasure so he did to Favourites and Flatterers and scarce
the Occasion Somerset gave of Villiers's Rise and of his own Fall Somerset was of mean and scarce known Parents and as he was endued with no natural Parts so neither had he acquired any being brought up and bred a Page at Court hereby he became as little capable of demeaning himself in Prosperity as Adversity After Sir Overbury's Confinement he gave himself up wholly to be govern'd by Northampton and soon after his Marriage he fell into an universal Solitariness and Sadness so that it was much taken notice of which Northampton observing and judging not unlikely that the Cares of Somerset did arise from his Fears of the Discovery of Overbury's Death wherein they were both deeply ingaged which if it should come to pass they had no other means to secure themselves but by making themselves so great as to oppose all who should charge them with it or else by being Catholicks they might draw all that Party to assist them and in these they both agreed and to make Matters more perplext Northampton by one Hamon did encourage the Irish to continue firm in their Religion assuring them that God would one way or other protect his Church and that now the greatest Favourite in England would stand firm to them and also give Incouragement to the Papists in the North to meet openly at Mass and foment the Feuds between the English and Scots the English murmuring at the King's Favours more to the Scots than them If I have erred herein the Writer of the historical Narration of the first fourteen Years of King James's Reign cap. 30. led me into it This sullen Humour of Somerset's little suted with the King 's liking being before better pleased with Somerset's Gaiety in humouring him in all his Pleasures After Northampton's Death he was left alone to himself and all Northampton's Designs died with him and then Somerset having forsaken all Men and being forsaken by them appeared in his own Nature without any Disguise wretchedly penurious and intolerably covetous There was no coming at the King's Ear but by him nor any coming at him but by excessive Bribes and as the King began to loath him so all Men detested and hated him So it was every Bodies business to out Somerset and bring young Villiers into the King's Favour All the Court took notice of the King's Affection to young Villiers and the Queen observed it and Villiers not to be wanting to himself daily appeared at Court There was but one Obstacle to be removed and the Way was plain and easy for Villiers to be the King's Favourite the King would receive none into Favour but who was first recommended to him by the Queen and the Queen had observed something in young Villiers which she utterly disliked and how to get the Queen to recommend young Villiers to the King was the only business to be done The Queen a Princess of rare Piety Prudence Temperance and Chastity had a great Veneration for the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Abbot and the Arch-Bishop as much an Aversion to Somerset not only for his Marriage with the Countess of Essex but for his other detestable Qualities so that the Arch-Bishop was the only Instrument which was judged could move the Queen to recommend young Villiers to the King It was no great difficulty to persuade the Arch-Bishop to undertake this Business being of himself disposed to it but when he propounded it to the Queen she was utterly averse from it having before been stung with Favourites but by her Observation of Villiers she told the Arch-Bishop she saw that in that young Villiers that if he became a Favourite he would become more intolerable than any that were before him Hereupon the Arch-Bishop declined the Business but Somerset declining daily from bad to worse the Arch-Bishop was again prevailed upon to move the Queen to recommend young Villiers to the King which he did with more Importunity than before urging Somerset's intolerable Pride and Covetousness and that he observed a good Nature and gentle Disposition in Villiers so that some Good might be hoped from him which could never be expected from the other at last the Queen assented to it but withal told the Arch-Bishop he among the rest would live to repent it After Villiers was recommended by the Queen it became out of her Power and the Power of the Kingdom to get him out of the King's Favour or his Son 's after him and the Arch-Bishop himself shall find the Queen to have been a true Prophetess however at first Villiers acknowledg'd his Favour with the King to have its Original from the Arch-Bishop called him Father and protested to be governed by him before all other Men and the Arch-Bishop gave him some Lessons to observe towards the King and Queen which Villiers repeated to him and promised to observe which you may read at large in the first part of Mr. Rushworth's Collections in the second Year of King Charles the First written by the Arch-Bishop In the beginning of Mr. Villiers's coming into Favour he was affable and courteous and seemed to court all Men as they courted him he promoted Mens Suits to the King gratis which Somerset would not do but for great Sums of Money and hereby Villiers stole all the Hearts of the Courtiers and Petitioners to the King from Somerset who was now wholly forsaken by God and all Men. Somerset thus forsaken of all Men and stung in Conscience for the Death of Overbury and finding a Rival in the King's Favour seeks by that small Portion which he had left to procure a general Pardon from the King to secure him in his Life and Estate which was far the greatest of any Subject in the King's Dominions and to that purpose applies himself to Sir Robert Cotton to draw one as large and general as could be which Sir Robert did wherein the King should declare That of his own Motion and special Favour he did pardon all and all manner of Treasons Misprisions of Treasons Murders Felonies and Outrages whatsoever by the Earl of Somerset had been committed or hereafter should be committed and this Pardon the King signed But Somerset grasping at too much lost all for my Lord Chancellor Egerton refused to seal the Pardon Somerset asked him the Reason which the Chancellor told him was because if he did it he should incur a Praemunire and this the Chancellor told the King who was not displeased with it So that now all Hopes of Pardon for Sir Overbury's Murder failing he had recourse to other Artifices of suppressing all Letters which passed between him the Countess and Northampton either to Sir Thomas the Lieutenant or any of the Prisoners and to make away Franklin the Apothecary who was fled into France and had given Sir Thomas the Glister which dispatcht him but that which Somerset design'd for his preservation 't was thought proved his Overthrow but this was the Product of next Year 1615 being the 13th of the King Tho Villiers
next Year gave Reputation to these Rumours and here we end this Year 1615. being the thirteenth Year of King James his Reign Tho Turner Weston Elvis and Franklin were convicted and hanged last Year for the poisoning of Sir Thomas Overbury yet the Trial of the Earl of Somerset and the Countess was put off till the 24th of May this Year yet the Earl being a Prisoner and utterly cast out of the King's Favour the young Favourite Villiers having now no Competitor rose as fast upon the Earl's Ruin as he fell and began to appear in his own Colours from being Sir George and of the Bed-Chamber to the King in the beginning of the Month of January to be made Master of the Horse and upon the Conviction of the Earl and Countess the King seized upon the huge Estate of the Earl only allowing him 4000 l. per Annum during his Life as was said for the King reprieved the Earl and Countess too not only from Death but Imprisonment and the Earl 24 Years after saw his Daughter married to the now Duke of Bedford who proved to be the Mother of many Children whereof my Lord Russel cut off by King Charles the Second was one and a Lady of great Honour and Vertue The seizing of Somerset's Estate at present afforded a plentiful Harvest to our young Favourite and that proportionable Honours which were no burden to him might attend him upon the 17th of August he is created Viscount Villiers and Baron of Whaddon We will stay a little here and look abroad and see what Dishonour the King by his Prodigality to his Favourites and his ill Terms with his Subjects brought upon himself This Year seven of the twelve Years Truce made between the King of Spain the Arch-Dukes and the Dutch States in 1609. were worn out and now the Dutch hugely swelled their Tradeâ— not only in Europe and Africa but in the East-Indies and to Turkey but they could never be truly esteemed High and Mighty so long as the English possest the Brill Rammekins and Flushing which were the Keys of their Country and opened the Passages into and out of the Maese Rhine and Scheld They could not now pretend Poverty as they did to Queen Elizabeth for not payment of the Money with Interest upon Interest at 10 per Cent. which being two Millions when upon the Account stated between the Queen and them due Anno 1598. besides the Payment of the English in Garison in the Cautionary Towns this Year did amount to above six Millions of Money and how to get rid of this Debt and get the English out of the Cautionary Towns was the Design of Barnevelt and the States Barnevelt had his Eyes in every corner of the Court he observed the King was wholly intent upon his Pleasures exalting his Favourites and writing against Bellarmine and Peron against their King-killing and Deposing Doctrines and otherwise utterly neglected his Affairs both at Home and Abroad and by how much longer the King continued these Courses so much better might the States make a Bargain with him about restoring their Cautionary Towns but not as Merchants but Bankrupts The Truce between the Spaniard and them was above half expired and if the English should keep their Towns till the War broke out again the King might impose what Terms he pleased upon them Barnevelt also observed the ill Terms which the King was upon with his Subjects upon the Dissolution of the last Parliament about 14 Months before and imprisoning the Members for representing the Subjects Grievances which the King made worse by a Proclamation forbidding Men to talk of State-Affairs and that he doted upon and was wholly governed by Viscount Villiers a raw and unexperienced Gentleman in State-Affairs scarce of Age Upon these Considerations Barnevelt advised the States not to pay the English in Garison in their Cautionary Towns tho this was expresly contrary to the Agreement they made with Queen Elizabeth in 1598. The English debarred of their Pay apply themselves to the King for Relief the King was incensed at the Dutch and talked high what he would do but upon Repose he advised what to do the Lord Treasurer Suffolk told him there was no Money in the Exchequer to call a Parliament would be a work of Time and in the mean while the Souldiers in Garison in the Cautionary Towns must either starve or revolt besides the Wounds which the imprisoned Members had were so green that the Parliament in all likelihood would rather seek to cure them than supply the King's Necessities and starve or revolt the Souldiers might rather than the King would abate any thing of his Bounty to his Favourites Hereupon it was agreed That the King should enter into a Treaty with the Dutch concerning the Delivery of their Cautionary-Towns the Dutch expected it and had given Orders to their Ambassador here called the Lord Caroon to treat about it and what they would give the King must take and Caroon's Instructions were to give two hundred and forty eight thousand Pounds in full Satisfaction of the whole Debt which was scarce Twelve Pence in the Pound but was greedily accepted of by the King and his Favourites But how well this Agreement did sort with the Treaty made with the King of Spain and Arch-Dukes in August 1604 where in the 7th Article the King swears and promises in the Word of a King That in a competent time he would assign a Treaty with the Dutch States to acccept and receive Conditions agreeable to Justice and Equity for a Pacification to be had with the renowned Princes his dear Brethren which if the States shall refâ—se to accept his Majesty from thenceforward as being freed from former Conventions will determine of those Towns according as he shall judg it to be Just and Honourable wherein the said Princes his loving Brethren shall find there shall be no want of these good Offices which can be expected from a friendly Prince let the World judg Tho the Bargain were agreed yet the King and Courtiers were in fear the Money should not be paid accordingly and therefore the King wrote to the States in a Stile far differing from that he used to the Parliament for says my Author William de Britain fol. 12. the King told them He knew the States of Holland to be his good Friends and Confederates both in Point of Religion and Policy one as true as the other for the Religion of the Dutch was Presbytery which the King hated nor did he ever imitate their Policy therefore he apprehended not the least fear of Difference between them In Contemplation whereof if they would have their Towns again he would willingly surrender them So tho the Dutch got their Towns again yet the King got not all the Money for my Lord Treasurer Suffolk kept back so much of it as he was fined 30000 l. in the Star-Chamber for it and had not scaped so if Sir Francis Bacon then Lord Chancellor had
Molestation other than by Censure of the House it self for or concerning any speaking reasoning or declaring any Matter or Matters touching the Parliament or Parliament-business And that if any of the said Members be complained of and questioned for any thing done or said in Parliament the same is to be shewed to the King by the Advice and Consent of all the Commons assembled in Parliament before the King give Credence to any private Information If the King was alarmed at the Commons Remonstrance this Protestation of the Commons was such an Invasion upon his Sacred Prerogative Royal that neglecting his Pleasures and Health which he took such care to preserve by retiring into the Country up he now comes to London and upon the 30th of December and in a full Assembly of Council and in the Presence of the Judges declares the said Protestation invalid annull'd and void and of none effect Manu sua propria takes the said Protestation out of the Journal-Book of the Clerk of the Commons House of Parliament and commanded an Act of Council to be made thereupon and this Act to be entred in the Register of the Council-Causes And on the 6th of January the King by his Proclamation dissolved the Parliament Shewing that the meeting continuing and dissolving of Parliaments does so peculiarly belong to him that he needs not give any account thereof to any other yet he thought fit to declare that in the Dissolution of this Parliament he had the Advice and Vniform Consent of his whole Council and that some particular Members of the Commons took inordinate Liberty not only to treat of his High Prerogatives and sundry things not fit to be argued in Parliament but also to speak with less respect of Foreign Princes That they spent their time in disputing Privileges and descanting upon the Words and Syllables of his Letters and Messages and that these evil-temper'd Spirits sowed Tares among the Corn and by their Carriage have imposed upon him a necessity of discontinuing this present Parliament without putting to it the Name or Period of a Session And lastly he declared That tho the Parliament were broken off yet he intended to govern well and shall be glad to lay hold on the first occasion to call another CHAP. IV. A Continuation of this Reign to King James his Death THE first Act the King did to make good his Promise in his Proclamation to govern well was his Commitment of Sir Edward Coke and Sir Robert Philips to the Tower and Mr. Selden Mr. Pym and Mr. Mallery to other Prisons and Sir Dudley Diggs Sir Thomas Crew Sir Nathaniel Rich and Sir James Parrot into Ireland Sir Thomas Overbury had a Cause assigned for his Commitment to the Tower but yet it was observed an Hardship upon him without any Precedent that he should be confined a close Prisoner for a Contempt whereas these were not only confined but close Prisoners for ought I can find I am well assured Sir Edward Coke was not only without any Cause shewed but for performing a publick Trust reposed in them Nor did the Commons only suffer under this Fury of the King for performing their Duty but the Noble Earl of Southampton was imprisoned for his freedom of Speech and for rebuking Buckingham for his disorderly speaking in the House of Lords as you may see in the first Part of Keeper Williams's Life fol. 62. tit 8. But of all others this Storm fell most severely upon Sir Edward Coke and by several ways his Ruin was contrived First By sealing up the Locks and Doors of his Chambers in London and in the Temple Secondly By seizing his Papers by virtue whereof they took away his several Securities for Money as a learned Lawyer Mr. Hawles hath observed Thirdly It was debated in Council when the King would have brought in the General Pardon containing such Points as he should think fittest by what ways they might exclude him from the benefit of it either by preferring a Bill against him before the Publication of it or by excepting him by Name Fourthly If the King's Name were used by Northampton and Somerset to confine Sir Thomas Overbury so close that neither his Father nor Servants should come at him so was the King's Name used here that none of Sir Coke's Children or Servants should come at him and of this I am assured from one of Sir Edward's Sons and his Wife Fifthly In this Confinement the King sued him in the King's-Bench for 30000 l. 2 s. 6 d. for an old Debt pretended to be due from Sir William Hatton to Queen Elizabeth and this was prosecuted by Sir Henry Yelverton with all Severity imaginable but herein the King's Counsel were not all of one piece for when a Brief against Sir Edward was brought to Sir John Walter I think then Attorney-General he returned it again with this Expression Let my Tongue cleave to the Roof of my Mouth whenever I open it against Sir Edward Coke however after the Trial the Verdict was against the King Mr. Selden got his Liberty by the favour of my Lord Keeper Williams but the rest must abide by it till the breaking of the Spanish Match necessitated the King to call another Parliament But lest the King's Word in his Proclamation for governing well should not pass currant and without dispute the King ordered the Judges in their Circuits to give this in their Charges That the King taking notice of the Peoples liberal speaking of Matters far above their reach and also taking notice of their licentious undutiful Speeches touching State and Government notwithstanding several Proclamations to the contrary the King was resolved no longer to pass it without severest Punishment and thereupon to do exemplary Justice where they find any such Offenders The King having in the ninth Year of his Reign borrowed 111046 l. upon Privy-Seals which the Writer of the Historical Narration of the first 14 Years of King James his Reign Tit. Monies raised by him fol. 14. says were unrepay'd Now since he could receive no more Money in Parliament orders the Privy-Council to issue out an Order for raising Money out of Parliament for the Defence of the Palatinate and also sent Letters to the Justices of the Courts in Westminster-Hall and Barons of the Exchequer to move them and perswade others to a liberal Contribution for the Recovery of the Palatinate according to their Qualities and Abilities Nevertheless if any Person shall out of Obstinacy or Disaffection refuse to contribute thereto proportionably to their Estates and Means they are to certify their Names to the Council-Board Letters to the same effect were directed to the High-Sheriffs of Counties and Justices of Peace and to the Mayors and Bayliffs of every City and Corporation within the Kingdom requiring them to summon all before them of known Abilities within their Jurisdictions and to move them to a chearful Contribution according to their Means and Fortunes in some good measure answerable to what others well
to do it Yet this Adventure must be run because Buckingham would have it so so pur-blind nay stark-blind does Poverty and Covetousness make Man's Understanding and Reason But that we may take all before us let 's see in what Esteem King James was with the Spaniards which might encourage him to pursue this Adventure In their Comedies in Flanders they imitated Messengers bringing News in haste that the Palatinate was likely to have a numerous Army shortly on foot For the King of Denmark would shortly furnish them with a thousand Pickled-Herrings the Hollanders with one hundred thousand Butter-Boxes and England with one hundred thousand Ambassadors They pictured King James in one place with a Scabbard without a Sword in another with a Sword which no body could draw out tho divers Persons stood pulling at it In Brussels they painted him with his Pockets hanging out and not one Penny in them and his Purse turned upside down In Antwerp they pictured the Queen of Bohemia like a poor Irish Mantler with her Hair hanging about her Ears with her Child at her Back and the King James carrying the Cradle after her and every one of the Pictures had several Motto's expressing their Malice Such Scorns and Contempts were put upon the King James and in him the whole Nation See the Preface to the History of the first 14 Years of the Reign of King James and Wilson fol. 192. But tho Buckingham pursued this Match with such Eagerness yet when it came to his Management in Spain where the King's Proclamations forbidding Men to talk of State-Affairs had no effect he proceeded wrong in every step of it and to gratify his Ambition and Personal Disgusts was the first and principal Instrument to break it off but that we may not insist upon Generals 1. The Prince's coming to Spain and thereby putting himself into the King of Spain's Power brake all the Earl of Bristol's Measures whereupon the Negotiation and all the Particulars of the Marriage was settled and the Negotiation was put into a new Form See Rushw Collect. fol. 286. Objection This was but a Charge by the Earl of Bristol against the Duke who prosecuted the Earl of High Misdemeanors and therefore no Proof against the Duke Answer Yet the Honour of so great a Statesman and faithful a Counsellor as the Earl was who had so honourably served the King in seven foreign Embassies and had by the Expence of 10000 l. saved Heidelburg from falling into the Hands of the Spaniard and having upon the Dissolution of the last Parliament given the King 500 l. upon the Benevolence and never received a Check from the King in all his Negotiations but always honourable Testimonies from him for his faithful Services before Buckingham broke in upon him may go a great way But it seems to me to be a clear Proof upon Buckingham for Bristol twice answered Articles preferred against him without any Reply whereas rather than Buckingham should answer Bristol's Charge King Charles dissolved his second Parliament 2. Buckingham had not learned the Verse which is taught to every School-boy Quum fueris Romae Romano vivito more for being French bred he appeared in a French Garb most hateful to the Spaniards and by his Familiarity with the Prince he seemed rather the Prince's Guardian and Companion than Follower which disrelished the Court of Spain and the Spaniards in general who are grave sober and wary 3. He by contrary Methods opposed all the Earl of Bristol's Methods nay fell at odds with him tho without Comparison he was the ablest Statesman in all King James his Councils 4. Whereas all other Ambassadors and Statesmen in all great Affairs make their Court to the King's Council and prime Ministers of State to attain their Ends Buckingham fell at open Defiance with Olivares prime Minister of State in Spain and 't was generally said made his Court to the Countess which she acquainted her Husband with and instead of the Countess put a tainted Whore to Bed with him 5. The Earl of Bristol in the 9th Article of his Charge against him shews what a Scandal Buckingham gave by his Personal Behaviour in Spain and also employing his Power with the King of Spain for procuring Favours and Offices which he bestowed upon base and unworthy Persons for the Recompence and Hire of his Lust These things as fit neither for the Earl of Bristol to speak nor the Lords to hear he left to their Lordships Wisdom how far they please to have them examined It having been a great Infamy to this Nation that a Person of the Duke 's great Quality and Employments a Privy-Counsellor and Ambassador eminent in his Majesty's Favour and solely in Trust with the Prince should leave behind him in a Foreign Court so much Scandal as he did by his ill Behaviour 6. The Earl of Bristol's sixth Article against Buckingham is That his Behaviour in Spain was such that he thereby so incensed the King of Spain and his Ministers that they would admit of no Reconciliation nor farther Dealings with him Whereupon he seeing the said Match would be to his Prejudice he endeavoured to break it not for any Service to the Kingdom nor of the Match it self nor for that he had found as since he pretended the Spaniards did not really intend the said Match but out of his particular Ends and Indignation And the 7th Article says 7. That after he intended to cross the said Match he put in practice divers undue Courses as making use of the Prince's Letters to his own Ends and not as they were intended as likewise of concealing things of high Importance to the King James and thereby to overthrow the King's Purposes and advance his own Ends. Nor had my Lord Keeper Williams any better luck in this Adventure of Buckingham's than the Earl of Bristol or Olivares for tho the Prince's going into Spain was concealed from the Keeper as well as Council yet after the Duke was gone the Keeper's Letters followed him to Madrid wherein the Keeper advised him to be circumspect in all his Actions that no Offence might be taken at any of them by the King and Ministers of Spain and to be advised by the Earl of Bristol not only as a most able Statesman but above all others the most experienced in the Manners of the Spaniards and Court of Spain but this Buckingham took as ill Manners in the Keeper and was an occasion of his quarrelling with him as you may read in the Life of the Lord Keeper written by the Bishop of Litchfield and Coventry But neither the danger of the Prince in Spain nor the cross-grain'd going of the Match any way abated the King's Favour to his beloved Scholar and Disciple Buckingham but he sent after him the Patent of being created a Duke there being not another of England So that now he is become Duke Marquess and Earl of Buckingham Earl of Coventry Viscount Villiers Baron of Whaddon Great Admiral of
Treasurers to receive the Money and a Council of War to disburse the same But the Commons having granted these Subsidies drew up a Petition against the Licence the Popish Party had taken during the Treaty with Spain He was so nettled at it that he called it a Stinging One and hearing the Commons were entring upon Grievances he could not endure it and upon the 29th of May adjourned the Parliament to the 2d of November 1624 and from thence to the 7th of April lest the King should hear of another stinging Petition or a Disturbance in the French Treaty but at this Adjournment he told them at their next Meeting they might handle Grievances so as they did not hunt after them nor present any but those of Importance yet I do not find the Parliament ever met again at least never did any thing However the King passed a General Pardon and the Parliament censured Lionel Earl of Middlesex Lord Treasurer for Corruption in his Office 50000 l. to the King and to be imprisoned in the Tower during the King's Pleasure which was but three days after the Adjournment of the Parliament for upon the first of June he was set free Whilst these things were doing in Parliament the Earl of Bristol was recalled from his Embassy but before his Arrival the Duke dealt by all means that the Earl might be committed to the Tower before he should be admitted to the King's Presence But fearing the Marquiss Hamilton and my Lord Chamberlain would oppose him herein the Duke pressed them that they would concur in it vowing as Somerset did to Sir Thomas Overbury he intended the Earl no hurt but only feared that if he should be admitted to the King's Presence he would cross and disturb the Course of Affairs but neither of these Lords would condescend thereunto This was attested by my Lord Chamberlain before the House of Lords This Deâ—â—gn of the Duke's failing the Duke to terrify the Earl from returning into England writ to him that if he kept not himself where he was in Spain and laid hold of the great Offers which he heard were made unto him the Earl it should be the worse for him At Bourdeaux the Earl heard of the Aspersions cast upon him by the Duke in Parliament of which the Earl did boldly afterward in the House of Lords in the second Parliament of Car. 1. and in the Presence of the Duke affirm That there was scarce any one thing concerning him in the Declaration which was not contrary to or different from Truth From Bourdeaux the Earl took Post to get into England to vindicate himself from the Asperâ—ons which the Duke had cast upon him in Parliament but when he came to Calais tho he sent over to have one of the King's Ships allowed him and for which publick Orders were given and tho the King James had Ships which lay at Boloign which might have every day been with him in three Hours and the Wind fair yet none came tho the Earl waited for one eight Days so that he was forced to pass the Sea to Dover in a Boat and six Oars When the Earl was landed at Dover he was by a Letter from my Lord Conway a Creature of the Duke's commanded in the King's Name to retire to his House and not to come to Court or the King's Presence until he had answered to certain Questions which his Majesty would appoint some of the Council to ask him but this was not out of any ill meaning to him but for fear the Parliament should fall too violently upon him and this the Duke said to some of his Friends was the Reason of the Earl's Restraint Hereupon the Earl humbly petitioned the King he might be exposed to Parliament and that if he had not served the King honestly in all things he deserved no Favour but to be proceeded against with all Severity but received Answer from the King That there should be but few days past before he would put an end to his Affairs but the Parliament was adjourned before the few days passed nor did he ever put an end to them You may read the further Contrivances against him by the Duke in Rushw from fol. 259 to 265. After the Adjournment of the Parliament or if you will the Dissolution of it tho the Earl of Bristol could not obtain Admission into the King's Presence yet he obtained Leave to answer to all the Duke had in his Absence charged upon him in Parliament and withal wrote to the Duke that if he or any Man living was able to make Reply he would submit himself to any thing which should be demanded which tho the Duke presumptuously said That it is not an Assertion to be granted that the Earl of Bristol by his Answer had satisfied the King the Prince or himself of his Innocence yet it so satisfied the King that when the Duke after pressed the King that the Earl might submit and acknowledg his Fault the King answered I were to be accounted a Tyrant to engage an innocent Man to confess Faults of which he was not guilty Tho the Earl said he could prove this upon Oath yet the Duke wrote to him that the Conclusion of all that had been treated with his Majesty was that he the Earl should make the Acknowledgment as was set down in that Paper tho at that time the King sent him word that he would hear him against the Duke as well as he had heard the Duke concerning him and soon after the King died which Promise of the King 's the Earl prayed God did the King no hurt however the Earl obtained Leave of the King to come to London to follow his private Affairs Mr. Rushworth therefore errs a little in point of time where he says fol. 149. the Earl was committed to the Tower in King James his time for he was not committed till the 15th of January 1625. in the first Year of King Charles as you may see in Stow's Life of King Charles fol. 1042. We have now done with the Spanish Match at least during this King's Reign yet the King's Desires of seeing his Son married which he shall never see were as impatient as those of getting the Infanta's huge Portion and to that end before the Meeting of the Parliament and while the Treaty with the Infanta was yet breathing the King sent my Lord Kensington after Earl of Holland to feel the Pulse of the French Court how it beat towards an Alliance between the Prince and Princess Henrietta Maria youngest Daughter of Henry IV. of France A serene Heaven appeared in France upon the Motion not a Cloud to be seen in all the French Horizon Lewis the King telling my Lord Kensington he took it for an Honour that he sought his Sister for the sole Son of so Illustrious a King his Neighbour and Ally only he desired he might send to Rome to have the Pope's Consent for the better Satisfaction of his Conscience And now you
me more than any of his Predecessors and he may believe me that in any thing that shall concern him I will employ not only my Peoples Lives but my own Bravely spoken and like K. James and whosoever of his Subjects Lewis's shall rise against him either Catholicks or others shall find him James a Party for him Lewis 'T is true if he be provoked to infringe his Edicts he shall impart as much as in him lies by Counsel and Advice to prevent the Inconveniencies Who ever expected he should do more or ever did But Venus must not have the only Ascendant in this Treaty for the Cardinal will have Mars to be in Conjunction with her and 't was high time for at this time Monsieur Sobiez had provided a great Fleet of Men of War as Times went then with the French and had entered and surprised the Fort of Blavet in Bretaign and took and carried away six of the French great Men of War out of it and also taken the Isles of Rhe and Oleron which he began to fortify and being absolute Master of the Sea triumphantly with a Fleet of 75 Men of War of all sorts landed a considerable Force at Medoc near Bourdeaux The Court of France was never so alarmed as at this notwithstanding all the King's Victories over the Reformed by Land and therefore the Cardinal threw another Article into the Treaty That King James should lend the French a Fleet of Ships to repress Soubiez and in lieu thereof the French should permit Mansfield who had raised an Army of 10000 Foot and 2000 Horse in England to land at Calais where the French should join him with another Body of Horse and Foot for the Recovery of the Palatinate But see the French Faith and how well Lewis made good his Promise to King James to render him all Offices in his own Person whensoever King James should desire him for at this time the Army being shipt at Dover and put over to Calais where being denied Entrance and having no other Instructions and wanting Provisions they lay neglected at Sea and in this Distress a Pestilence raged among them so that they were forced to sail to Zealand where having no Orders they were denied Landing there and this being the most terrible Season of the Year in December what by Hunger Cold and Pestilence above two thirds of them perished before Leave could be obtained to land them in Holland so that they never did the King of Spain near so much Hurt as they had done in England before they were shipt living upon Plunder and Free-Quarter These were sad Presages of future Happiness from the designed Marriage yet these things no ways discomposed the quiet Repose of our pacifick King so as he might see his only Son married to a Daughter of France was all his Business no matter how The Thirst which God was his Judg and as he was a Christian King he had contracted equal to that of the wayfaring Man in the Desarts of Arabia and in danger of Death for want of Water for the good Success of the Parliament is now asswaged by the granting of three Subsidies and three Fifteenths Here 's no mention of marrying his only Son with the Tears of his only Daughter and he is still ready with the Lives of his Subjects and his own to assist the most High most Excellent and most Puissant Prince his most dear and most beloved Brother Cousin and antient Ally Lewis The Managers of this Treaty were Hay a Scots-man created Earl of Carlisle and the Lord Kensington for the more Honour of it created Earl of Holland two of the King's Favourites of the second Rate but who bare no proportion to the Sagacity Wisdom and Integrity of the Earl of Bristol Bristol was all Heare of Oak and would not bend to Buckingham's Pride and Ambition but they were Willows that were liable to every Nod and Wind of Buckingham's Breath But how comes Buckingham who must have an Oar in every Boat to be absent from this Treaty The Reason was tho he were not wise yet he was jealous lest King James in his Absence should hear Bristol against him as the King had promised as well as he had heard Buckingham against him which was so dangerous a Rock as our Land-Admiral would not venture to run against Notwithstanding all this Haste for consummating this desired Marriage the Thread of the King's Life was spun out before for upon the 27th of March Ann. 1625. he died at Theobalds in the 58th Year of his Age having reigned twenty two Years compleat Having had an Ague the Duke of Buckingham did upon Monday the 21st before when in the Judgment of the Physicians the Ague was in its Declination apply Plaisters to the Wrists and Belly of the King and also did deliver several quantities of Drink to the King tho some of the King's Physicians did disallow thereof and refused to meddle further with the King until the said Plaisters were removed and that the King found himself worse hereupon and that Droughts Raving Fainting and an intermitting Pulse followed hereupon and that the Drink was twice given by the Duke 's own hands and a third time refused and the Physicians to comfort him telling him that this second Impairment was from Cold taken or some other Cause No no said the King it is that which I had from Buckingham I confess this was but a Charge upon the Duke upon the Impeachment of the Commons as you may read in Rushworth fol. 355 356. yet it was next to positive Proof for King Charles rather than this Charge should come to an Issue dissolved the Parliament which was a Failure of Justice tho the Commons had voted him four Subsidies and four Fifteenths before it was passed into an Act. The Character of King James He was the first of that Name King of England and the first King of the whole Isle of Britain and the first King since Henry the first that was born out of the Allegiance to the King of England and was the first at least since Rich. 2. that affected and endeavoured to introduce an Arbitrary Power in England foreign to the Laws and Constitutions of it and in all his Reign was more governed by Flatterres and Favourites than by the Advice of his Parliament or a wise Council His Flatterers and Favourites seldom spake of him but under the Appellation of Most Sacred rarely I think or never before used to any of the Kings of England and of the Solomon of the Age though never were two Kings more unlike unless it were in their Sons Charles and Rehoboam for Solomon died the richest of all the Kings of the World King James the poorest Solomon was inspired above all other Kings with Wisdom and his Proverbs Divine Sentences for Improvement of Vertue and Morality whereas this King's Learning wherein he and his Flatterers so much boasted was a Scandal to his Crown for all his Writings against Bellarmine and
thereupon referred this Business to my Lord Keeper Williams my Lord Treasurer Cranfield the Duke of Richmond Marquess Hamilton the Earl of Arundel the Lord Carew and the Lord Belfast who all agreed that they could not say that the King of Spain had done the part of a Friend in the Recovery of the Palatinate as he had professed nor could find that he had acted the Part of an Enemy declaredly as the Duke objected and indeed my Lord Keeper's Reasons against the War governed all the rest that saw no Expediency for War upon the Grounds communicated by Buckingham And 't was more observable that during the whole Treaty while Buckingham was in Spain the Business of the Palatinate was never mentioned and now he is come out of it it must be the Cause of a War with the King of Spain The Keeper's Reasons were Vpon whom shall we fall Either upon the Emperor or King of Spain the Emperor had in a sort offered the King his Son-in-law's Country again for Payment of a great Sum of Money in recompence of Disbursments but where was the Money to be had yet it might be cheaper bought than conquered before a War was ended For the King of Spain he saw no Cause to assault him with Arms He had held us indeed in a long Treaty to our Loss but he held nothing from us and was more likely to continue the State of things in a State of Possibility of Accommodation because he disliked the Duke of Bavaria's Ambition and had rather stop the Enlargement of his Territories The King embraced this Advice nor did he stay here yet did not stay long but spake hardly of Buckingham who would have put him upon making War upon the King of Spain and the King's Censure upon him was so bitter Cabal Page 92. that it was fit to be cast over-board in Silence says the Bishop of Litchfield f. 169 170. tit 175. This Resolution of the Council was so little to the Duke's Satisfaction that the Bishop says in the same Tit. that it made the Duke rise up and chafe against them from Room to Room as a Hen that had lost her Brood and clucks up and down when she has none to follow her Nor did the Duke stop here but notwithstanding the fierce Anger of the King and his not answering one of the Keeper's Reasons he appealed from the Judgment of the Council to the Parliament Sure he durst not have done this if he had not been sure of the Prince to second him against the Opinion and Anger of his Father This was the third inexpiable Crime the Keeper had committed against the Duke the first was his Advice to the Duke when he was in Spain to hold a good Correspondence with the Earl of Bristol and Olivares but finding the contrary by a Letter to the Duke of the 28th of June which you may read in the Bishop of Litchfield's Life of Bishop Williams fol. 136. tit 146. and another of the 22d of July tit 155. fol. 147. where he in gentle manner informed the Duke as from the King himself how zealous the King was not only of fair Terms between the Duke and Earl but of a nearer Alliance This was such a piece of Impudence in the Keeper that the Bishop says in the next tit that it removed the Duke's Affections from the Keeper for ever nor could this State-Minister contain his Displeasure but wrote to my Lord Mandevile that the first Action he would imbarque himself in when he came home should be to remove the Keeper out of his Place And the next Crime of the Keeper was The Duke was afraid of his Wit See the Bishop tit 156. However this Counsel took such Effect with King James and he was so satisfied that he had no Colour of Title to make War against the King of Spain that when the Parliament after gave him three Subsidies and three Fifteens for the Recovery of the Palatinate and when he had raised an Army of 10000 Foot and 2000 Horse to be commanded by Count Mansfield the King not only made it a Condition that Mansfield with the Army should not commit any Hostility against any of the Dominions which by Right appertained to the King of Spain or the Infanta Isabella Princess of the Low Countries or the Spanish Netherlands and in case he did so from that time the King was not longer to continue Payment of the Army but also took an Oath of Mansfield to observe the Conditions So that how powerful soever the Duke was over King James yet in none of these Particulars could he obtain his End viz. in not prevailing upon the King to make War upon the King of Spain nor in removing the Lord Keeper nor in having the Earl of Bristol committed to the Tower After the breaking of the Spanish Match it was observed that King James's Temper was quite so altered that he forgot his Recreations of Hunting and Hawking at New-Market but whilst he was there he remained as in an Infirmary and in a Fit of Melancholy told the Earl of Carlisle that if he had sent Williams into Spain with his Son he had kept Hearts-ease and Honour both which he wanted See the Bishop of Litchfield lib. 1. tit 174. King James then began to look back upon his former Actions in having lost the Affections of his Subjects and now intangled in the Difficulties which he saw inevitably coming upon him charged the Prince often in the hearing of the Lord Keeper Williams to call Parliaments often and to continue them tho their Rashness sometimes did offend him That in his own Experience he never got any Good by falling out with them See the Bishop of Litchfield lib. 2. f. 16. tit 16. How well King Charles observed his Father's Advice in any of these nay how diametrically he went contrary and contrary to all good Advice given him in the very first Year of his Reign will soon appear and the miserable Effects which followed I have heard my Father tho not a Courtier yet acquainted with many Courtiers say that they would oft pray to God that the Prince might be in the right Way where he set for if he were in the wrong he would prove the most wilful of any King that ever reigned Tho all must stoop to mighty Buckingham yet that he might stand surer who must be his only Support but Laud Bishop of Saint Davids who from picking Quarrels in Lectures at Oxford and being an Informer before now is become Vice-gerent to Buckingham A List of all the eminent Men for Promotion in the Church is given in those whom Laud would have promoted were noted O for Orthodox and whom he liked not were marked P for Puritans these two stopt up both the King's Ears from any other Doctrines in Church or State but what was infused by them so early did King James's Prophecy to my Lord Keeper Williams when he was so importunate to have Laud preferred begin to be fulfilled
they might But these were no Considerations where Buckingham and Laud govern'd all and those worthy and honourable Statesmen the Archbishop of Canterbury the Keeper Williams and the noble Earl of Bristol were not only discountenanc'd but disgrac'd and not permitted to come into the Council How unsuccessful soever the Expedition was yet another Fate attended that Fleet lent to the French for the Dutch joining a Fleet in conjunction with the French Fleet commanded by the Duke of Momerancy fought the Fleet of the Rochellers and utterly subdued it and then reduced the Isles of Rhee and Oleron to the French Power But tho the miserable Fate of the Reformed began here yet the Dishonour of the English Nation shall soon after follow it so that now Richlieu might write florebunt Lilia Ponto Tho the King dissolved the first Parliament to prevent their impeaching Buckingham yet it was not in Buckingham's Power to supply the King's Necessities but they put him upon the Necessity of calling another And here you may see the little Artifices the King 's grand Ministers of State put him upon for the attaining his Ends and how quite contrary they succeeded There were five Persons whom the Duke took to be his Enemies if they were not so he had given them Cause enough to be so two of them were Peers and three of them Commoners the Peers were the Earl of Bristol and Bishop of Lincoln the Commoners were Sir Edward Coke Sir Robert Phillips a Person whose Memory I revere and should be glad I knew any of his Descendants to whom I could acknowledg it and Sir Thomas Wentworth these Persons the Duke feared would be leading Men in both Houses and was resolved that to his Power he would keep them out He was sure the Earl and the Bishop as Peers of Common Right would have their Writs of Summons and was as sure the other three would be chosen Members of the House of Commons In looking a little back you 'll better see forward You have heard how by the Duke's Power in King James's Reign the Earl of Bristol was first kept back from coming into England and after he was come over was kept under Restraint and denied Admission into the King's Presence lest he should have spoiled the Duke's fine Tale in Parliament concerning the Spanish Match and also after he had answer'd every Particular of it without any Reply and that after King James had promised the Earl should be heard in Parliament against the Duke as well as the Duke had been against the Earl King James fell sick and died thereupon before the Parliament met again After King James's Death the Earl wrote a most humble Letter to King Charles imploring his Favour and desiring the Duke's Mediation which the Duke answered the 7th of May 1625 that the Resolution was to proceed against him without a plain and direct Confession of the Point which he the Duke had formerly required him to acknowledg and in a courtly manner told him That he would advise him to bethink himself in time what would be most for his good In the mean time the Earl received his Writ of Summons to the Parliament whereupon the Earl sent to the Duke that he would do nothing but what was most agreeable to his Majesty's Pleasure which the Duke answered I have acquainted his Majesty with your Requests towards him touching your Summons to the Parliament which he taketh very well and would have you rather make your Excuse for your Absence notwithstanding your Writ than to come your self in Person Hereupon the Earl desired a Letter of Leave under the King's Hand for his Warrant but instead thereof he received from the Lord Conway an absolute Prohibition and even to restrain and confine him as he had been in King James's time tho the Earl was freed from it by King James and in this Restraint the Earl continued three Quarters of a Year during which time he was remov'd from all his Offices and Places he held during that King's Life and tho he had laid out the greatest part of his Estate for their Majesties Service and by their particular Appointment he could never be admitted so much as to clear his Accounts yet hereof the Earl never made the least Complaint Upon the King's Coronation when Princes usually confer Acts of Grace and Favour the Earl addressed himself to the Duke and then became an humble Suitor to the King for his Grace and Favour to which he receiv'd an Answer so different from what the King's Father and the King himself had given him since the Earl's Return into England that the Earl knew not what Construction to make of it After the Writs of Summons for the meeting of this Parliament were out the Earl addressed himself to my Lord Keeper Coventry to be a Suitor to the King in his behalf that the Privilege which of right is due to every Peer might not be denied him which not taking effect the Earl petitioned the House of Peers to mediate to the King for his Writ which was granted but accompanied with a Letter from the Keeper not to take his Place in Parliament As Bristol was the worthiest Statesman in either of these King's Reigns and whose Integrity in all these Varieties of Employments none but Buckingham and Conway presumed at least that I can find or ever heard of so much as to carp at so Lincoln's quaint and excellent not pedantick Learning both in Divinity History the Civil and Canon Law and not a Stranger to our English excelled all others These were adorned with a lively and excellent Elocution and with a wonderful promptness and presence of Mind in giving Judgment in the most nice and subtile dark Points of State and accompanied with an indefatigable Industry in Prosecution of them These Parts were so well observed in him by King James that without any Solicitation of Buckingham or any other but whilst he solicited for another the King conferr'd the Lord Keeper's Place upon him as you may read in his Life fol. 52. tit 62. and after unsought for the King promised him the next Avoidance of the Arch-bishoprick of York or any other Ecclesiastical Preferment and so steddy stood he in King James's Favour that Buckingham's Attacks could no ways shake him in it In Chancery he mitigated the Fees and all Petitions from poor Men were granted gratis and was so far from prolonging Suits that in the first Year he ended more than in seven Years before yet with such Caution that he would have some of the Judges but principally Sir Henry Hubbard to be assisting so that notwithstanding his Celerity in Dispatch in all the five Years of his being Lord Keeper not one of his Orders neither by Parliament nor by the Court of Chancery were ever revers'd Cardinal Richlieu is much celebrated for the Speech he made in the Convention of Notables which you may read at large in Howel's Life of Richlieu f. 162 163 164. to excite
the French to carry on the Cardinal 's ambitious and ungodly Designs after the King had so prodigally expended not only his Father's Treasure but doubly more than the ordinary Revenues of France upon his Favourites and the manifold Wars both at home and abroad which Richlieu had entangled him in Let any Man compare the Keeper's Speech at the opening the first Parliament of King Charles which you may read in the Keeper's Life the second Part f. 9 and 10. with that of Richlieu's and judg if the Rhetorick and Elegancy of it comes any way behind that of his after the King's Father and this King had squandered much more than the Revenues of the Crown upon their Favourites and this King had entangled himself in the Articles of the French Match and without Means engaged himself in a War with Spain and that against his Father's and the Keeper's Advice in exciting the Parliament to a Compliance with the King's Will tho with a different Fate for Richlieu attained his Ends by his Speech whereas the Keeper's Downfal was a Consequence of his But above all the Keeper excelled himself if I may be Judg in three things one was in his Speech in the House of Peers about the Peers taking the Oaths the second his Reasons he gave the French Ambassador Vollâ—cleer against dispensing with our Penal Laws against Romish Priests which you may read at large in the first Part of the Keeper's Life fol. 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222. The third Speech was when the Earl of Essex moved the House of Lords in the Year 1640 that the Bishops might be expell'd the House not their Persons but their Order which you may read at large in the second Part of the Keeper's Life from fol. 168 to 176. And sure the History of the Keeper's Life had been a nobler Work if it had been related without the loose and impertinent Glosses of the Bishop of Litchfield whereby he does so often disturb and break the Thread of the Story and by preaching himself more than writing his History makes it confounded so as it is difficult to pursue it See the Speech in the first Part of his Life f. 76 77. After the Parliament was dissolved at Oxford all Heads were set at work to find some fault against the Keeper to out him of his Place but none could be found hereupon they made a Proposition which the Keeper made to King James That the Office of Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper should be Triennial so that after three Years the King should make another and the Keeper having enjoy'd the Place above four Years to be the Reason that he should surrender the Seal When the Keeper had notice of this in a pathetical Letter to the King which you may read in his Life in the second Part f. 24. he implores his Majesty's Favour that he may retire with an Assurance of his Majesty's Grace and be admitted into his Presence to make some humble Requests to him which the King granted The first of his Requests was for the King's Favour in general which the King granted and gave him his Hand twice to kiss upon it Secondly That the King would take away none of his Church-Preferments as he had graciously promised till he had given him better in lieu of them the King answered It was his Intention Thirdly That the King would remember his Father's Promise seconded by him that he would place him the Keeper in as good a Bishoprick or Arch-bishoprick as he could the King said There was no such place void when any fell it would be then time enough to make his Request Fourthly That his Majesty would dismiss him freely and absolutely without any Command from the Table but to leave it to the Keeper's Discretion to forbear the King said He ever intended it so and never said a word to the contrary but expected he should not offend by voluntary Intrusion Fifthly That the King would declare to the Lords that the Keeper had willingly and readily yielded to his Majesty's Pleasure and that he parted in the King's Favour and good Opinion and was still his Servant the King said He would but that he looked that no Petitions be made for him by any Man at that time but only for his Favour in general Sixthly The Keeper besought the King to make an Atonement with the Duke upon or without Examination of the Information which the Duke received against him the King said It became not him a King to take up Quarrels between his Subjects and that the Duke had never exprest any such Enmity to him against him the Keeper Seventhly The Keeper besought the King that whereas the Keeper had a Pension by Direction of the King's Father and wherewith the King was acquainted of 2000 Marks per Annum to the Viscount Wallingford and had disbursed 3000 l. down upon it either to buy the said Pension or extinguish it or to assign it to be paid out of the Tenths or Subsidies of his Bishoprick as before he had appointed to receive it out of the Exchequer the King said Assignments were naught but he would take Order with his Treasurer to buy it or pay for it as should be most convenient Eighthly The Keeper besought the King to bestow the next Prebendary in Westminster upon his Library-keeper as his Father had promised or that he might resume his Books again the King said It was full of Reason Ninthly The Keeper besought the King to ratify a Grant made by his Father of four Advowsons to St. John's-College in Cambridg whereof two he had bought with his Money and two the King gave him for the good of the Society the King said He would ratify the Grant and give way to amend any Errors in the Form or in passing of it Tenthly The Keeper besought the King that he might retire to a little Lodg which my Lord Sandys lent him where the Lord Conway might receive the Seal which the King granted Lastly The Keeper besought the King that the King would not be offended with him if upon his Discharge Reports were made that he was discontented which he protested he was not giving over so comfortably the King said He would do him that Justice and that he little valued Reports and thereupon gave the Keeper his Hand to kiss at parting which you may read in the second Part of the Keeper's Life Tit. 28. But the Bishop says in the next Tit. the forlorn Keeper felt the Heaviness of this Lightness who thought he had obtained much but excepting the four Advowsons confirmed to St. John's-College he mist all that he sought for and expected nor could he ever get a Farthing of his Pension nor bring it to an Audit to his dying-day nor did the Keeper's Enemies stop here but sought to provoke against him the King's Displeasure with things which were neither consistent with the King's Honour nor scarce to be born by the Temper of Human Nature and were so
hasty in it that the King's Promise that the Bishop of Lincoln now no more Lord-Keeper should enjoy the King's Favour was scarce three Months old when they put not only the King out of mind of his Promise but the Bishop out of the Duty of his Place but that Laud should perform it whether the Bishop would or not It has been said with what Difficulty the Bishop of Lincoln for so we must now call him procured Laud the Bishoprick of St. David's and the Bishop staid not there but retained him in his Prebendary at Westminster and so after gave him a Living in the Diocess of St. David's of 120 l. per Annum to help his Revenue These two last being Additions to Laud's Preferment coming from the Bishop of Lincoln voluntarily and unsought for by Laud he by Mr. Winn returned his Thanks to the Bishop with this Expression His Life would be too short to requite his Lordship's Goodness But these Favours were not eighteen Months planted when Laud became the Bishop's sharpest Enemy as you may read in the first Part of his Life f. 108. and his Malice grew so high that the Countess of Buckingham the Duke's Mother took notice of it which the Arch-bishop Abbot takes notice of Rushw f. 144. as well as the Bishop of Litchfield As Acts of Grace and Favour usually were accompany'd by our Kings at their Coronation so in this King's Reign the quite contrary must be practised not only to the Earl of Bristol but much more to the Bishop of Lincoln for he was not only denied to do his Homage to the King with the rest of the Spiritual Lords at the Coronation but his Office as Dean of Westminster in assisting the Arch-bishop in the Solemnity of it and yet this too must be done by Laud as the Bishop's Substitute whether he would or not This was the first noble Favour the King extended to the Bishop according to his reiterated Promise when they parted The second was he was denied his Writ of Summons as a Peer in Parliament which met in four days after the Coronation viz. Feb. 6. which was due ex debito Justitiae and which was never denied to Prisoners or condemned Persons even in his Father's time and at last when he obtained it yet he must not presume to sit in Parliament and had much ado to have his Proxy left with the Bishop of Winchester Dr. Andrews as you may read in the second Part of his Life f. 69. But tho the Privilege of Peers a little eclipsed the Power of the mighty Buckingham yet he was resolved to keep Sir Edward Coke Sir Robert Phillips and Sir Thomas Wentworth out of the Commons House by the King's Prerogative as it has been of late used in making them Sheriffs whether they be returned by the Coroner's Inquest of the Counties or not and by this Prerogative Sir Edward Coke was made Sheriff of the County of Bucks Sir Robert Phillips of Somerset and Sir Thomas Wentworth of Yorkshire It made a mighty Noise and an Inquiry which otherwise would not have been that Sir Edward Coke in his extream Age now 77 Years old and who had been Chief Justice of both Benches and Privy-Counsellor should be made a Sheriff of the County and the more for that Sir Edward Coke took Exceptions to the Oath of a Sheriff whereupon it was altered These were the Counsels which govern'd this King in the Infancy of his Reign Now let us see the Success The Commons were so far from granting Subsidies now as in the last Parliament before Grievances were redrest that upon their first Meeting they fell upon Examination of Grievances and the Miscarriage of the Fleet at Cadiz the evil Counsellors about the King's Misgovernment and Misimployment of the King's Revenue and an Account of the three Subsidies and three Fifteenths granted the 21st of King James That new Impositions and Monopolies were multiplied and settled to continue by Grants Customs enhanced by the new Book of Rates and that Tunnage and Poundage was levied tho by no Act of Parliament and the Guard of the Seas neglected However these were Generals but the first Particular fell upon Mountague in five particular Articles wherein he had broken the Laws and Statutes of the Realm and disturbed the Peace both of the Church and Commonwealth 1. Whereas by the Articles of the Convocation holden in the Year 1â—62 it is determined That the Church of Rome is at present and has been for above 900 Years past so far wide from the Nature of a true Church that nothing can be more he the said Mountague in several places of the Book called The Answer to the Gagg and his other Book called The Appeal advisedly affirms and maintains That the Church of Rome is and ever was a true Church since it was a Church 2. Whereas in the 16th Homily of the second Book of Homilies it is declared that the Church of Rome is not built upon the Foundation of the Prophets and Apostles and in the 23d Article that Transubstantiation overthrows the Nature of a Sacrament and in the 25th Article that the five other Sacraments are not to be accounted Sacraments yet he the said Mountague maintains in his Book called The Answer to the Gagg That the Church of Rome hath ever remained firm upon the same Foundation of Sacraments and Doctrine instituted by God 3. In the 19th of the same Article it is maintained That the Church of Rome hath erred not only in their Living and Matters of Faith and Ceremonies he in his Book called The Gagg does maintain that none of these are controverted in their Points between the Papists and Protestants and tho in the 35th Article it is resolved that the Sacrifice of Masses in which it is commonly said the Priest did offer Christ for the Quick and the Dead to have Remission of Pain and Guilt too is a blasphemous Fable and dangerous Deceit this being one of the controverted Points between the Church of England and the Church of Rome he in his Book called The Gagg does maintain That these controverted Points are of a less and inferiour Nature of which a Man may be ignorant without any danger of his Soul at all and a Man may oppose this or that without peril of perishing for ever 4. Whereas in the second Homily entituled Against the Peril of Idolatry and approved by the 37th Article it is declared That Images teach no good Lesson neither of God or Godliness but all Error and Wickedness he the said Mountague does maintain Images may be used for the Instruction of the Ignorant and Excitation of Devotion 5. That in the same Homily it is plainly expressed That the attributing certain Countries to Saints is a spoiling God of his Honour and that such Saints are but Dii tutelares of the Gentile Idolaters yet the said Mountague in his Book entituled A Treatise concerning the Invocation of Saints affirmed and maintained That the Saints have not only a
at the Duke of Buckingham and wonders what had altered their Affections to him when in the last Parliament of his Father's time he was their Instrument to break the Treaties for which they did so honour and respect him that all the Honour conferred upon him was too little He wot not what had chang'd their Minds but assures them that the Duke had not meddled with or done any thing concerning the Publick but by his special Directions and was so far from gaining any Estate thereby that he verily thinks the Duke rather impaired the fame He would have them hasten the Supplies or it will be the worse for them for if any Ill happens he thinks he shall be the last that shall feel it The Commons had yet fresh in Memory the Dissolution of the Parliament at Oxford about six Months before and what Trust there was to this King's Word for Redress of Grievances so as it was done in a dutiful and mannerly Way after they had given Money and therefore they little altered their Course from what they had done at Oxford yet more than Parliaments heretofore did to have Grievances first redress'd and then to give Supplies for they voted to proceed upon Grievances and to give the King three Subsidies and three Fifteenths This gave the Duke little Satisfaction so that the King himself became the Duke's Advocate and told the Commons in a Speech which you may read in Rushw fol. 225. that he came to inform the Commons of their Errors and unparliamentary Proceedings so that they might amend their Faults which was enlarged by my Lord Keeper Coventry who told them of the King's Necessities and his Patience in Expectation of Supplies and of the King's Promise of Redress of Grievances after Supplies were granted That the Enquiry upon sundry Articles against the Duke upon Câ—nanâ—n Fame was to wound the Honour and Government of his Majesty and of his renowned Father and therefore it was his Majesty's final and express Command that they yield Obedience to those Directions which they formerly receiv'd and cease their unparliamentary Proceedings against the Duke and leave to his Majesty's Care Wisdom and Justice the future Reformation of those things which they supposed to be otherwise than they should be and that the King took notice that they had suffered the greatest Council of State The Duke and Laud to be censured and traduced by Men whose Years and Education cannot attain to that Depth Why then were the old Members kept out of the House which could have better informed them and that the three Subsidies and three Fifteenths were no ways proportionable to supply the King's Necessities c. and concludes that his Majesty doubts not but after this Admonition they will observe and follow it which if they do his Majesty is most ready to forgive all that is past Then the King added that in his Father's time by their Perswasion he was their Instrument to break off those Treaties and that then no Body was in so great Favour with 'em as the Man they seem now to touch but indeed his Father's Government and his and that Parliaments are altogether in his Power for their Calling Sitting and Dissolution and as he finds the Fruits they are to continue or not to be But if the Commons Proceedings against the Duke were erroneous and unparliamentary and through the Duke's Sides wounded not only the King's Government but that of his renowned Father and that the young Men in this House of Commons had censured and traduced the King's highest Council of State you shall now hear of an old Statesman in the House of Lords which shall not only cease the Wonder which caused the Parliament in the 21st of King James so to applaud the Duke but shall wound the whole Story which begat that great Applause to the Duke You have heard before how the Earl of Bristol was stopp'd at Calais from coming over into England after his Return out of Spain and after he came to Dover when the Duke could not prevail upon Marquiss Hamilton and the Earl of Hertford to have the Earl sent to the Tower upon his Arrival in England how he was stopp'd by a Letter from the Lord Conway that he should not come to Court nor to the King's Presence till he had answered to some Queries which his Majesty would appoint some of the Lords of the Council to ask him which was not done till the Parliament was adjourned and never met more and how after King James's Death the Earl was not only kept from his Liberty and the King's Presence but removed from all his Offices and Employments and not suffered to come to an Account for the Moneys expended in the King's Service and not permitted to come to the Parliament which was dissolved at Oxford Upon the King's Summons of this Parliament the Earl petitions the King to have his Writ of Summons which was never denied to any Peer to assist in the House of Peers but he received an Answer by the Lord Conway That the King was no ways satisfied in it and propounded to the Earl Whether he would rather sit still and enjoy the Benefit of the late King's Pardon in Parliament or to wave it and put himself upon Trial for his Negotiation in Spain and one of these he must trust to and give a direct Answer The Earl in Answer said He had been already question'd upon 20 Articles by a Commission of the Lords and had given such Answers that their Lordships never met more about that Business and that he did not wave the Pardon granted by King James in Parliament These Letters you may read at large in Rushworth fol. 138 139 140. Hereupon the Earl petitions the House of Lords shewing that he being a Peer of this Realm had not received his Writ of Summons to Parliament and desires their Lordships to mediate with his Majesty that he may enjoy the Liberty of a Subject and the Privilege of his Peerage after almost two Years Restraint without any Trial brought against him and that if any Charge be brought against him he prays he may be try'd by Parliament Hereupon the Lords petition the King that not only the Earl of Bristol but all such other Lords whose Writs are stopt except such as are made uncapable to sit in Parliament by Judgment of Parliament or some other legal Judgment may be summoned This nettled the Duke to the quick so that he told the House the King had sent the Earl his Writ but withal deliver'd such a Letter which the King sent to the Earl which I care not to transcribe but you may read it in Rushworth fol. 241. wherein this great Statesman Buckingham would have the Earl judged and censured by the King without hearing the Earl and thereby forestal the Judgment of the Lords against the Earl It 's true indeed my Lord Keeper Coventry sent the Earl a Writ of Summons to attend in Parliament but withal signified by a Letter
to the Earl that it was his Majesty's Pleasure withal no doubt but by the Advice of his highest Council of State that the Earl should continue in the same Restraint he was so that he forbear his personal Attendance in Parliament But since the Duke could no longer otherways keep the Earl out of the House of Lords the King by my Lord Keeper signified to the Lords that his Pleasure was they should send for the Earl as a Delinquent to answer Offences committed against him before his going into Spain and since his coming back and his scandalizing the Duke of Buckingham immediately and by Reflection upon himself with whose Privity and Direction the Duke guided his Actions and without which he did nothing And now Sir Robert Heath the King's Attorney-General exhibited eleven Articles against the Earl it was thought fit to leave out the other nine which the Earl had answered to King James without any Reply and in the last of these the Earl is charged with giving the King the Lie in offering to falsify that Relation which his Majesty affirmed and thereunto added many things of his own Remembrance to both Houses of Parliament which you may read at large in Rushworth's Collections from fol. 153 to 158. Hereupon the Earl exhibited a Charge of High Treason and Misdemeanours in twelve Articles against the Duke and another against the Lord Conway of High Misdemeanours which you may read at large in Rushworth from fol. 266 to 270. And upon the Delivery of them the Earl desired a Copy of the King's Charge against him in Writing and time allowed to answer and Counsel assigned him and said there was a great Difference between the Duke and him for the Duke was accused of Treason and at large and in the King's Favour and that he being but accused of that which he had long since answered was a Prisoner and therefore moved the Duke might be put in equal Condition which tho the House did not yet were not satisfied to commit the Earl to the Tower and order'd That the King's Charge against the Earl should be first heard and then the Earl's against the Duke yet so that the Earl's Testimony against the Duke be not prevented prejudiced or impeached The King in a Message to the Lords by my Lord Keeper would have blasted the Earl's Articles against the Duke for two Reasons if they may be called so The first was That the Narrative made in the 21 Jac. in Parliament trenches as far upon him as the Duke for that he went therein as far as the Duke But what then Shall not the Earl be heard in his Defence against that Declaration which was designed to blast the Earl's Honour and Integrity and Justice is no Respecter of Persons The other was That all the Earl's Articles have been closed in his Breast now these two Years contrary to his Duty if he had known any Crime of that nature against the Duke and now he vents it by Recrimination against the Duke whom he knows to be a principal Witness to prove his Charge against the Earl This is strange for his Majesty's Reign was scarce yet a Year old and all this while the Earl was under a Restraint and not permitted to come to the Parliament which ended at Oxford and in his Father's Reign after the Earl had answered all the Duke's Articles against him without any Reply King James promised him he should be heard against the Duke as well as he was against him tho he lived not to make good his Promise Now let 's see the Levity of this Prince the necessary Concomitant of Wilfulness and which he pursued in every step of his Reign without any Remorse that I could ever find for the Lodgment of the King's Charge against the Earl in the House of Lords was scarce cold whenas it was endeavoured to take the Earl's Cause out of the House and to proceed against him in the King's-Bench But why must this be at this time of day and while a Parliament was sitting And why was not this done in the King's Father's Life or in this King's Reign And why must two years pass and this way of charging the Earl never thought of which now must be done in all haste But the Lords put a full stop to this and for these Reasons 1. For that in all Causes of moment the Defendants shall have Copies of all Depositions both pro and contra after Publication in convenient time before hearing to prepare themselves and if the Defendants will demand that of the House in due time they shall have learned Counsel to assist them in their Defence And their Lordships declared they would give their Assents thereto because in all Causes as well Civil as Criminal and Capital they hold that all lawful Help could not before just Judges make one that is guilty avoid Justice and on the other side God defend that an Innocent should be condemned 2. The Earl of Bristol by his Petition to the House complained of his Restraint desiring to be heard here as well in point of his Wrongs as in his Accusations against the Duke whereof his Majesty taking Consideration signified his Pleasure by the Lord Keeper April 20 That his Majesty was resolved to put his Cause upon the Honour and Justice of this House and that the Earl should be sent for as a Delinquent to answer the Offences he committed in his Negotiations before his Majesty's going into Spain whilst his Majesty was there and since his Return and that his Majesty would cause these things to be charged upon him in this House so as the House is fully possessed of the Cause as well by the Earl's Petition as the King's Consent and the Earl brought up to the House as a Delinquent to answer his Offences there and Mr. Attorney hath accordingly delivered the Charge against him in the House and the Earl also his Charge against the Duke And now if the Earl be proceeded withal by way of the Kings-Bench these dangerous Inconveniencies will follow 1. He can have no Counsel 2. He can use no Witness against the King 3. He cannot know what the Evidences against him will be in convenient time to prepare for his Defence and so the Innocent may be condemned which may be the Case of any Peer 4. The Liberty of the House will be thereby infringed the Honour and Justice of it declined contrary to the King's Pleasure expresly signified by my Lord Keeper all which are expresly against the Order 5. The Earl being indicted it will not be in the Power of the House to keep him from Arraignment and so he may be disabled to make good his Charge against the Duke Therefore the way to proceed according to the Directions and true Meaning of the Order and the King's Pleasure signified and preserve the Liberties of the House and protect one from Injury will be To have the Charge delivered into the House in Writing and the Earl to set down his
Answer in Writing and that the Witnesses on both sides be examined and Evidences on both sides heard by such Course and manner of Proceedings as shall be thought fit by the House And if upon a full Hearing the House shall find it Treason then to proceed by way of Indictment if doubtful in point of Law to have the Opinion of the Judges to clear it if doubtful in Matter of Fact then to refer it to a legal Trial at Law and that the rather for that 1. It appears that the Earl in the space of two Years till now he complained has not so much as been questioned for Matter of Treason 2. He has been examined upon twenty Interrogatories and the Commissioners satisfied that his Answer would admit of no Reply 3. The Lord Conway by several Letters hath intimated that there is nothing against him but what was pardoned by the Parliament of the 21st of Jac. and signified his Majesty's Pleasure that he might rest in that Security and sit still 4. That his Majesty had often declared to the Countess of Bristol and others that there was neither Treason nor Felony against the Earl nor ought else but what a small Acknowledgment would expiate The Earl in Conformity to this Order answered every Particular of the King's Charge against him without any Reply but it would be a wonderful Discovery to find an Answer to any one Particular of the Earl's Charge either against the Duke or my Lord Conway The Commons at the same time impeached the Duke of high Misdemeanours in a Charge of thirteen Articles whereof that of the Death of King James was one but to the Displeasure of the King so far as to commit Sir Dudley Diggs and Sir John Elliot to the Tower for it and the Commons sent a Message to the Lords by Sir Nathaniel Rich by an unanimous Vote to commit the Duke to safe Custody which I do not find the Lords did nor did the imprisoned Members lie long in the Tower for the King signified to the House that Sir Dudley Diggs did not speak the Words for which the King committed him and soon after Sir John Elliot was discharged However the Commons ran high against the Duke with a Protestation That till he were removed from meddling with State-Affairs they were out of all hopes of any good Success and did fear that any Money which they shall or can give will through his Misemployment rather he turned to the Hurt and Prejudice of this Kingdom than otherwise as by lamentable Experience they have lately found in those large Supplies they had formerly and lately given But the Duke thus doubly stormed both by the Earl and Commons and utterly unprovided to defend himself against either and the King rather than receive the Remonstrance the Commons had prepared to present him against the Duke resolved to part with the Parliament rather than the Duke and thereby lost four Subsidies and three Fifteenths tho the House of Peers petitioned to the contrary This was upon the 15th of June 1626. The King having sent the Parliament home again sends a long Declaration after them wherein he magnifies his Power of Calling Adjourning Proroguing and Dissolving Parliaments peculiarly belonging to himself by an undoubted Prerogative inseparably united to his Imperial Crown of which as of all his other Royal Actions he is not to give any Account but to God only whose immediate Lieutenant and Vicegerent he is in these his Realms and Dominions by Divine Providence committed to his Charge yet his Purpose is so to order himself and all his Actions concerning the Weal of his Kingdoms as may justify themselves not only to his own Conscience and to his own People but to the whole World He thought fit to make a true plain and clear Declaration of the Reasons that enforced him to dissolve these two last Parliaments so that the Mouth of Malice it self might be stopt and the deserved Blame of so unhappy Accidents may justly fall upon the Authors thereof The King says That when he came first to the Crown he found himself engaged in a War against a potent Enemy Who was that Enemy Or at what time was any Declaration of any War made either against his Father or him Which after the best Search I could ever make I could never find any yet this I find that the next day after his Father's Death he and his Favourite the Duke were so eager to make a War against the King of Spain that a day must not be lost but Writs must be issued out to summon a Parliament to give Subsidies to make War against Spain See the second Part of the Keeper Williams ' s Life fol. 4. tit 2. This War the King says was not undertaken rashly nor without just and honourable Grounds but enforced for the necessary Defence of himself and his Dominions If this War were for the necessary Defence of the King and his Dominions there must be some Body that did thus offend the King and his Dominions but who this is the King neither says nor can I find For the Support of his Friends and Allies This is general so no particular Answer can be given to it but who these Friends and Allies were which were to be supported the King neither says nor can I find For redeeming the antient Honour of this Nation It had need for it was never so blasted as in his Father's and his own Reign For the Recovery of the Patrimony of his dear Sister her Consort and their Children injuriously and under colour of Treaties of Friendship taken from them The King's Father to make good the Narrative which this King and Buckingham made of the Spanish Treaty told the Parliament he was deceived by Generals and that dolosus versatur in generalibus If the King would have satisfied the World how his Brother-in-law's Patrimony was taken from him by Colour of Treaties and Friendship he should have set forth the Treaties and Friendship and by whom and when sought and by whom and when broken but of this the King says not one word and therefore that which he says stands for nothing And for the Maintenance of the true Religion Were the Ships which he and Buckingham last Year sent to subdue the Rochellers who had never given him or his Father any Offence for the Defence of the true Religion If this was not what was it this King did for the Defence of the true Religion And invited thereunto and encouraged therein by the humble Advice of both Houses of Parliament What! all this by the Advice of both Houses of Parliament I cannot find the Parliament 21 Jac. ever invited his Father to any more than to break off the Treaties of the Prince's Match with Spain and the Palatinate But what if upon the Misinformation of the Duke ex parte the Parliament had done all this yet whenas the Earl of Bristol had twice blasted the Duke's Narrative in every particular without any Reply Why
Exchequer where he pleaded and the King's Counsel demurring the Point in Law came to be argued on both sides Mr. Whitlock has a remarkable Passage of Judg Croke concerning his Opinion in the Case of which he speaks knowingly viz. that the Judg was resolved to give his Judgment for the King and to that end had prepared his Argument yet a few Days before he was to argue upon some Discourse with some of his nearest Relations and most serious Thoughts of the Business and being heartned thereto by his Lady who was a good and pious Woman told her Husband upon this Occasion That she hoped he would do nothing against his Conscience for fear of any Danger or Prejudice to him or his Family and that she was content to suffer Want or any Misery with him rather than be an Occasion for him to do or say any thing against his Conscience or Judgment Upon these and many the like Incouragements but chiefly upon better thoughts he suddenly altered his Purpose and Arguments and when it came to his turn contrary to Expectation he argued and declared his Opinion against the King and so did Judg Hutton after however the rest of the Judges gave their Opinions against Mr. Hambden However the King this Year to sweeten the Judges Opinion for levying Ship-Money set out a Navy of sixty Men of War to disturb the Dutch Fishing on the Coasts of England and Scotland under the Command of the Earl of Northumberland who seized and sunk several of the Dutch Busses whereupon they sued to the King for leave to fish promising to pay an Acknowledgment of 30000 l. per Annum But this ill agreed with the King's Reason for levying Ship-Money which was that Pirats infested our Coasts to the indangering the Safety of the Nation See William de Britaine f. 16 17. But if the Dutch were thus bold upon our Coasts by the Liberty granted them by Hugo Grotius they were much bolder in the East-Indies where they stile themselves Soveraigns of all the Seas in the World for Anno 1620 they seized upon two Ships of the English called the Bear and the Star in the Straits of Mallaca going to China and confiscated Ships and Goods valued at 150000 l. I suppose Grotius could not give a like Instance of any Dutch Ships so used for passing through the Channel and last Year viz. 1635 an English Ship called the Bona Esperanza going towards China by the Straits of Mallaca was violently assaulted by three Dutch Men of War the Master and many of the Men killed and the Ship brought into Mallaca and there the Ship and Goods were confiscate valued at 150000 l. and this very Year the Dragon and Katherine two English Ships of Sir William Courten valued at 300000 l. besides the Commanders and others who had great Estates in them were set upon by seven Dutch Men of War as they past the Straits of Mallaca from China and by them taken the Men tied back to back and thrown over-board the Goods taken out of the Ships which were sunk and seized for the State The State and Church of England thus established in Doctrine and Discipline the Arch-bishop's next Care was to have the same in Scotland and herein he was so absolute that the King told the Marquess Hamilton when he was his Commissioner in Scotland that the Arch-bishop was the only English-man he entrusted in the Ecclesiastical Affairs in Scotland and no Care need be had of the Church of Ireland since my Lord Viscount Wentworth was Lieutenant there who to all Intents pursued the Arch-bishop's Instructions Here let 's see how the Church stood in Scotland before the Arch-bishop undertook to reform it James the 5th of Scotland died the 13th of December 1542 leaving only one Daughter Mary but five Days old by Mary of Lorain his Wife Sister to Francis Duke of Guise and Charles Cardinal of Lorain two the most powerful Princes in France after King Henry the 2d and the most zealously addicted to the Popish Religion After the King's Death Cardinal Beaton got a Priest Henry Balfour to forge the King's Will whereby the Cardinal the Earls of Huntley Argile and Murray were to have the Government during the Queen's Minority but the Nobility not believing it chose the Earl of Arran Governour and Henry the King of England desiring to unite the Kingdoms by marrying his Son Edward with the Infant-Queen sent a solemn Embassy to the Governour and Council of Scotland to consent to this Marriage which was done only the Queen Dowager and the Cardinal dissenting and this was confirm'd by the Parliament convened at Edinburgh the 13th of March following Yet the Queen-Mother and Cardinal got the Queen to be married to Francis the Dauphin Son of Henry the 2d of France In this Parliament the Scots were permitted to read the Scripture in the English Tongue till the Prelates should publish one more correct But in the Year 1559 the Scots began their Reformation in Religion at Perth the intervening Accidents of the Scots Endeavours to reform and the Opposition by the Regent the Cardinal and the Prelates you may read in Bishop Spotswood's History of the Church of Scotland and Sir Melvil's Memoirs To suppress the Progress of this Reformation the Queen-Mother who was Regent calls in an Army and Navy of French to oppose them The Reformers call in an Army and Navy of English the English Fleet fire the French Ships in their Harbour and compel the French to leave Scotland and in 1560 the Queen Regent died leaving Scotland in a kind of Interregnum In August following a Parliament convened at Edinburgh by a Warrant from the King and Queen wherein the Mass and Popery were suppressed and the Reformation of the Kirk of Scotland in Doctrine and Discipline established but the King and Queen now of France as well as Scotland refused to confirm either nor was this Kirk-Doctrine and Discipline confirmed till the Queen was deposed and Murray made Regent in 1567. The Reformation was purely after the Mode of Calvin and Church of Geneva a Common-Prayer was ordained not strictly to be observed but as a Pattern of Prayer In it were ordained four sorts of Assemblies viz. National Provincial Weekly Meetings of Ministers and the Eldership of every Parish Superintendents were likewise established whose Office was to visit the Kirk within limited Places these had Power to cite and deprive Ministers but must be assisted by some grave Ministers next adjoining as also to ordain Ministers But the Hierarchy of the Church of Scotland as they were esteemed one of the States in Parliament was not then nor after taken away by Parliament nor their Power of Ordination and Visiting within their Diocesses yet in Visitation and Ordination the Superintendents had a concurring Power with the Bishops and the Bishops were subject to be cited and proceeded against for Scandal neglect of their Office Symony c. by the General Assemblies This Reformation viz. 1581 was subscribed by
find he ever repented of any of them But admit the King had this Power and also that the Opening Adjourning and Proroguing Terms and granting Commissions of Oyer and Terminer and times of their Sitting and Continuance for Executing Justice be Prerogatives inseparable to the Imperial Crown of which he is accountable to God only Yet if he shall not open the Terms or grant Commissions of Oyer and Terminer or if he does refuse to have Justice done between himself and Subjects or between his Subjects but instead thereof prorogue or adjourn Terms and withcall his Commissions of Oyer and Terminer and declare to Him only belongs the Power of opening the Terms and of granting Commissions of Oyer and Terminer and that he is only accountable to God for all his Actions would not this be a Failure of Justice and can any Man believe that he would be God's Vicegerent herein for the Good and Benefit of his Subjects The Act of the 25 of Edward the III determines what Treasons are cognisable by the King's Judges but the other Treasons at Common-Law are only determinable in Parliament and one of the chiefest Ends in calling Parliaments is when the Judges themselves or Ministers of State becoming corrupt and too great for the ordinary Courts of Justice they may be punished in Parliament it is therefore greater Injustice and infinitely more dangerous to the King and Subjects to deny the Nation this Right than to deny Justice to particular Subjects The King is Head of the Common-wealth and the Laws and Constitutions of the Nation unite them into one Body which if they cease there is neither King nor Common-wealth and by the 4 Edw. 3. c. 4. Parliaments shall be holden every Year and by 36 Edw. 3. c. 10. Parliaments shall be holden once a Year and oftner if need be that Grievances and Mischiefs be redrest How then does it become the King to glory that the Calling Adjourning Proroguing and Dissolving Parliaments are undoubted Prerogatives inseparably annexed to the Imperial Crown which in plain English is to say It is a Prerogative inseparable to the Imperial Crown to rend himself from his Subjects and to make himself neither King nor the Nation his Subjects But if the King be accountable only to God for his Actions how comes it that he so often appeals to the People by these Declarations against their Representatives or rather against the People and their Representatives to his own Minions and Flatterers which are worse than any other Rebels and Traitors for these appear barefac'd what they are whereas those steal away the Love and Obedience of his Subjects and provoke them either to be Rebels and Traitors or careless to assist him against such as are And this was the Case of Edward the 2d and Richard the 2d and now it comes fast upon this unhappy King for so hereafter he will ever be In September this Year the Dutch fell upon a Fleet of the Spaniards in the Downs so furiously as being 53 in Number made them cut their Cables and run 23 of them on Shoar whereof 3 were burnt 2 perished on the Shoar the Remainder of the other 23 were deserted by the Spaniards and mann'd by the English to save them from the Dutch the other 30 put to Sea of which only 10 escaped Yet the King however he gloried in being stiled Soveraign of the British Seas took no Care to vindicate this against the Dutch to whom he was now become as contemptible as to his Scotish Subjects Now let 's see how things stood in Scotland After the Pacification between the English and Scots yet full of Jealousy on either Part the King sent for 14 of the principal Covenanters to come to him at Berwick which the Scots refused and only sent Montross Lowden and Lowthian these three Lords seemed much mollified by what the King had granted and promised all Obedience to the King The King urged Hamilton to be his Commissioner which he refusing he made Traquair but tied him up to close Instructions and in August he indicts a General Assembly the Bishops protest against it and the Covenanters supplicate the Commissioners and Council that Episcopacy be declared unlawful and the Covenant subscribed by all the Scotish Nation which the Commissioners verbally consented to Here you must understand that the Covenanters make the Kirk a distinct Table or Body from the Civil of which Christ Jesus is the only Head and that the Parliament is obliged to pass all the Acts of a General Assembly so that though by many Acts of Parliament the Bishops Sitting and Voting in Parliament is ordained and confirmed yet the voting Episcopacy to be unlawful hath rescinded all those Acts of Parliament for Sublata Causa tollitur effectus Upon the 30th of October in 1639 the Parliament met but upon the Difference between the Houses and the Earl of Traquair about naming Lords of the Articles the Earl prorogues them to the 14th of November which the Parliament protest against and declare all Proceedings in Parliament to be as valid as if no Prorogation had been The Parliament hereupon appoint a Committee to represent this to the King and in the mean time to expect the King's Answer and make the Earl of Dumfermling and the Lord Lowden their Deputies to do it who coming without Warrant from the Earl of Traquair were commanded back again without Audience Then the King commands the Commissioner Traquair to prorogue the Parliament to the second of June in 1640 and that Traquair should come and give an account of the Matters proposed in Parliament and Traquair having gotten one of the Letters which the Covenanters had sent to the French King for his Protection and Assistance of the Covenanters subscribed by Rothes Montross Lesley Mountgomery Lowden and Forester brings this with him and delivers it to the King for which the Scots would never forgive the Earl but ever after deemed him an Incendiary This yet being unknown to the Covenanters they petition the King to permit them to send some of their Members to vindicate their Proceedings which the King did and they sent the Earl of Dumfermling and Lowden again The King when they came to London claps Lowden close Prisoner in the Tower and expected that this Confederacy between the Scots and French would be a means to procure the Parliament to assist him more powerfully against the Scots but the King having dissolved the Parliament he as suddenly dismist him as before he had committed him which did the King no good This unhappy King would as easily be excited to give harsh language as be put upon sudden Actions and as soon leave them and often proceed quite contrary And now the King taxes the Scots Proceedings to be Traiterous and Rebellious and causes a Paper published by the Scots after the Pacification to be burnt by the Hand of the common Hangman but the Scots insisted their Proceedings to be according to the Covenant which they could not
start from and that therein they were the King 's most Dutiful Subjects Things could not long stay here but upon the 20th of August in 1640 the Scots enter England with an Army of about 22000 Men commanded by General Lesley to deliver a Petition for Reformation of Religion and State and to justify their Proceedings and begin as the King did at the opening of all his Parliaments with the Necessity of their Proceedings The King the same day the Scots entred England posts to York having made the Earl of Northumberland General of his Army the Earl of Strafford Lieutenant-General and my Lord Marshal the Earl of Arundel General of his Forces on the South-side of Trent When the King came to York his first Care was to stop the Scots from passing the River Tine and commanded the Lord Conway and Sir Jacob Astly to oppose them but the Scots having the advantage of the Ground and sixfold more in number than the English force their Passage at Newborn about five Miles from Newcastle to the West and take Newcastle and after Durham and tax the Counties of Northumberland and Durham at 850 l. a day but the Rents of the Papists and the Church of Durham they take over and above The King instead of fighting the Scots is encountred with Complaints from the Inhabitants of Yorkshire Durham and Northumberland of the Miseries of their Condition then with Petitions from many of the Nobility the City of London and other Places for a free Parliament upon this the King assembles a great Council of the Nobility to advise what to do Now things are brought to the Point Richlieu had designed them The King in these two Expeditions had spent all the 900000 l. he before had lodged in his Exchequer and now had two Armies to maintain in the Bowels of his Kingdom when he not only had no means to pay either but also without doubt the Scotish Army were Pensioners to France The Lords advise a Truce which is accepted and all agreed but how to pay the Armies till a Parliament meet was a Question the Scots coming for all the English Mens Gudes demand but 40000 l. per Mensem but like their Country Pedlars fall to 25000 l. which is agreed which with the Charge of the English Army would amount to 60000 l. per Mensem to save the Country from Free-quarter In this Treaty the King named the Earl of Traquair to be assistant to the English Peers but the Scots excepted against him as an Incendiary and one to be brought to Punishment the King submits and leaves him out But how to provide Money to pay both Armies till the meeting of the Parliament which was to meet the third of November is the Question The King had not Credit it could not be had but from the City of London which was upon ill Terms with the King for Alderman Atkins Sir Nicholas Ranton and Alderman Geere were by Order of the Council in Prisons in London and the Attorney-General had Orders to draw an Information against them in the Star-Chamber for refusing to return the Names of such as were able to lend upon a Loan of 200000 l. demanded by the King The Lords therefore of the Great Council write to the City of London signifying the King 's gracious Resolution of calling a Parliament wherein he promised all Grievances to be redrest the Miseries of the Country if the Armies were not paid and not less than 200000 l. could prevent them and the Lords would give their Bonds for the City's Security whereupon the City lent the Money and then the Treaty was adjourned from Rippon to London But that we may better see how things stood at the opening of the Parliament let us look back a little After the King had dissolved the Parliament May the 5th he left the Convocation sitting who frame an Oath wherein they swear never to consent to alter the Government of the Church by Arch-bishops Bishops Deans and Arch-deacons c. as it stands now established and as by right it ought to stand which was interpreted to be Jure Divino They also made sixteen Canons and Goodman Bishop of Glocester for refusing to subscribe the Oath and Canons was suspended Being encouraged by Mountague Bishop of Norwich and Laud ' s Creature who Goodman said had in his Person visited and held Correspondence with the Pope's Nuncio and received his Letters in behalf of his Son who was then travelling to Rome and by his Letters had extraordinary Entertainment there Nor did the Convocation stay here but granted the King a Benevolence of six Subsidies to be paid in six Years the Refusers to be suspended and excommunicated To such an Extremity did the Clergy push things in this techy and disorderly time But any Man may easily guess the Spring which set all these Wheels in motion And it is observable that the Clergy who now taxed their fellow Subjects without Consent of the Commons shall ever hereafter be taxed by the Commons without the Consent of the Clergy CHAP. III. A Continuation of this Reign to the Death of the King UPon the third of November the Parliament met and the Nation which for above fifteen Years had been ridden by a more than French Government now look upon the Parliament I mean the Houses to become their Redeemers and by how much more Honour the Nation gives them so much less they leave to the King And here again you may see the unhappy Fate of Princes who treat their Subjects as Enemies and Favourites as their only Friends and Confidents For the first that forsook the King and run beyond Sea was Canterbury's old Friend Secretary Windebank next after him flies Finch and after the Earl of Arundel and scarce one of his old Favourites I mean before the Scots Troubles stood by him except my Lord Cottington Secretary Cooke was either really or politickly sick Juxton Bishop of London indifferent and in all the Wars lived in the Parliament Quarters but all the rest sided with the Parliament against him Only Laud and Strafford are laid in Prison and after put to Death Nor were the Factions less pliable to entertain these Minions and Favourites than they were forward to join with them I 'll give you one Instance herein In this Parliament all those who would not join them were called Delinquents and upon a Debate in the House of Commons concerning an Order in the Star-Chamber signed by my Lord Privy-Seal Secretary Cooke and others it was moved to send for Secretary Cooke as a Delinquent Another Member my nearest Relation from whom I had this moved That since Sir John Cooke was aged and infirm and above a hundred Miles off and my Lord Privy-Seal in Town therefore that the House should proceed against my Lord To whom Mr. Pym reply'd That whatever my Lord 's ante Acta Vitae were yet since he now went right that all ought to be forgotten Nay so zealous were these new-converted Minions and Favourites
that rather than forsake their Seats in Parliament they 'll lose their Places at Court You have heard how my Lord Privy-Seal became Lord Chief-Justice of the King's-Bench after which the King made him Earl of Manchester Lord Privy-Seal and President of the Council my Lord-Keeper Coventry was upright in all his Decrees but my Lord Privy-Seal sets up the Court of Requests to have a concurring Jurisdiction with the Chancery and Men whom my Lord Coventry did not please brought their Causes into the Court of Requests so that in a short time the Practice of this Court swell'd so much that my Lord Privy-Seal made more Clerks and Attorneys than ever was known before King Charles sent to the Bishop of Ely that he the King would have Hatton-House in Holborn for Prince Charles his Court and that the King would be at the Charges for maintaining the Bishop's Title tho the Bishop told me it cost him many a Pound so in the Bishop's Name a Suit was commenced in the Court of Requests for Hatton-House Before the new Buildings were built Hatton-Garden was the â—â—nest and greatest in or about London and my Lady Hatton had planted it with the best Fruit Vines and Flowers which could be got but upon commencing this Suit she destroy'd all the Plantations yet defended her Cause with all Opposition imaginable But at last in 1639 notice was given to my Lady to hear Judgment and at the day my Lady appear'd in Court when my Lord Privy-Seal demanded of my Lady's Counsel If they had any more to say otherwise upon his Honour he must decree against my Lady Hereupon my Lady stood up and said Good my Lord be tender of your Honour for 't is very young and for your Decree I value it not a Rush for your Court is no Court of Record And the Troubles in Scotland growing higher the King had no Benefit of the Decree nor my Lord any Credit in his Court ever after Nor were the Descendants of many of the King's Favourites more faithful to the King than their Fathers as the Lord Kimbolton Sir Henry Vane jun. Sir John Cooke Henry Martin c. Now when it was too late like a Man who begins his Business the last day of the Term the King seems to alter his Countenance and indulge another sort of Men in Church and State who were opposite to the Principles in Bishop Laud's Regency Dr. Williams censured and imprisoned in the Tower has all the Proceedings against him in the Star-Chamber and High-Commission revers'd and taken off the File and Mountague Bishop of Norwich dying in the beginning of the Parliament Dr. Hall is translated from Exeter to Norwich and Dr. Brownrig a most learned and zealous Anti-Arminian is made Bishop of Exeter c. my Lord Chamberlain Pembroke is removed and the Earl of Essex put in his place Sir Robert Holborn made Attorney-General and Oliver St. John Solicitor both which were Mr. Hambden's Counsel against the Legality of Ship-Money But neither these Actions nor the King 's repeated Royal Word could gain Credit with the Parliament I mean the Houses who tho at another time they would have dreaded a standing Army now resolve to maintain two till their Grievances were redrest And sure now it was a lamentable State the King was reduced to he that before rather than hear of what he had done did not care what he did and therefore dissolved four Parliaments now every day hears of what he had done yet cannot help it His Judges which before had refused to bail his Subjects committed by the King without Cause are themselves now committed against the King's Pleasure and no Bail to be taken for them The King's Customers who by the King's Order seized and sold the Merchants Goods for non-payment of Duties not legally imposed are themselves seized and fined more than they are worth Herein the King was only passive but the Houses would not stay here but tho the Commons at first impeached the Earl of Strafford before the Lords in their Judicial Capacity wherein the King's Consent was not actually necessary yet they after proceeded against him by Bill wherein the Attainder must be actually assented to by the King personally or by Commission which the King did my Lord Privy-Seal and the Earl of Arundel I believe very unwillingly being Commissioners and the same day passed an Act That the Parliament should not be Prorogued Adjourned nor Dissolved without their own Consent which proved as great a Grievance as the King 's proroguing and dissolving them at Pleasure And the passing these Laws so frightned my Lord Treasurer Juxton the Master of the Court of Wards and the Governor of the Prince that they all resign'd their Places Besides these the King passed an Act for a Triennial Parliament to meet if not by usual means then by others whether the King would or not And an Act for the utter abolishing the Star-Chamber and High-Commission Courts And to make it a Praemunire in every one of the Privy-Council to determine any Causes cognisable at Common Law An Act to abolish the Court of the Council and President of the North and an Act to rescind the Jurisdiction of the Court of Stanneries An Act to repeal the Branch of a Statute made the first of Eliz. cap. 1. to authorize Ecclesiastical Persons natural born Subjects of England to reform Errors Heresies Schisms c. An Act for declaring Ship-Money and all Proceedings therein void An Act for ascertaining the Bounds and Limits of the Forests as they were in the 20th Year of King James And an Act to prevent the vexatious Proceedings touching the Order of Knighthood These Acts thus passed the Houses thought themselves secure enough and so paid off and disbanded the English and Irish Armies and sent the Scots into their Country again The much greater part of the Gentry and also of the Members of both Houses would have been content to have staid here and many believed if the Parliament had met at York or Oxford they would but this could not be without disgusting the City of London from which only the Loan of 200000 l. could be raised for Payment of the Armies till Provision could be made by Parliament But it was decreed that things should not rest here and that the Faction in the House of Commons might get a Majority at one Vote as they order'd it they voted all those who had been instrumental in Monopolies or in Ship-Money or Collectors of the Customs out of the House and others to be chosen in their Places And the Rabble in the City in Tumults exclaim'd against the Bishops and Popish Lords Votes hereupon the Bishops enter their Protestations against all Proceedings till they might sit and vote freely whereupon they are committed to the Tower and a Law was passed to disable the whole Hierarchy for the future to have any Place in Parliament As the Scots began their Reformation with a Covenant so the Commons began theirs with a
Kingdoms of England Scotland and Ireland and Destruction upon the King when is was not in the Power of those which first raised the War against him to save his Life which they would have done I am told that the last Part of this Paragraph is an unjust Charge upon the Parliament in that they acted defensively in this War and that the King first raised Arms and this by the Authority of Mr. May. If I be mistaken I have the Authority of him who could best know I mean the King at his Death who declared That he never did begin the War with the two Houses of Parliament as all the World knows that they began with him it was the Militia they began upon they confest that to be his but they thought fit to have it from him and to be short if any body will look into the Dates of those Commissions theirs and his and likewise to the Declarations they will see clearly that they began these unhappy Troubles not he See Whit. Mem. f. 369. a. and all the Writers of those times If this be not Authority sufficient to shew the Parliament began the War the first Scuffle between the King and Parliament was about the Business of Hull where the Parliament had committed the Charge of the Town and Magazine to Sir John Hotham one of the Members of the Commons who was sent down thither to remove the Magazine to London but the Country of York petitioned it might still remain at Hull for securing the Northern Parts especially the King residing there Hereupon the King taking a Guard of his Servants and some Neighbouring Gentry upon the 23d of April went to Hull but contrary to Expectation found the Gates shut and the Bridges drawn up by Sir John and his Entrance denied though but with 20 Horse which so moved the King that he proclaimed Hotham a Traitor and sends to the Parliament for Justice against him To this the Parliament return no Answer but justify Sir John Hotham and order that the Sheriffs and Justices of the Peace do suppress all Forces which shall be raised or gathered together against Hull or to disturb the Peace nor did they stay here but put the Power of the Militia in Persons nominated by them excluding the King in ordering any thing together with them and authorized Hotham by his Warrants to raise the trained Bands in Yorkshire to march with their Arms into Hull where he disarmed them and turned them home again See Whit. Mem. f. 55 56. So I submit this to Judgment whether this was not raising Arms against the King being done by Subjects and contrary to the King's Command and if the King did encrease his Guards yet this was subsequent to the excluding the King from having Power in the Militia and Hotham's Raising Arms and Disarming the Trained Bands of Yorkshire Mr. May says p. 55. the Parliament being then intent upon settling the Militia by Land took care also to seize the Navy into their Hands and ordered the Earl of Warwick to be Admiral to put this in Execution but the King had chosen Sir John Pennington to that place instead of the Earl of Northumberland and sent a Command to the Earl of Warwick to resign the Place to him Pennington But the Earl chose rather to obey the Ordinance of Parliament and with great Courage and Policy got the Fleet into his Hands tho many of the Captains stood out against him but the Earl deprived them of their Commands and possest himself of the Ships taking shortly after another Ship called the Lyon of great Import coming out of Holland and laden with Gun-power which proved a great Addition to his Strength So here was a double Beginning of the War by the Parliament both in seizing the Fleet and taking the Lyon and this before the King committed any Act of Hostility And for the carrying on this War which Mr. May calls the Cause the Parliament upon the 10th of June made an Order for bringing in Money and Plate to raise Arms for the Cause and the Publick Faith for Repayment to them which brought it in So here the Parliament raised Money as well as Forces for carrying on the War before the King levied any And so I leave it to Judgment who first began the War Objection The Parliament raised Arms for their own Defence and Security of the Nation Answer This is said but of no kin to Truth or Reason for Men defend what they are possest of and the King was possest of the Militia and Fleet when the Parliament ravish'd both from him nor did the King use either against the Parliament when they invaded them Besides the King at least as he declared endeavoured to defend the established Religion and Laws of the Land whereas the Parliament contended to abolish the Established Religion and to exalt themselves above the Laws of the Land Objection 2. That the King had so often violated the Laws and Constitutions of the Nation and governed so Arbitrarily that the Parliament could have no Security for the future to prevent his so doing again so long as the King was possest of the Militia Answer The Case was not the same then when the King resolved to have no more Parliaments as now when the King had made this Parliament perpetual and had passed the Triennial Bill for Parliaments to meet whether he would or no And tho Favourites and Flatterers instill'd those things into the King when they were without any Fear or Apprehension of being questioned by a Parliament yet now the Parliament had so severely prosecuted and punished such Men and being perpetual or at least to meet Three Years after every Dissolution none would presume to advise the King in things derogatory to his Honour and the Interest of the Nation And now we proceed to the ensuing War The Parliament before the King set up his Standard at Nottingham Aug. 22 Voted That an Army should be raised for the Defence of the King and Parliament that the Earl of Essex should be Captain General of the Army and the Earl of Bedford General of the Horse The War began first between the Marquess of Hartford for the King in the West and the Earl of Bedford for the Parliament the Earl being worsted by the Marquess at Sherborn-Castle Goring got into Portsmouth and held it for the King but could not hold it long for the Country joining with Sir John Meyrick forced him to surrender who thereupon went into Holland and my Lord Say St. Johns and Weemen with Colonel Whitlock enter Oxford and keep it for the Parliament But the Face of Affairs soon changed for the King having made the Earl of Lindsey his General and the Parliament the Earl of Essex upon the 23d of October the Armies met and fought at Edghil with uncertain Victory which both sides claimed the Earl of Lindsey was mortally wounded and taken Prisoner the Right Wing of the King's Horse commanded by Prince Rupert brake the Left
See the Life of General Monk p. 23 24. written by his Chaplain Dr. Gumble The Parliament having recruited the Earl of Essex's Army he forced his Passage and relieved Glocester the King's Army retreat to Newbury where it was charged by Essex and worsted and in the Fight the Ornament of the Age the learned and most ingenious Lord Falkland tho weary of his Life and presaging his own Destiny was slain as were the Earls of Sunderland and Carnarven If the King's Army had such bad Success before Glocester my Lord of New-Castle had worse before Hull for lying in a moorish unhealthy place in a sickly season of the Year viz. September and October the whole Army fell into Fluxes and other Distempers so as they were forced to raise the Siege having done nothing considerable in it besides at this time Lyn-Regis in Norfolk a Place near as considerable as Hull was seized by the Gentry of Norfolk and might have been relieved if New-Castle had not been engaged in besieging Hull Tho the English and Scotish Parliament agreed in their Solemn League and Covenant yet so did not Sir John Hotham and his Son with the Preferment of Sir Thomas Fairfax and others in the North so that Sir John Hotham refused to serve under Fairfax Hereupon the Parliament intended to have displaced Hotham which when he heard of both he and his Son treated with the Marquess of New-Castle to deliver Hull to the King and the Parliament suspecting the Design sent Sir Matthew Bromton Sir John's Brother-in-law to seize both Father and Son which Sir John little suspecting till it was too late fled to Beverly where he was seized by his own Soldiers and carried to Hull from whence Sir Matthew sent both Father and Son to London where soon after both lost their Heads When the Parliament sent Commissioners to invite the Scots to come to their Assistance the King sent Letters to disswade them from it urging the manifold Grants he had given to them when he was in Scotland last which compleated all they could ask and their solemn Protestations to be for ever his Majesty's most obedient Subjects See the Act cited by Sir Rich. Baker fol. 514. That it should be detestable Treason in the highest degree for any of the Scots Nation conjunctly or singly to raise Arms or any military Force upon any Cause whatever without the King's Commission But now unprovoked by the King and against his express Command they in open Hostility enter England a second time against him so little Faith or Honour was to be trusted to from these Covenanters for the Scots having made their Market with the King resolve to improve it with the Parliament and besides their Pay or Wages of Iniquity will have the Covenant and Kirk-Government imposed upon the English as well as Scots Nation and tho the King's Letters were signed by 19 Lords the Scots ordered them to be burnt by the common Hangman and in order hereunto General Lesley now Earl of Leven upon the 16th of January enters into England again with an Army of above 20000 Scots The King to add Reputation to his Arms summoned the Members of Parliament which followed him to meet at Oxford upon the 22d of January where they voted the coming of the Scots to be Treason and Rebellion but because they would not come up to the King's Desire in Voting the Members at Westminster to be no Parliament the King in great Displeasure with them and in his Letters to the Queen calls them his mungrel Parliament such was the Kindness the King shewed those Noble Lords and Gentry for sacrificing their Lives and Fortunes for his Service And to oppose the Scots the King makes a Cessation of Arms with the Irish and draws back into England the English which he sent to oppose the Irish but these were every where beaten 1500 of them cast away by Sea and the greatest Body of them commanded by Sir Michael Ernley Major General Gibson Sir Francis Boteler and Colonel Monk who shall unravel all the Parliament and Scots were now weaving were totally routed and dispersed by Sir Thomas Fairfax joining with Sir William Brereton near Nantwich and all these with Colonel Gibs Harmon Sir Ralph Dawns with 14 Captains 26 Ensigns and other inferiour Officers and 1500 common Soldiers taken Prisoners with the loss of their Cannon and Baggage So that as Serjeant Whitlock observes f. 79. a. these Irish never did the King any considerable Service But to sweeten this Prince Rupert at the close of this Year beat Sir John Meldrum a Scot who besieged Newark and his Army surrendred up their Arms Upon which the Parliament-Garisons in Gainsborow Lincoln and Sleford quitted these Places to the King's Forces And here we will end the Year 1643. and take notice how Mr. Serjeant Whitlock f. 64. b. errs in point of Time where he says the Scots passed the Tyne in 1642 under General Lesley to assist the Parliament and f. 67. a. he says the Queen was brought to Bed at Exeter of the Princess Henrietta Maria which for ought appears was before the Queen landed from Holland for she was born the 20th of June 1644. See Sir Baker's Hist f. 434. a. Anno Reg. 20. Dom. 1644. The Wonders which succeeded these two Years in England will better appear if a View be taken of the present Posture of Affairs as they stood in the beginning of this Year England and Scotland are united in one Solemn League and Covenant in January last Lesley or Leven enter'd England with an Army of 18000 Foot and 3500 Horse and Dragoons and soon after the Earl of Calendar enter'd England with an Army of 10000 Scots more these commanded by old and experienced Officers and the English Parliament's Armies were commanded by as brave and resolute Commanders as were to be found in Europe The Fleet wholly at the Parliament's Devotion and so was the City of London So that if you look upon the Superstructure nothing could appear more strong and lasting And all this time you hear little of Oliver Cromwel more than that he was a Captain of Horse and being of a bold and active Spirit secured the Town of Cambridg for the Parliament and was very diligent in obstructing several Levies for the King in Cambridgshire Essex Suffolk and Norfolk For these Services he had a Commission to be a Colonel of Horse and having an insinuating and canting way of preaching and seeming very Godly raised such a Regiment of Horse as was no where to be found the Riders spirited with Zeal to the Cause yet not of the Scots mode and to secure them without Oliver took care to provide them able Horses and to be well arm'd and accoutred so as every one of them beside Sword and Pistol had Pot Back and Breast Musquet-proof He was Nephew to Sir Oliver Cromwel who had a very great Estate but his Father being a younger Brother had not above 300 l. per Annum as was said Their
Successes Sir Marmaduke Langdale about the Beginning of March routed a great Body of the Parliamentarians in Yorkshire and defeated the Army commanded by my Lord Fairfax which besieg'd Pomfret-Castle and from thence marched into Leicestershire and defeated a great Body of the Parliament's Forces commanded by Colonel Rossiter Anno Reg. 21. Dom. 1645. We begin this Year with the Self-denying Ordinance tho Mr. Whitlock and Sir Richard Baker differ a little in point of time Sir Richard Baker says it was this Year Mr. Whitlock 1644. But the Lords refused to concur with the Commons herein so as this Ordinance began with a Rupture between the two Houses so you 'll see it shall be the Ruin of the Parliament's as well as the King's Designs Mr. Whitlock made a fine and learned Speech against this Ordinance which you may read at large fol. 114 115. of his Memoirs The pretended Reason for this Ordinance was the Thinness of the House which by Employment in the War would render them much thinner To which Mr. Whitlock answered It might be supplied by filling up the Commons by new Elections He objected against the Ordinance the Examples of the Grecians and Romans who had the greatest Offices both of War and Peace conferred upon their Senators because they having greater Interests than others were more capable to do them the greatest Services and that by passing this Ordinance they would lay aside the General Essex the Earls of Warwick Denbigh and Manchester the Lords Willoughby and Roberts and of their own Members the Lords Grey of Growby and Fairfax Sir William Waller Cromwel Mr. Hollis Sir Philip Stapleton Sir William Brereton and Sir John Meyrick Tho the Commons passed the Self-denying Ordinance yet they dispensed with it in reference to Cromwel Skippon and Ireton and Sir William Waller Hereupon the Earls of Essex Denbigh and Manchester lay down their Commissions Here it 's observable That the Earl of Essex as he was the first which headed an Army against the King and whose Authority was so great that 't was believed if he had not done it the Parliament could not have rais'd an Army is now the first discarded by the Commons without giving any Reason In this new Establishment of the English Army Sir Thomas Fairfax was made General Cromwel Lieutenant-General and Skippon Major-General The Royalists conceived Mountains of Advantages to follow and that not improbably from the Divisions in the Parliament's Army which succeeded quite contrary For upon the 3d of April Fairfax having gathered his Army together at Windsor sent Cromwel with a Brigade of Horse and Dragoons to intercept a Convoy of Horse which Prince Rupert had sent from Worcester to fetch off the King from Oxford with a Train of Artillery to take the Field which Cromwel met at Islip and routed them took divers Prisoners and 200 Horse and from thence Cromwel march'd and took Bletchingdon-House commanded by Colonel Windebank Sir Francis's own Son by Surrender upon the first Summons for which Windebank was sentenced by a Court-Martial and shot to Death But Cromwel had not so good Success at Faringdon which he assaulted and was beaten off with the loss of 200 of his Men. The King understanding that Fairfax had a Design to besiege Oxford sent to Prince Rupert and General Goring to fetch him off which they did about the beginning of May and the King marched towards the Relief of Chester then besieged by the Parliament's Forces and Fairfax lays close Siege to Oxford The King relieved Chester and in his Return takes Leicester by Storm This put Fairfax to his Trumps so that if he continued the Siege of Oxford he would leave all the mid-land parts of England to the Mercy of the King So he raises his Siege and marches to fight the King's Army My Lord Astley was Lieutenant-General of the King's Foot whose Nephew was Sir Isaac Astley my Lord's eldest Brother's eldest Son who married a Cousin-German of mine and after the War was over my Lord Astley being at his Nephew 's in Discourse of the Wars my Lord told him That upon the Approach of the Parliament's Army the King called a Council of War where by the Advice of my Lord Astley it was resolved to march Northwards and destroy the Country Provisions and leave the Parliament's Army at their Election whether they would follow the King or besiege Leicester But next Morning quite contrary to the Order of Council Orders were given to prepare to fight the Parliament's Army when there was little time to draw up the Army so inconstant and irresolute was the King in this as of almost all his other Actions and so forward was the King herein that he marched to meet Fairfax's Army near Naseby in Northamptonshire This was upon Saturday June the 14th And if the Resolution to fight was inconsiderate and rash so was the Fight for Prince Rupert who commanded the right Wing of the King's Horse charged the left Wing of the Parliament's commanded by Ireton and routed them and wounded Ireton in the Thigh and as before at Edg-hill and Marston-Moor he pursued the Enemy so far that he left the rest of the Army exposed to the Assaults of the Enemy so here he followed the Chase almost to Naseby leaving the left Wing of the King's Army commanded by Sir Marmaduke Langdale open to be charged by Cromwel That which compleated the Parliament's Victory and the King 's utter Overthrow in this Fight was the not observing the Orders the Day before of the King's Retreat for Yorkshire being opprest by the Parliament's Forces Sir Marmaduke had Expectation of relieving the King's Party there which being cross'd by the Resolution of this Day 's Fight his Brigade as well as himself grew discontented so as he no ways answered the Gallant Actions which before he had atchieved And Cromwel having forced Sir Marmaduke to retreat joining with Fairfax charged the King's Foot who had beaten the Parliament's and got Possession of their Ordnance and thought themselves certain of the Victory but being in Confusion and out of Order and having no Horse to support them were easily over-born by Fairfax and Cromwel and so Fairfax's Army obtain'd a most absolute Victory over the King 's We hear no more of Prince Rupert in this Fight who 't was believed was the first Mover of it till of his Arrival at Bristol In this Fight the Earl of Lindsey the Lord Astley and Colonel Russel were wounded and 20 Colonels Knights and Officers of Note and 600 common Soldiers were slain on the King's side and 6 Colonels and Lieutenant-Colonels 18 Majors 70 Captains 80 Lieutenants 200 Ensigns and other Officers and 4500 common Soldiers were taken Prisoners 12 Pieces of Cannon 8000 Arms 40 Barrels of Powder 200 Carriages with all their Bag and Baggage with store of rich Pillage 3000 Horse one of the King's Coaches with his Cabinets of Letters and Papers And the King fled towards Wales If the King were unfortunate in the
ratifie and perform the same of that which shall be granted by you and under our Hand and Seal the Confederate Catholicks having by their Supplies testified their Zeal to Our Service And this shall be in each Particular to you a sufficient Warrant Given at Our Courtat Oxford the Twentieth Day of May 20 Car. Glamorgan had brought his Business to some Issue when State-Reasons enforced Ormond and Digby and the Council to imprison him but this gave Distaste to the Irish who thereupon suspected double Dealings and so neither sent over the promised 10000 Men nor any Aid to Westchester tho Glamorgan was quickly released upon the Bail of six or eight Irish Peers The Parliament hereupon was so incensed that they refused either to treat with the King or to admit him to come to London see Baker f. 473. or this Business to end here but rendred all the King 's subsequent Treaties with the Parliament suspected and the end of attaining the King's Propositions more difficult And here you may see how this King would prostitute his Honour and Christianity contrary to what he so often professed not only to the Parliament but also to the Duke of Ormond his own Party Now things every where go to wreck on the King's side Dartmouth was surrendred to Fairfax by Sir Hugh Pollard the Governor Sir William Vaughan with such Forces as he could get together marching to relieve Chester was utterly routed by the Parliament's Forces and Chester surrendred to Sir Will. Brereton Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire the Seat of the Earls of Rutland was surrendred to General Pointz by Sir Gervais Lucas the Governour my Lord Hopton is beaten by Fairfax in Devonshire whereupon Hopton accepted of Terms from Fairfax and disbanded his Army and went into France After which all the Garisons in Cornwal surrendred to Fairfax except Pendennis Castle and St. Michael's Mount Latham-House which the Countess of Derby bravely defended two Years against the Parliament was surrendred in December and Basing-House was taken by Storm And that which compleated the Ruin of all the King's Affairs in England was the Surprize and Defeat of my Lord Astley at Donnington near Stow on the Wold where he was taken Prisoner the 21st of March and when he was a Prisoner he told some of the Parliament Officers You have done your Work and may go play unless you fall out among you selves Anno Reg. 22. An. Dom. 1646. In this desperate State of the King's Affairs in England the King's Expectations in Scotland were much fallen too For after the Defeat of my Lord Digby and Sir Marmaduke Langdale the Scots had little to do in the North so as General Lesley had leisure to march to Newark with his Foot to join M. G. Pointz who had block'd it up and David Lesley with the Horse to march into Scotland where Montross his Men after he had beaten Gen. Bailey at Philipshaugh being full of Plunder and being a Voluntier Army and not under regular Discipline disbanded in great Numbers and returned home when David Lesley set upon the Remainder and routed them and gave Quarter to the rest whom yet he murdered in cold Blood Here you may see the different Tempers of the English and Scots Nation for you find no such Acts done in England in the Heats of all the War In all the War in Scotland the Marquess of Huntley obstinately refused to join with Montross and after the Defeat of Montross's Foot Montross went in Person to entreat Huntley to join in their common Interest against the Kirk which Huntley not only refused but would not deign to see Montross yet this did Huntley no good for after Montross his Army was disbanded the Kirk-Party cut off his Head so as Montross was forced to retreat into the Highlands and act defensively Exeter upon the 13th of April surrenders to Fairfax which was followed by Barnstable Town and Fort St. Michael's Mount Dunstan Castle Woodstock and other Places of less Note Sir Thomas Glenham having honourably defended York and Carlisle the King thought no other so fit to be Governour of Oxford as he which being block'd up by the Parliament Forces the King thought himself in no Security in it for the Parliament refused to admit him to come to London unless he signed their Propositions Now the French Ambassador in the Scots Quarters advised the King to throw himself into the Scots Power herein you may observe that tho Richlieu were dead yet Mazarine continued the Correspondence between France and Scotland which yet were Pensioners to France This being Hobson's Choice the King only accompanied by one Hudson a Minister and Mr. John Ashburnham throws himself into the Power of the Scots then besieging Newark this was the fifth of May. Thus this poor Prince to avoid his present Condition seeks Protection from those which brought him into it which tho he got nothing by it yet the Scots instead of protecting him shall only make a Bargain and Sale of him for having him in their Power they resolve to make a double Market of him viz. To have him to order Montross to disband his Army and then to retire out of Scotland and then to sell him to the Parliament for so much as they could get that of Montross it was no sooner asked than granted but soon after he was gone the Covenanters seize Huntley and cut off his Head the Parliament too desire the King to give Order for the English Garisons to surrender which he granted so here we end the Wars in England and Scotland between the King and Parliament at present And now you 'll see how the ending of these Wars was the beginning of the Ruin of the Parliament and Scots Covenanters for the Scots having got their Ends by Montross his disbanding his Army yet the Bargain for the Sale of the King being a mighty Matter to the Scots required a longer time and the Scots would not lose one Scotish Pound they could get for him and therefore tho the King put himself into the Power of the Scots the 5th of May 1646 yet the Bargain was not concluded till January following and then the Scots flush of Money return home finding all things in Peace now Montross is gone and the Parliament having bought the King confine him to Holdenby-House a House of the King 's in Northamptonshire under the Guard of a select Company of Covenanters whereof Sir John Cooke Secretary Cooke's Son was one Thus this Prince who before had shifted the worthy Members of Parliament from one Prison to another that they might have no Benefit of their Corpus's and the Constables of Hertfordshire from one Messenger to another is himself shifted from one Place a Prisoner to another without any hope of an Habeas Corpus He that before by his absolute Will and Pleasure would without any Law seize his Subjects Goods and commit them to Prison cannot now enjoy his own Estate in his own House He that before arbitrarily raised Ship-Money
What Thanks now had Sir Philip Stapleton Sir William Waller and Major General Massey for all their valiant Services to the Parliament whilst Oliver was whistling to his Cambridg Teem of Committee-Men a new Tune of the way of Ordinances Dispensations Righteousness and Providence and whereto can they go to find Relief Glyn had so little Wit as to believe the Law would be his Protection and so did abide a Trial but he was mistaken in his Measures for tho he defended himself with much Prudence yet he was discharged from being a Member of the House and committed to the Tower during their Pleasure But the House proceeded higher against Sir John Maynard and order'd an Impeachment of High Treason to be drawn up against him and ordered Nichols to be taken into Custody but he escaped from the Messenger The English Covenanters could not be so purblind as not to see whereto this tended and were madded that they which had begun the War and by the Aid of their Brethren of Scotland were in a fair Possibility of bringing it to their Desires against the King should not only be outed of their conceived Glory and Reward by these Upstarts of the Army but also the principal of them to be persecuted and destroyed for continuing firm to their Gude-Cause The Militia of London was setled upon the 4th of May in the Management of the Presbyterians who were very industrious in compleating their Companies both of the Trained-Bands and Militia but this was counter to the Design of the Army and judged to be a Conspiracy against it whereupon Fairfax who bore the Name tho Cromwel rul'd all upon the 10th of June sent a Letter to the Parliament That the Militia of the City of London might be put into the Hands of Persons that were better affected to the Army Which the Commons tamely submitted to and upon the 23d of July repealed the Ordinance of the 4th of May. Hereupon the City met in Common-Council and resolved to petition the Commons against it which they did and upon the 26th by the Sheriffs and some of the Common-Council delivered their Petition to the Commons And about an Hour after about 1000 Apprentices delivered another Petition complaining That to order the City's Militia was the City's Birth-right belonging to them by Charters confirmed in Parliament for Defence whereof they had adventured their Lives as far as the Army And desired that the Militia might be put again into the same Hands in which it was put with the Parliament's and City's Consent by the Ordinance of the 4th of May. Upon the reading of this Petition the Lords revoked the Ordinance of the 23d of July and renewed that of the 4th of May and sent it down to the Commons for their Consent and kept back some of the Commons till the Members within agreed with the Lords and then they returned And after some time they or some others upon the rising of the House took the Speaker and thrust him back into the Chair and there kept him and the Members till they enforced them to pass a Vote That the King should come to London And then both Houses adjourned for four Days In this Interval the Members which favoured the Army and the Speakers of both Houses went to the Army and there complained of the Violences upon the Parliament tho none were done to the Lords And after the four Days Adjournment the Houses met and the Lords chose my Lord Hunsdon their Speaker and the Commons Mr. Henry Pelham and passed these Votes 1. That the King should come to London 2. That the Militia of London should be authorized to raise Forces for the Defence of the City 3. That Power be given to the same Militia to choose a General And 4. That the 11 Members impeached by the Army should take their Seats in Parliament This was upon the 30th of July The Citizens armed with these Powers proceed to raise Forces under the Command of Sir William Waller Major-General Massey and Colonel Pointz but these tho numerous being suddenly raised so as the Soldiers not being well listed 't was like no great Opposition could be made against an old experienc'd and victorious Army Besides the Borough of Southwark were generally for the Army and a Party of the Army seized upon the Block-house at Gravesend and block'd up the City by Water towards the East and the Army towards the West The Aldermen and Common-Council of the City now desert their three Generals Waller Massey and Pointz and sent to Fairfax for a Pacification which he granted them upon these Terms 1. That they should desert the Parliament then sitting and the 11 Members 2. That they should recal their Declaration lately divulged 3. That they should relinquish their present Militia 4. That they should deliver up to the General all their Forts and the Tower of London 5. That they should disband all the Forces they had lately â—aised and do all things else which were necessary for the Publick Tranquillity All which the City submitted to So the Speakers and Members which had run to the Army returned again and annulled all the Acts and Orders which had passed since the 26th of July last Here observe That the Members which did not run to the Army but met in Time and Place according to that Adjournment were as much a Parliament as those which continued at Westminster after the King left them and the Members which met at Oxford were as much a Parliament as those which met after they were restored by the Army When the Members were returned the Commons voted an Impeachment of High Treason against the Earls of Suffolk Lincoln and Middlesex and the Lords Berkley Hunsdon Willoughby of Parham and Maynard such a Stalking-Horse was Treason now made and the Crime no more than what themselves had done after the King left them And Sir John Gage the Lord-Mayor Alderman Bunce Langham Cullam and Adams were committed to the Tower for High-Treason for Forcing the Parliament But if this were Treason in them before the next Year goes round you 'll see Cromwel out-treason this a Bar and half And as Sir Phil. Gurney Sir Henry Garoway and Sir George Whitmore were committed to the Tower for adhering to the King against the Parliament so now the Mayor and Aldermen were committed to the Tower for adhering to the Parliament against the Army During these Discords and Confusions the Scots were in great Grumble that the Work of Reformation which united both Kingdoms in Adherence to their Solemn League and Covenant was in danger to be overthrown by the over-spreading of Heresy and Schism which was so much more lamented by how much after their Bargain and Sale of the King both Houses voted That if the King refused to pass Propositions for Peace they will do nothing which may break the Vnion and Affection of both Kingdoms but to preserve the same This was the 28th of December 1646. Now both Factions Parliament and Army
7. would have justified all his Subjects who fought for him But the Members would not submit to this being to divest themselves of the Power they thought they had in their hands nor the Scots because their Solemn League and Covenant was enacted by no Law in England nor least of all would it please the Army who nourished Designs against the King Members and Scots To such a deplorable state is this poor King and Kingdom fall'n past all humane Relief yet it 's admirable to consider how Divine Justice pursued the Causers of it even in the Series by which they were promoted The King who would not have the Laws and Constitutions of the Nation to be the Rules of his Subjects Obedience but his Prerogative and Absolute Will and Pleasure cannot now by it command one Servant He who before against Law committed so many of his best Subjects close Prisoners whereof several died in Prison for asserting his Subjects Rights without any Benefit of Law is now by his Subjects made close Prisoner against Law and without any Benefit of it He who before dissolved four Parliaments because they in all dutiful Ways would have addressed unto him to be reconciled to his Subjects is now denied under Penalty of High Treason to have any Address made to him by any of his Subjects He who before had so many Forests for his Pleasure yet not contented with what the Law and his Ancestors had left but would break the Bounds of them that his Subjects Inheritance might become a Prey to wild Beasts has not now a Horse Hound or Beast to take Pleasure in But these things will not stay here for it is the unhappy Fate of Princes rarely in their declining state to stay till they fall to the bottom And here we end the Year 1647 and hereafter shall observe the Divine Justice overtaking the other Promoters of the Miseries both in England Scotland and Ireland And if I shall ill perform it yet it may be a Ground-work for another to do it better In this Confusion the Nation began to forget the times under the King's Government now they saw no end of these And tho the Essex-Men who had the Bounds of their Forests broke down and were the first who petition'd the Parliament to redress Grievances and bring Delinquents to condign Punishment yet they are now the first who petition the Commons for a Personal Treaty with the King and then the Surrey-Men but were differently received and some of the Surrey-Men kill'd This was in May 1648. The Scots too offended that they and their Solemn League and Covenant were not taken notice of in the Preliminary Treaty with the King call a Parliament and order the Raising an Army to deliver the King out of Prison The rude Entertainment of the Essex and Surrey-Men was so far from quelling them that they rise in Arms in Essex Kent Suffolk Norfolk Wales and the North and declare for the King and People Sir William Batton too who was Vice-Admiral of the English Fleet goes over to Prince Charles with 17 Men of War and declare for the King having set Rainsborough made Admiral by the Army on Shore This was in May and June and soon after viz. in June the Surrey-Men rise being headed by the Duke of Buckingham and his Brother the Lord Francis with the Earl of Holland But it was decreed that this Prince who for 15 Years had violated the Laws and Constitutions of this Nation and without any Law or just Reason had so often imprisoned his best Subjects for endeavouring to reconcile him to his Subjects should now himself being made a Prisoner against Law find no Relief by Law or Endeavours of his Loyal Subjects For Cromwel sends Horton into Wales against Major-General Laughorn and Colonel Poyer who headed the Welch and had seized Pembrook and Tenby-Castles Fairfax marches into Kent and Rainsborough into the North where the Northern-Men had seized Pontfract-Castle and the Members restore the Earl of Warwick to be Admiral and fit out a Fleet under him to suppress that which joined the Prince of Wales Horton beats the Welch and took Laughorn and Poyer Prisoners and besieges and takes Pembrook and Tenby but whilst he besieged these Hamilton who the Year before was released from being a Prisoner in Pendennis-Castle by the King for holding Correspondence with the Covenanters while he was Commissioner now comes into England to discharge the King from his Imprisonment with a numerous Army of Scots which Sir Marmaduke Langdale Major-General Massey and many English join against these Cromwel after the Surrender of Pembrook and Tenby marches and utterly routs them and takes Hamilton Prisoner Nor were the Fate of the Kentish Essex and Suffolk Men better for Fairfax fights and beats the Kentish Men at Maidstone the Remainder under my Lord Goring whom the King had made Earl of Norwich cross the Thames at Greenwich and join the Essex Men headed by Sir Charles Lucas and march to Colchester where my Lord Capel and many Suffolk Men joined them Fairfax pursues them and after a stubborn Siege of 11 Weeks forces it to surrender being reduced to extream Famine and after caused Sir Charles Lucas and Sir George Lisle to be shot to Death Equal to this was the Success of the Surrey-Men for they were routed by Sir Michael Lewesly and my Lord Francis killed near Kingston But the Duke of Buckingham and the Earl of Holland with those which were escaped fled over Kingston-bridg and were pursued by Colonel Scroop and overtaken at St. Neots where Major-General Dolbier is killed the Earl of Holland taken Prisoner but the Duke of Buckingham escaped But the Northern-Men besieged in Pontfract Castle are not so easily subdued on the contrary a Party of about 30 Horse break through the Besiegers and surprize Rainsborough in his Bed at Doncaster about 12 Miles from Pontfract and kill him because he refused to be carried off a Prisoner but Pure Famine at last forced the Besieged to surrender The revolted Fleet now commanded by the Princes Rupert and Maurice partly cajol'd by the Earl of Warwick their former Admiral and unwilling to forsake their Country Wives and Children in great part return to the Parliament the rest were after pursued by Blake and Popham to Ireland from thence to Portugal from whence they were forced by Blake to Carthagena where Blake run the Princes Ships on shore yet the Princes having then but three Ships left and having no Port in Europe to protect them seek for one in the West-Indies where Prince Maurice is lost in a Hurricane and Prince Rupert after got into France and sold the Remainder of this miserable Fleet being two tatter'd Ships to Mazarine to fit out himself for other Adventures Whilst the Army was thus busied abroad the Members having got possession of the Fleet and the City of London being well affected to them they join with the Scotish Commissioners and rescind the Votes of Non-Addresses to the King
he was over parsimonious ill becoming so great a Prince He laid the Foundation of an unhappy Reign before he became King not only in his Dissimulation in the Treaty of Marriage with the King and Infanta of Spain to the Displeasure of his Father but much more in the French Treaty not only in submitting to grant a Toleration of the Popish Religion and that his Children should be brought up under their Mother till they were twelve Years old but by engaging to assist the French King with a Fleet against the Reformed in France which he did tho the French broke their Faith in denying Mansfield to land the Army at Calais raised for the Recovery of the Palatinate Unlike his Predecesâ—or Henry the Fifth who so soon as he became King banished all his Flatterers and loose Companions and betaking himself to grave and wise Counsel he became the most Renowned and Victorious of all our English Kings Charles became more wilful and gave himself to be more governed by Favourites after he became King than before So that the insite Piety and Affection which is due to Parents and usually exprest in some mournful Demeanour upon their Death took no Impression in him after his Father's Death but contrary Passions against his Father's Counsel and Will prevailed upon him For next day after his Father's Death only the King and Buckingham present the Keeper Williams coming to wait upon him the King asked him whether the Parliament were dissolved upon his Father's Death Which when the Keeper told him it was the King commanded him to issue out new Summons for calling another and not to stay a day for Subsidies must be had for carrying on a War against Spain and when the Keeper advised him to consider a little hereof and that before Writs were issued out Interest should be made about Elections the King in Displeasure turn'd from him Which you may read in the second Book and second Folio of the Keeper's Life And these two things were observable in this Prince That when any advised him against his Will he would never ask it after or be Friends with him and that in all his Reign as well in Prosperity as in Adversity he would never own any one of his Irregularities to be so but justified them all to his Death As Henry was the most self-denying of all his glorious Actions ascribing them only to God so Charles upon all occasions in all his irregular Actions gloried he was accountable to none but God for them After he was married he became the most uxorious Husband of all our English Kings except Henry the Sixth and being intangled by the Articles of Marriage which the Queen fostered and the Laws and Constitutions of the Nation contrary to them which his Parliaments stedfastly asserted he became both ways uneasy and to reconcile them was impossible But to me it seems how uxorious soever the King was yet during Buckingham's Regency for so it may be truly called he had an Ascendency over the Queen as appears by the French War in the second Year of the King notwithstanding all the Power of the Queen against it He was unaffable in his Conversation and Approaches to him very difficult and those with such strained Submissions as were never required by any of his Predecessors As his Actions were without Counsel sudden and inconsiderate so were his Resolutions as variable and uncertain so that oftentimes he would change them the same day And as his Actions were without Counsel so were his Designs without Secrecy which blasted them as well at Home as Abroad He was so superstitiously addicted to the Arminian Clergy which flatter'd him that I do not find except Juxton Bishop of London that he preferr'd any others in the Church till he fell into Adversity In his adverse Fortune he would betake himself to contrary Extreams yet be as inconstant in them as in his Actions in Prosperity He was only constant in his Affections to the Queen after he had given up his Favourites in his prosperous Fortune to the Parliament and her Counsels fixed stedfast in him tho in his Declarations to the Kingdom and Parliament he profess'd otherwise and herein he was as unhappy as he was before in his Designs in his Prosperity for they whether by Fate or his own Imprudence became known to his Enemies who blaz'd them abroad not only to the Nation but all the World so that the sincerity of his Promises and Declarations became suspected as well by his Friends as Enemies and all Accommodation with them more difficult whereby it came to pass that his Armies being subdued by them and thereby falling into the Hands of his Enemies he became a Sacrifice to them in the 49th Year of his Age having reigned 23 Years ten Months and three Days leaving six Children three Sons Charles Prince of Wales James Duke of York and Henry Duke of Gloucester whereof the two elder were Exiles and three Daughters Mary Princess of Orange and Elizabeth a Virgin who not long survived him and Henrietta Maria born at Exeter So that as King John and his Son Henry the Third lost all Normandy and the greatest part of Aquitain to the French by endeavouring a more than Legal Jurisdiction over their Subjects whereby they lost their Love and Obedience so these two Princes Father and Son by raising and Arbitrary Power over their Subjects not only lost their Honour Abroad but with their own Subjects and for want of whose Assistance this King lost his Life and suffered the French to grow so great as to endanger the Safety of their own Subjects in the Realms of England Scotland and Ireland I 'll conclude this Story with one which a learned Gentleman who liv'd in those Times affirmed When the Duke of Buckingham was stabb'd by Felton 1628 the Earl of Portland was then newly made Lord Treasurer and the King to manifest his Affection to the Duke order'd the Treasurer to issue out of the Exchequer 30000 l. I think for a solemn Funeral for the Duke but the Treasurer unwilling the King should be at so hateful an Expence at a time when the King was at War with France and Spain told the King that the Sum laid out in erecting a stately Tomb for the Duke would be a more lasting Monument of his Favour to the Duke than a Funeral-Expence which would be but the Work of a Day and soon forgot The King assented and several Patterns were brought and what the King lik'd the Treasurer dislik'd till at last the King pitch'd upon one which he said he would have but then the Treasurer said Sir what will the World say that you should be at such an Expence for a Favourite when your Father has not a Stone to cover him which struck the King so as he proceeded no farther in it I remember I think it was in 1669. that the Commons voted 50000 l. for the Charge of taking up this King's Body and the solemn Funeral
and sure never was there such a Generation who so impudently out-braved Truth and all that may be call'd Sacred If you could force a Belief into them they first told you they fought for King and Parliament then they declared for the King and People against the Parliament and now they have taken off the King if you will have any Benefit of their Protection you must engage to their Government without King or House of Lords and be content with a piece of the Commons call'd the Rump Not content with the Death of the King the Rump proceeds to abolish Monarchy and place the original Power of Government in the People whose Representatives they are if you 'll take their Word and voted it High Treason to restore Monarchy or to assist or pray for Charles Stuart or any of that Line overthrow the King's Statue with an Exit tyrannus Regum ultimus Nor are they satiated with the Blood of the King but erect another High Court of Injustice whereof one Lisle an ignorant Fellow was President who condemns the Marquess Hamilton Earl of Holland and Lord Capel for raising Arms against the Parliament which themselves had destroy'd But tho the Rump and Army were establish'd upon these strange Principles yet being the Instruments of Divine Vengeance like a Torrent broke loose from raging Seas in less than five Years time they overwhelm not only England but Ireland and Scotland almost pull'd the Dutch States up by the Roots and made France and Spain tremble But that we may observe what follow'd let 's see what went before The Scots were the first who invaded England against the King to impose their Solemn League and Covenant which was more against the English Laws and Constitutions than Laud's Service-Books Canons and High-Commission were against the Scotish In July last the Scots invaded England commanded by the Marquess Hamilton in August Cromwel routs and utterly overthrows this Army and takes Hamilton Prisoner So the Scots who began these Wars first are the first chastised by this English Army But this is but the Earnest of what shall follow The secluded Members who first join'd the Scots beginning first with an equivocal Protestation but after downright joined with the Scots in their Covenant are now not only turned out of the House by the Rump but kept in nasty Prisons till they became as little dangerous as The House of Lords The horrid Irish Massacre and Rebellion succeeded in the third place And now the Rump having established themselves by subduing of the Scots under Hamilton and deposing the secluded Members are laying Rods in Piss to scourge these abominable Irish But before we proceed let 's see how things stood in Ireland In October 1641. the Irish Massacre was which succeeded in a Rebellion in which Richlieu's Scarlet was as deep dyed as in the Scotish and English Commotions The Head of this accursed Crew was John Baptista Pennuncio the Pope's Nuncio who in his Passage through France threatned he would suffer no Man to live in Ireland that wished well to the King or to the English Affairs Thus you see how all the Factions conspired against the King the Laws and Constitutions of England But for these last seven Years viz. so long as the Distractions were continued in England the War was pursued but by halves in Ireland King Charles in his Life-time had made the Marquess of Ormond Lieutenant of Ireland who in 1643 made a Truce with the Irish that the King might make use of the English in England But the Irish kept their Faith no better in it than the Scots had before with the King in the Peace in 1639. For on a sudden they rise against the Marquess now the English are sent into England and had surprized him if he had not been informed before and escaped into Dublin and being in no Condition to defend it but obliged to deliver it up either to the English sent by the Parliament or to the Irish he gave it up to the English who make Colonel Jones Governour and so Ormond leaves Ireland After the Marquess was withdrawn the Nuncio behaved himself like a Church-Man with such a Despotical Tyranny that he became intolerable even to the Irish themselves who being press'd by Jones Coot and Monk combine in a Body and send to the Queen and to the Prince of Wales for then the King was close Prisoner in the Isle of Wight to return the Marquess of Ormond and they would submit to his Authority and join to expel the Scots and Parliament's Forces The Nuncio taking this for an Affront to his Authority being that of the Apostolick See which is infallible threatens Excommunication to them who should not obey him but neither he nor his Excommunication were obey'd but was forced to Capitulate with the Irish themselves to procure his Departure which was as shameful as his Entrance was proud and insolent Upon the Marquess's Return he enter'd into most dishonourable Articles with the Irish which yet would not please Owen Ro Oneal who join'd with the Parliament's Forces and reliev'd Londonderry then besieg'd by the Lord Ardes After this Pacification with the Irish such as it was Ormond raises a numerous Army and by my Lord Inchiqueen routs a Party of Jones's going to Drogheda who takes the Town and Dundalk Green-Castle Newry and Trim and returns Victorious to the Marquess Hereupon the Marquess besieges Dublin but unfortunately sends my Lord Inchiqueen into Munster with if not the greatest the best part of the Army Jones falls upon the Remainder and utterly routs them This was in August 1649. And the same Month Cromwel lands at Dublin with an Army of 15000 old Soldiers Upon this Disaster the Irish no more to be reconciled to the English than the Scots Covenanters to Episcopacy quarrel with the Marquess which was never after composed So the Marquess left Ireland again leaving the Earl of Clanrickard Deputy Cromwel after his landing first storms Drogheda or Tredah with a most terrible Execution and after in less than one Year all Ireland upon the matter is reduced to the Obedience of the Rump who take dreadful Vengeance upon all the Irish who could be found to have had any hand in the Massacre of the English The King Charles II. having lost England and Ireland with all their Dependencies except the Isles of Guernsey Jersey Man and Scilly and the Plantations in America which shall soon follow set up for Scotland and makes the Marquess of Montross his Commissioner who having got together about 400 Swedes Danes Poles and Germans lands them at the Wick of Cathness in April 1650 and takes Dumbeath But Lesley having sent Major-General Straughan with 300 choice Horse he set upon this ill composed Body of Montross and utterly routs them Montross fled but was betrayed by the Laird of Aston who had formerly served him The Covenanters to shew their Clemency and Humility bind the Marquess in a Chair planted backwards on a Cart that all
Men might see him the Hangman with his Hat on riding before and upon the 28th of May 1650 by a Sentence pronounced the Day before by the Lord Lowden was hanged upon a Gibbet 30 Foot high at the Cross of Edinburg for three Hours after which he was quarter'd and his Head set upon the Talbooth and his Legs and Arms over the Gates of Sterlin Glasgow Dundee and Aberdeen But see the Piety and Commiseration of these humble People They order in the Sentence that if he repented so that his Excommunication should be taken off the Trunk of his Body should be buried in the Grey-Friars otherwise in the Burrough-Moor the Common Burial of Malefactors But Vengeance shall soon overtake these cruel Proceedings For the Kirk sore afflicted for their deposed Brethren in England now in nasty Prisons whereby Heresy Schism and Profaneness raged and the Throne of Presbytery was defaced but being unable of themselves to restore their Brethren before Montross's Death had agreed to have the King proclaimed King of Scotland England France and Ireland yet so as to take the Solemn League and Covenant to give Signs of Sorrow and Repentance for his Father and Mother's Sins and banish and turn out of his Court all who had not taken the Covenant or taken up Arms for his Father But the Kirk could not have found a Plant so unlikely to produce the Fruit of Repentance or to establish the Throne of Presbytery as this King However they 'll try what 's to be done and to this end send Commissioners to treat with the King at Jersey not yet reduced by the Rump and a Treaty is agreed to to be at Breda in Holland The King was perplex'd what to do for to be a King in Fact he desired above all things but to forsake his Mother and Father's Friends was grievous to him and to come to the Stool of Repentance was full sore against his Will Yet to be a King as a Man does for a Wife he forsakes Father Mother and his dearly beloved Friends and comes to Breda There the News comes of Montross's tragical Defeat and Execution which had like to have spoil'd all but over Shooes over Boots on he goes having submitted to all the rigid Terms the Kirk-men imposed upon him And in June 1650 arrives in Scotland to be anew instructed in the Discipline of the Kirk The Rump in the mean while were not idle you must think for having spued up Presbytery in England they scorn'd to chew the Cud of it from Scotland and therefore Fairfax having refused to command an Army against the Scots they send for Cromwel out of Ireland by this time is good as reduced by him and declared him General of all the Forces of England Scotland and Ireland who about the latter end of June 1650 enters Scotland with a well-disciplin'd rather than a numerous Army and having taken many Places of small moment and often beat the Scots in Skirmishes upon the 3d of September utterly overthrows the much more numerous Kirk-Army at Dumbar commanded by their old General Lesley 3000 Scots killed 9000 taken Prisoners all their Baggage and Ammunition and above 200 Colours which as Trophies were hung up in Westminster-Hall where the English and Scots had before taken such Pains and Care to unite both Nations in their Solemn League and Covenant Whilst these things were doing the Kirk at Edinburg were close at their Devotion hourly expecting the Feet of those which should bring the glad Tidings which were at hand when Lesley the same Day brings Tidings of their utter Overthrow Now was all their Joy turned to Lamentation and Wo and the Songs of Sion are like to be sung in a strange Land To augment these Miseries the King who could not submit to the rigid Discipline of the Kirk runs from Schole to the House of the Lord Dippon intending for the Highlands where he might go to School with more Liberty Now all is in a Hurlyburley After the King runs Montgomery from the Kirk promising the King if he would return the Kirk would remit part of their Discipline upon which the King returned to St. Johnstons The King thus returned did not please the Kirk-men for being beaten by the English they rail against those that called the King in too hastily before he had given Marks of his Repentance and Conversion to God and that it was not lawful for any who were truly Godly to take up Arms for him and for the Advancement of the Kirk made Kerr and Straughan Generals of the Kirk-Forces But Straughan runs to Cromwel and Kerr is utterly defeated wounded and taken by Lambert Whilst these things were thus doing in Scotland let 's see what was doing in England In January this Year the Rump erected a High Court of Justice whereof one Keeble an ignorant Petty-fogging Lawyer was President in Norfolk upon pretence of an intended Insurrection for bringing in of the King where 24 were condemned and 20 executed whereof one Mr. Hobbard Brother or near Kinsman to Sir John Hobbard who after married Cromwel's Niece and Widow of Col. Hammond was one And in March following the Rump erected another High Court of Justice which condemned Sir Henry Hide for taking the King's Commission to be his Ambassador at Constantinople The Kirk-Party now lose their Reputation they had nothing left but to preach and pray and rail and now the Parliament and General Assembly take in all who will take the Covenant but all to no purpose For Cromwel having taken Edinburgh Town and Castle Jedworth Reslan and Tantallon Castle sends Overton and Lambert in Boats over the Frith who rout Sir John Brown and Major General Holborn kill 2000 of their Men and take 1200 Prisoners and Brown himself with 42 Colours Now though Scotland were a cold Climate 't was too hot to hold the King and his Army and therefore with them he slips into England by the Way of Carlisle leaving the Kirk in Lamentations and Woes that Heresy and Schism had overspread the Beauty of Holiness now Profaneness and Superstition had left it Harrison and Lambert followed the King and Cromwel soon after who at Worcester that Day Twelve Month after he had routed the Scots at Dunbar utterly again routs the Scots and English kills 3550 with Duke Hamilton and General Forbes and takes 5000 Prisoners with the Earls of Rothes Kanwarth Kelly the Lord Sinclare and Montgomery General of the Ordnance and soon after David Lesley who fought not or but little in the Battel is routed by Lilburn and taken Prisoner with Lauderdale who held Correspondence in England with the Covenanting Scots and the Lords Kenmore and Middleton Yet the King by a Miracle escaped to be restored King Charles II. But the same Fate did not attend the Noble Earl of Derby who coming out of the Isle of Man with about 250 Foot and 60 Horse to have assisted the King which he joined with about 1200 raised Men in Lancashire where he was highly
honoured and beloved was set upon by Col. John's elder Brother and routed the 29th of August where the Lord Widdrington Sir Thomas Tiddersly Col. Boynton Sir Francis Gamul Major Troâ—lop Sir William Throgmorton Col. Leg Col. Ratliff and Col. Gerard with some others were taken Prisoners but the Earl tho wounded escaped to the King at Worcester but it was his hard Fortune to be afterwards taken and tried by a Court Martial upon the 6th of October which consisted of 20 Officers and Captains five Colonels Maj. General Milton and Col. Mackworth President at Chester and upon the 22d was beheaded When Cromwel came into England he left Monk to command in Scotland who besieges and takes Sterlin-Castle by Surrender with all the Guns Ammunition and Arms Money Jewels and the Registers transferred from Edinburgh thither and quite defaced the lofty Inscription Nobis haec invicta dedere Centum sex Proavi About this time old General Lesley was raising an Army in Perth-shire Monk sends Morgan and Alured to prevent it who surprized them and take Lesley the Earls of Crawford and Lindsey the Lord Ogilby and many other Prisoners and after take Dunfrise At this time Monk besieges and takes Dundee by Storm with as terrible an Execution as Cromwel the Year before had done at Tredah Here it was and at Sterlin-Castle the Scots had lodged all their Plunder and Money they had got in England which was so plentiful that the English common Souldiers shared Money by Hatfuls The Terror of this Success frighted Aberdeen and all the other Towns in Scotland into Obedience nor did it stay here but all the Isles of Orcades and Shetland submitted which neither Roman nor English Force could ever accomplish Now the Kirk-Party are all in Yelling and Woes Heresy and Schism had overspread the beauteous Discipline of Reformation Now they cannot persecute other Men they exclaim and cry out they are persecuted themselves Their Nobles except Argile which are not killed are committed to Prison that they might share in the Tribulations as well as Triumphs of their Brethren in England But the Tribulations of the Covenanting Party did not end in Imprisonment only but extended to Life for upon the 22d of August Love and Gibbons two most zealous Covenanters were executed by a Judgment of a High Court of Justice as 't was called for holding Intelligence with their Brethren in Scotland so that this High-Justice or Summum Jus reached the Covenanters as well as the Royalists Now the Rump change the Fabrick of the Scotish Government and make Itinerant Judges part Scots part English and make a Council of State of that medly yet allow them 30 Commissioners to sit and vote in their Parliament at Westminster so that tho the Crown of Scotland were independent upon the Crown of England yet Scotland as well as Ireland and England must depend upon the Rump And that the Scots may be the more tamely ridden they are denied Arms and even Horses unless on necessary Occasions The Victory at Worcester swelled the Sails of Cromwel's Ambition brim full so that he began to entertain Thoughts of Setting up himself yet being a ticklish Point wherein he was sure to be opposed by the Factions as well as Royalists upon the 10th of December he called a Meeting of divers Members of the House and some of the Principal Officers of the Army and proposed to them That now the old King being dead and his Son defeated he held it necessary to come to a Settlement of the Nation and that he requested this Meeting that they might consider and advise what was fit to be done and to present it to the Parliament So much easier is it to destroy a Government than to erect another And now Cromwel and his Adherents had overturned the Government of Three Kingdoms they are to advise and consider how to erect another This was the good Fight which these Men fought to destroy and then knew not what to do However we 'll give the Account of these Mens Opinions verbatim as I find it in Whitlock's Memoirs f. 492. a. b. Lenthal My Lord who made him so This Company were very ready to attend your Excellency and the Business you were pleased to propound to us is very necessary to be considered God hath given marvellous Success to our Forces under your Command and if we do not improve these Mercies Blood Rapine and Murder to some Settlement such as may be to God's Honour and the Good of the Common-wealth we shall be very much blame-worthy Harrison I think that which my Lord General hath propounded as to a Settlement both of our Civil and Spiritual Liberties and so that the Mercies which the Lord hath given in to us may not be cast away how this may be done is the great Question Whitlock It is a great Question indeed and not suddenly to be resolved yet it were pity that a Meeting of so many able and worthy Persons as I see here should be fruitless and I would humbly offer in the first Place whether it be not requisite to be understood in what way this Settlement is desired whether by an Absolute Republick or with any Mixture of Monarchy Cromwel My Lord Commissioner Whitlock hath put us upon the right Point and indeed it is my meaning that we should consider whether a Republick or a mixt Monarchical Government will be best settled and if any thing Monarchical then in whom that Power shall be placed Sir Tho. Widdrington I think a mix'd Monarchical Government will be most sutable to the Laws and People of this Nation and if any Monarchical I suppose we shall hold it most just to place that Power in one of the Sons of the late King Fleetwood I think that Question whether an absolute Republick or a mix'd Monarchy be best to be settled in this Nation will not very easily be determined L. C. J. St. John It will be found that the Government of this Nation without something of Monarchical Power will be very difficult to be so settled as not to shake the Foundation of our Laws and the Liberties of the People Lenthal It will breed a strange Confusion to settle a Government of this Nation without something of Monarchy Desborough I beseech you my Lord why may not this as well as other Nations be governed by a Republick Whitlock The Laws of England are so interwoven with the Power and Practice of Monarchy that to settle a Government without something of Monarchy in it would breed so great an Alteration in the Proceedings of our Law that you will scarce find time to rectify nor can we well foresee the Inconveniencies which will arise thereby Whaley I do not understand Matters of Law but it seems to me the best way not to have any thing of Monarchical Power in the Settlement of our Government and if we should resolve upon any whom should we pitch upon The King 's eldest Son hath been in Arms against us and his second
was entred into the King and States were mutually engaged to supply each other with a certain Number of Men and Ships in case of any Foreign Invasion upon either yet now the King hath Subsides given him by the French King to join with him against Holland which by the Defensive Alliance the King was obliged to assist The King who was so great in the Love of his Subjects and Parliament for the Triple League and had received such vast Sums for it now at the Instance of the French King sends Mr. Henry Coventry to the Court of Sweden to dissolve it which he did so effectually that that King not only stood Neuter at the beginning of the War with the Dutch but in it joined with the French King against the Confederates and this Success Mr. Coventry had that for this Business which put all Christendom into a Flame he was by the King made principal Secretary of State and it may be presented with his fine Ranger's Place in Enfield-Chase too and that perhaps with thrice more by the French King Whereas Sir William Temple who was the principal Instrument in the Peace at Nimeguen lost 2200 l. by it and his only Recompence was to be Secretary of State in Mr. Conventry's Place if Sir William would give him 10000 l. for it The Triple League thus dissolved all Obstacles which might retard the Progress of this pious Work must be removed And now my Lord-keeper Bridgman having done by his Speech the Conspirators Work for Money has done his own too and is turn'd out of his Place and my Lord Ashley Cooper Chancellor of the Exchequer is made Lord Chancellor of England and Earl of Shaftsbury Mr. Clifford after Lord Clifford Lord High-Treasurer of England and my Lord Arlington Chamberlain to the King's Houshold and Prince Rupert the Duke of Ormond and Secretary Trevor discarded from the Committee of Foreign Affairs so as the CABAL viz. Clifford Ashley Buckingham Arlington and Lauderdale govern all The first Result of this sacred Conclave was the shutting up of the Exchequer wherein the Bankers who formerly had furnished the King with mighty Sums of Money at extorsive Interest had lodged between 13 and 1400000 l. of the Subjects Money this was in January 167 1 2. One would think these Monies added to the Aids granted in the last Session of Parliament with those received from France might have carried on the War against the Dutch on the King's Part but to make sure the Fleet for which the Parliament gave such vast Sums to be equal with the French or Dutch is set out under Sir Robert Holmes to surprize the Smirna-Fleet which he vainly attempted the thirteenth and fourteenth of March 167 1 2 and to sanctify so Herotick an Act at this very time the Declaration of Indulgence was printed and published the fifteenth The French King having gotten the King into his Net let 's see how he used him The French King openly declar'd that 't was none of his Quarrel and that he only engaged in it out of respect to his Person and therefore before any War was declared the King must first break the Peace by the Attempt upon the Smirna-Fleet The Dutch alarm'd at the Attempt upon their Smirna-Fleet and being in no Condition to resist both Kings sent Deputies to both to know upon what Terms they would agree to Peace Those sent to our King were denied Audience and kept at Hampton-Court till it were known what the French King's Pleasure was but those sent to the French King had Answer That what the King had was his own and what he should conquer should be his without an Equivalent and declared the States might deal with England as they pleased and come off as cheap as they could because by their Treaty they were not bound to procure them any Advantages Yet all this the King as patiently submitted to now as before he suffered one Marsilly to be broken on the Wheel at Paris without one word from him in his behalf for being his Agent to the Swiss to invite them to join in the Guaranty of Aix who upon the Scaffold had twenty Questions asked him in relation to his Majesty's Person and a strict Enquiry of the Particulars that passed between the King and him all which you may read at large in Mr. Secretary Trevor's Appeal And this pitiful Story you may find in a little Treatise termed Colbert's Ghost printed at Cologn 1684. I find little difference in the Causes of this War by these two Kings The French King 's was that the Dutch had acted in Diminution to his Glory but says not wherein The King of England's was the Dutch had not yielded him the Honour due to his Flag The Cabal sought for a fourfold Cause of this War the Insults upon the English in the East-India Trade the detaining the Engglish Planters in Surinam against the Treaty at Breda and horrid Pictures in Defamation of his Majesty and his Flag To this purpose the Committee for the East-India Company was summoned to shew Cause who answer'd and gave it under their Hands That since the Treaty at Breda they knew no Cause nor as yet the Dutch could pretend to no more than was granted by it they having not as yet assisted the young King of Bantam against his Father and made use of the young King's Name to expel the English Factories from the Pepper Trade as before they had the Spice Trade For detaining the English Planters in Surinam it was answer'd the Planters were not willing to forsake their Subsistence and be turned into the wild World to seek it and that the Dutch perform'd their Part with Mr. Secretary Trevor and therefore it was no fault of theirs if it were not observ'd nor did they hinder them when they were transplanted to repair the Ruin of the English Plantation in St. Christophers made by the French For the Pictures the Dutch answered they knew of none except one Medal which might be liable to any such Construction but so soon as they knew of it they caused the Stamp to be broken For that of the Flag the Case stood thus the Dutch having fitted up a Fleet of Men of War in jealousy of the French were riding near their own Coast when one of the King's Yachts discharged a Gun at the Admiral to strike Sail which the Admiral not doing was the cause of the Breach for the War tho the States disown'd the Refusal and offer'd to make any Satisfaction the King should require But it is the End which crowns the Work in every Act and therefore the Declaration concludes That notwithstanding this War the King will support the Treaty at Aix la Chapelle according to the Scope and Intent of it and preserve the Ends of it inviolable As if the getting the Swede out of it and joining with the French against the Dutch diametrically contrary to it were the Support of that Treaty or that the subduing Holland so that the French
Queen Regent of Spain upon the French Irruption into the Spanish Netherlands in 1667 having made Peace with Portugal and Col. Fitz-Gerald an Irish Papist Major-General The Business of this Army was as the Vogue went That since the French King could not get that part of Holland which was drencht by Fresh Water to souse it with Salt Water by cutting down their Sea-Banks but Point Homo For the Dutch Mob astonished and confounded with the Loss of their Country by Land and opposed by Two the most Powerful Kings in the whole World by Sea in a Rage assassinated the Two De Witts Cornelius and John as the Betrayers of their Country and the Causers of this War and depose the States who they thought were of the Lovestein or De Witts Faction and restore the Prince of Orange now in the first Year of his coming to age to the Command of his Ancestors and make Monsieur Fagell Pensioner of Holland The Prince being the King's Nephew and having never offended him raised an Expectation in the People and Fear in the French King that the King would not suffer the Prince to fall into a worse State than the De Witts intended by suffering the French to conquer Holland whereby the Prince's Authority must needs be swallowed up This the French King foresaw and therefore to obviate it the French King was the first who made Application to the Prince and proposed to him the making him Soveraign of the Vnited Provinces under the Protection of England and France such a Protection was never heard of before But the French King knew how to deal with his Brother of England It 's admirable to consider that notwithstanding the Conquest by the French of the other Provinces and the Desolation of Holland and the long Prejudices even from his Cradle against him by the Lovestein Faction this Generous Prince in his most florid and ambitious Age should out of his vertuous innate Love to his Country stand so firm to it that his Answers were That he would never betray a Trust reposed in him nor sell the Liberties of his Country which his Ancestors had so long defended and God so blest him herein But out of these Ruins shall this limited Prince arise and put a check to the boundless and arbitrary Ambition of this designing French Universal Monarch as his Ancestors before had to the Spanish The King it seems could not but see that whilst he got nothing but blows by Sea the French got all by Land and therefore sent the Duke of Buckingham my Lords Arlington and Hallifax to the French King keeping his Court at Vtrecht but with Instructions as secret and dark as those of making the War These when they came into Holland were informed of the French Designs and the King's Answer to their Deputies was viz. That the King might treat as he pleased but that what the French King had got was his own and that what he should get he would not restore without an Equivalent Which raised such an Indignation in them that nothing would serve their turn but destroying at least mastering the French Fleet And in this Humour they went to the Prince of Orange and promised the same and engaged to their utmost to bring the French King to be satisfied with Mastricht and of keeping Garisons in the Towns upon the Rhine belonging to the Electors of Brandenburgh and Cologn From Holland Two of these proceed to the French Court at Vtrecht where the French Air changed their Minds they left in Holland and about Four Days after sent word to the Prince of Orange that the States must give Satisfaction to both Kings jointly and that neither would treat separately upon which the Prince desired to know what the Kings joint and respective Demands were and of the new Agreement made by them so contrary to their Promise to the Prince and States Whereupon Mr. Secretary Trevor makes these Queries 1. Whether they were sent to promote the French Conquest If not why by making the Peace impossible as far as in them lay would they force the Dutch to submit to the French Dominion 2. Whether they did not know that the French Demands alone had been rejected by the States and that the granting of them would make it impossible for the Dutch to give the King any Satisfaction 3. Whether having received from the Prince and States all imaginable Assurances of their Designs to return to the King's Amity and to purchase it at any Rate they could they could faithfully neglect these and enter into a new Engagement so prejudicial to England 4. How far those who were joined in Commission did concur in their Judgment and whether these Considerations with many others were not represented to them and urged by some who desired to serve the King faithfully 5. Whether or no it was for that Reason they opposed to fiercely my Lord Viscount Hallifax's whom came a Day or two after them Appearing and Acting jointly with them tho in the same Commission with them in as ample a Manner as themselves 6. Who were those who after my Lord Hallifax could be kept out no longer went privately to the French Camp under Pretences and had Negotiations of their own on foot 7. Whether they had order to call the French King King of France and to name him before their Master as well in the French Demands as of his Majesty's in all their Agreements which they sent to the Prince of Orange 8. Whether they had Instructions to stand in the Behalf of the French upon the Publick Exercise of the Roman Catholick Religion in the Vnited Provinces the Churches to be divided to the Roman Priests to be maintained out of the Publick Revenue And to bind the King's Hands so that the French King may be sure of his Bargain these Plenipotentiaries Two of them agreed with the French that the King should not treat nor conclude a Peace with the Dutch without them But the French King shall find no more Security herein than the Dutch and Spaniard did in the King 's joining in the Triple League For the Support of this holy Catholick Design stood my Lord Treasurer Clifford and a new Band of Parliament-Pensioners never before heard of in England at Board and Wages but these being a kind of Land-Privateers are to tax the Country to pay themselves and to do whatsoever shall be commanded or no Purchase no Pay In this state of Affairs the Parliament met again the 4th of February 1671 â— when the Commons like Men coming out of a drowzy Lethargy began to consider the dangerous state of the Nation and the dangerous Consequences of the severe Prosecution of Protestant Dissenters by provoking them to join with the Popish and therefore tho they question'd the King's Declaration of Indulgence and no Money was like to be had unless he recall'd it yet upon the 14th of February the Commons resolved Nemiâ—â— contradicente That a Bill be brought in for the Ease
sustained by the Depredations upon the Ships and Lading taken from Sir Paul Pindar and Sir William Courten c. In this Interval of the Parliament's Recess the King took the Seals from my Lord Chancellour Ashley now made Earl of Shaftsbury and gave them to Sir Heneage Finch a Person of singular Integrity Eloquence and Veracity who to those insite Excellencies which were natural to him improved them by the great Example of his Uncle John Finch likewise Keeper of the Great Seal in the King's Father's Reign yet with a different Fate for the Temper of the Times would not bear his Uncle's Integrity Eloquence and Veracity whenas the Nephew with prosperous Gales continued his Course till he arrived at Lord Chancellour Lord Daventry and Earl of Nottingham and kept the Seals to his dying Day which not one of his three Predecessors could do And Sir Thomas Osburn succeeded Lord Treasurer So C. and A. are out we shall soon see what became of B. A. and L. At last the 20th of October came and the Parliament met again when at the opening of the Session the new Lord Keeper with admired Eloquence and Veracity which he retained to his dying Day made a large Deduction of the Dutch Averseness to Peace their uncivil Demeanour to the King 's Plenipotentiaries at Cologn and how indirectly they dealt with the King in all the Overtures of Peace and therefore a necessary Supply proportionable to the Greatness of the King's Affairs was not only demanded but Care to be taken for Payment of the Bankers Debt otherways Multitudes of the King 's Loyal Subjects would be undone But neither the Keeper's Eloquence nor his Veracity would down with the Commons for during this Recess the Terror of the French Progress had alarm'd the Nation as well as the rest of Christendom The French Legerdemain at Sea was so much more taken notice of as our Loss was more by their looking on whilst the English and Dutch destroyed one another The Commons were frighted at the standing Army in England commanded by a Foreigner and an Irish Papist taking all Military Liberty as in Time of War It was more than whisper'd the Conditions proposed by the King 's Plenipotentiaries at Cologn were impossible which tho granted yet no Peace was to be had unless the French King was answer'd in his Demands nor were the Commons content with their Prorogation till the Marriage with the Princess of Modena was past Cure Hereupon the Commons on the 31st of October bound themselves by a Vote That considering the present Condition of the Nation they will not take into further Consideration any Aids or Charges upon the Subject except it shall appear that the Obstinacy of the Dutch shall render it necessary nor before this Kingdom be effectually secured from Popery and Popish Counsels and other Grievances redressed This early Vote of the Commons was so much more surprizing to the Band of Pensioners who as yet had not earned their Bread by how much they expected Mountains of Gold should fall from my Lord Keeper's Eloquence and Veracity And now is the King like his Father when he went to York to fight the Scots reduced to a fine state all the Monies received from the French King like Water spilt upon the Ground never to be collected Besides the Band of Pensioners he had a Land Army to maintain and a Fleet at Sea which the French Subsidies would not one fourth maintain He could not avoid the Clamours of his Subjects whose Monies were shut up in the Exchequer nor the Merchants who had supplied his Navy in this and the former Dutch War yet their Graces the Dutchesses of Cleveland and Portsmouth must be maintained sutable to their Qualities so must the Dukes of M G S N R St. A and Earl of P besides Portions to be provided for many of his Off-spring of the other Sex He had already provided Titles for the Cabal except Buckingham who could not be greater However you 'll see this Vote of the Commons will work powerfully notwithstanding the Agreement at Vtrecht that the King shall not make a separate Peace without the French King nor any Peace with the Dutch unless the French King shall be satisfied in his Particulars at Cologn Nor did the Commons stay here but C. and A. being gone one dead the other turned to t'other side they fell upon B. A. and L. and addressed themselves to the King that they might be removed from his Councils Presence and all publick Employment and upon the 4th of November moved 1. That the Alliance with France was a Grievance 2. That the evil Counsel about the King was a Grievance to the Nation 3. That the Lord Lauderdale was a Person grievous to the Nation and not fit to be trusted in any Office or Trust but to be removed The Rump of the Cabal thus used frighted the whole Band of Pensioners into a Fear their Turn would be next at least their Pensions not paid and therefore to undo all that was done in a Hurry the Parliament was prorogued to the 7th of January following not having sat eight Days But the Commons needed not to have been so fierce upon B. A. and L. for B. was now going off and A. being the King's Brother-in-law was spited that he was twice balked in being Lord Treasurer and if he did not turn to t'other side yet he would never be reconciled with my Lord Treasurer Only L. now remained to be quit with the Commons to get an Act of Parliament in Scotland to raise 20000 Foot and 2000 Horse to serve the King upon all Occasions The King having so hastily begun this War by two such Acts as were without Precedent viz. The shutting up the Exchequer and the Attempt upon the Dutch Smyrna Fleet was now as forward to make a Peace with the Dutch even upon any Terms tho but last Year his Plenipotentiaries had agreed at Vtrecht with the French King not to make Peace with the Dutch without him and this Year at Cologn to grant no Peace unless the French King be satisfied in his Particulars By this time the CABAL was degenerated into a Juncto and this was compounded too of five viz. My Lord Keeper F L Lauderdale Arlington and Secretary Coventry in room of Secretary Trevor now dead It was agreed by the whole Juncto That Sir William Temple was the most proper Agent for making this Peace not only for his Abilities and great Reputation he had acquired in concluding the Triple League but for the Honour and Esteem the King of Spain and States of Holland held of his Integrity and Conduct And in order hereunto my Lord Arlington from the King and Juncto complimented Sir William and told him He would not pretend the Merit of having named him Sir William upon this Occasion or whether the King or my Lord Treasurer did it first but that the whole Committee joined in it and concluded That since a Peace was to be made no
several times and renewed the Charge but could not prevent their plain Flight yet made so brave a Retreat which wanted little of the Honour of a Victory so both the Citadel of Cambray and St. Omers upon the 20th of April fell into the French Hands and thereby the main Strength of the Frontier to the Dutch Netherlands lost And by these Conquests the French King not only delivered his own Subjects from the Contributions they paid to these Cities but enlarged his upon the Residue of the Spanish Netherlands Upon the 15th of February 167 6 7 the Parliament met again and from the Variance between the Houses about Appeals from Chancery to the Lords they fell at Variance in both Houses whether this long Prorogation were not a Dissolution The Contest was highest in the House of Lords and the Duke of Buckingham the Earls of Salisbury and Shaftsbury and Lord Wharton where committed close Prisoners to the Tower for their Reason alledged yet the Lords who voted their Commitment this Session were as zealous the last to petition the King to dissolve the Parliament when the Commons contested their Jurisdiction in Appeals from Chancery But tho the Commons being in love with their sitting resolved the Parliament not to be dissolved yet they committed none of their Members for debating whether the Parliament were not and granted the King an Additional Duty upon Beer Ale and other Liquors for three Years for now was the time to secure Religion and Property said my Lord Chancellor But whether the Parliament were dissolved or not the Commons were mightily alarm'd at the French Progress in Flanders and therefore upon the 23d of May resolved that an Address be made to the King to enter into a League Offensive and Defensive with the States General of the Vnited Provinces and make such other Alliances as he should think fit against the Growth and Power of the French King and for the Preservation of the Spanish Netherlands It seems the Ministers were as fearful of a War as the Commons were of this Peace wherein the Spanish Netherlands were in such Danger and therefore the King in his Answer upon the Twenty eighth of May told the Commons They had so intrencâ—â— upon so undoubted a Right of the Crown that in no Age it will appear when the Sword was not drawn the Prerogative of making War and Peace had been so dangerously invaded with a great deal more of suâ—â— Stuff and therefore assures them that no Condition shall make him depart from or lessen so essential a Part of the Monarchy A Man I think may swear out of what Quiver this Arrow was shot As if any King were less a King for being well advised especially by those who can best assist him To advise and to act 〈◊〉 different The Commons did not in this Address treat either 〈◊〉 War or Peace but only advised or counselled the King excited to it by their own as well as the King's Danger by the Growâ— of the French And sure Princes have not such a Prerogative a not to take Advice or Counsel in less Actions than of War and Peace If you look upon the King 's former Actions what Glorious Wars and Honourable Peaces he had made you had little reason to think it so dangerous to his Prerogative to advise him For my part I wonder the Commons should make any Address to him about them since they could have no Security in any Answer he should make to their Address For was not the King a Guaranty in the Treaty of Aix for the Preservation of the Spanish Netherlands before the Swede entred into the Triple Alliance And did not the King in the Beginning of this War declare he would observe the Treaty of Aix which he might do tho the Swede were out of it And was not the King by the last Peace with the Dutch obliged to withdraw his Subjects out of the French Service yet did not only continue them but permitted nay pressed his Subjects to recruit and encrease them In the first Dutch War which was designed for the Overthroâ— of the Protestant Interest then the Commons Advice was embraced and thankfully entertained but in this for the restraining the boundless Ambition of the French King is an unheard of Usurpation of the King's Prerogative However by this the Commons might perceive what Thanks they had from this King for their Restoration of him and for the manifold Millions they had poured upon him for the maintenance of his Prodigality and Luxury and how much he preferred the Enjoyment of his Minions and Flatterers above his own Honour the Safety and Welfare of himself the Nation or Christendom The King to shew his further Indignation to the Commons and to take French Counsels for Reparation of their dangerous Invasion of his Prerogative signified to the Commons that they should adjourn till the sixteenth of July following which was so absolutely obeyed by the Speaker then Mr. but now Sir E. S. that without the Consent of the House or so much as putting the Question he adjourned them to the sixteenth of July though Sir John Finch was impeached for the same thing of High Treason in Parliament in 1640. So that if the Parliament were not dissolved by the last long Prorogation another Question may now arise whether it was not so by their Separation without either Prorogation or Adjournment But in this time of War it seems the French King was not at leisure to give Counsel therefore when the Parliament met on the tenth of July Mr. Secretary Coventry signified that it was his Majesty's Pleasure they should be adjourned to the Third of December which Mr. Speaker did again by his own Authority But before the Third of December the King issued out his Proclamation that he expected not the Members Attendance then but that those about the Town might adjourn themselves to the Fourth of April 1678 yet when the House met the third of December Mr. Secretary Coventry delivered the House a Message from the King that the House should be adjourned but to the fifteenth of January 1677 which Mr. Seymor this third time did Thus did the Speaker make a threefold Invasion upon the Privilege of the House for the House's once presuming to invade his Majesty's Prerogative of making War and Peace In this Jumble of Adjournments the Prince of Orange about the End of September came into England and from Harwich rode Post to New-Market where the Court then was his Business was twofold a Wife and a Treaty with the King for the Preservation of the Spanish Netherlands terribly shaken by this last French Campagn Sir William Temple was sent into Holland by the King in July 1674 to mediate a Peace between the French King and States and after that to offer the King's Mediation for a general one between the Confederates and French King The Spaniards were fearful of this and the Prince jealous of it so that the Governour of the Spanish Netherlands
positive Refusal that the Blow came to be eluded which could not otherwise be avoided as Sir William Temple says tho I believe it was intended even when the Prince went out of England However about the latter end of December 1677 the King sent to Sir William Temple to the Foreign Committee and told him he could get no positive Answer from France and therefore resolved to send him into Holland to make a League there with the States for forcing France and Spain into a Peace upon the Terms proposed if either refused To which Sir William told the King what he had agreed was to enter into a War with all the Confederates in case of no direct and immediate Answer from France That this perhaps would satisfy the Prince and Confederates abroad and the People at home But to make such a League with Holland only would satisfy none of them and disoblige both France and Spain Besides it would not have such an Effect or Force as the Triple Alliance had being a great Original of which this seemed an ill Copy And therefore excused himself from going And so the King sent Mr. Thyn with a Draught of the Treaty to Mr. Hide who was then come from Nimeguen to the Hague upon a Visit to the Princess which was done and the Treaty signed the 16th of January tho not without great Dissatisfaction to the Prince This Tergiversation of the Court set fire to the Jealousies in Holland especially at Amsterdam that the Prince by this Marriage had taken Measures with the King as dangerous to the Liberties of Holland and make it there believed that by this Match the King and Duke had wholly drawn the Prince into their Interests and Sentiments The French hereupon proposed other Terms of Peace to the Dutch far short of the King 's and less safe for Flanders restoring only six Towns to the Spaniard and mentioning Lorain but ambiguously which would not have gone down in Holland but for the Suspicions raised by the Prince's Marriage among the People there who had an incurable Jealousy of our Court and thereupon not that Confidence in the Prince that he deserved If we take this Reign as one thing you 'll find it made up of almost infinite Confusions and Disorders and scarce one regular Act in it and now we are come to one which is without any Precedent which was this You heard before how the King to gratify the French Ambassador for not acquainting him with the Marriage with the Prince had prorogued the Parliament to the 8th of April next viz. 1678. And now Mr. Thyn had made this League with the States the King thought this a good occasion to get Money from the Parliament upon it and was loth to stay till the 8th of April for it and therefore by his Proclamation commands the Parliament to meet upon the 15th of January before the 8th of April Prorogations of Parliaments are new and I think were never heard of in England before the Reign of Henry VIII and are said to be the Acts of the King but Adjournments the Acts of the House to a certain Time and Place and both Houses must be sitting and in being when they are either so prorogued or adjourned I remember upon the discovery of Câ—leman's Letters the Court were mightily surprized at it and the Parliament was to have met some few days after upon a Prorogation which the King in that Surprize unwilling they should did therefore call a Council to advise whether he might not prorogue them to a further day without the Houses meeting and 't was said my Lord Chancellor Finch was of Opinion he might and thereupon Sir Edward Seymour Speaker of the House of Commons having Occasions in the Country went out of Town but some body acquainted the King of the Doubtfulness of the Chancellor's Opinion and desired the King to advise with old John Brown who had been Clerk of the Parliament for near forty Years the King did so and John Brown was positive that in case the Houses did not meet at the Time and Place appointed the King by his Proclamation could not prorogue them but it would be a Dissolution of the Parliament Whereupon the Speaker was sent for back again and so many of both Houses met as would make a Parliament which it 's said is forty Commoners and seven Lords and then the King prorogued them But this Consideration was not that I find taken notice of by either House tho both met according to the King's Proclamation The Houses thus met the King acquainted them with the League he had made with Holland and demanded Money of them to carry on the War against France in case France did not comply with the League whereupon the Parliament granted him a Tex by Poll and otherways which amounted to 1200000 l. not for Peace but to enter into an actual War with France But this Tax shall only beget another to disband an Army raised upon that Pretence tho no War was entred into against France But so far was the French King from giving up any Towns notwithstanding the Agreement the King had made with the Prince or the League he had made with Holland that about the latter end of January he had made an Attempt upon Ipre and threatned Ostend and in March following by open Force takes both Ipre and Gaunt yet the French Ambassador here continued his Court and Treaty with all the Fairness that might be The French having now taken Ipre and Gaunt were so far from proceeding in any Treaty either with England the Confederates or Holland or in the Treaty at Nimeguen that about the first of April the French King made publick Declaration of the Terms upon which he resolved to make Peace which tho very different from those agreed upon between the King and Holland and more from the Pretensions of the Allies yet this way of treating the French pursued in the whole Negotiation afterwards declaring such and such were the Conditions which they would admit and no other and upon which the Enemies might chuse either War or Peace and to which France would not be tied longer than the 10th of May after which they would be at Liberty to change or restrain as they should think fit But how imperious soever the French were abroad yet they dreaded a Conjunction of England either with the Dutch or Confederates and therefore thought fit to wheedle our Court till the Affairs of the Confederates should become so desperate as to submit to what Terms the French King should impose upon them And to this purpose Mr. Mountague now Earl sent a Pacquet to my Lord Treasurer giving an account of a large Conference Monsieur Louvoy the French King 's grand Minister of State had with him by the King his Master's Order wherein he represented the Measures they had already taken for a Peace in Holland upon the French Terms and that since they were agreed there they hoped his Majesty would not be
January and the same Day issued out Writs for a new one to meet at Westminster the 6th of March following which was just 40 Days between the Test and Return In this Interval the Blaze of the Parliament's Vote of their Apprehensions of a damnable and hellish Popish Plot had taken deep Impressions in the Minds of Men in general and the Whigs taking Advantage of it in this short Interval run down the Tories without Opposition nay even the King himself apprehended there could be no Hopes of attaining his Ends in the next Parliament but by seeming zealous in the prosecuting the Discovery of the Popish Plot and that he would not longer be governed by Favourites and single Councils There had been several Debates in the House of Commons of the dangerous Consequences in reference to the Duke of York's Succession to the Crown and that the Bottom of the Popish Plot centred in the Duke's being a Papist and the presumptive Heir to the Crown but I do not find they came to any Vote upon it yet resolved upon the 8th of November to make an Address to the King That the Duke might withdraw himself from his Person and Councils and in Conformity therewith the Duke went or was sent into Holland and upon the meeting of the Parliament the King acquainted them how great things he had already done for the preventing the Progress of the Popish Plot as the Exclusion of the Popish Lords from their Seats in Parliament and the Execution of several Men upon the Score of the Plot as well as the Murder of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey but above all that he had commanded his Brother from him because he would not leave malicious Men room to say he had not removed all Causes which could be pretended to influence him toward Popish Counsels and tells That as he had not been slack in putting the present Laws in Execution against Papists so he was ready to join in making such further Laws as may be necessary for the securing the Kingdom against Popery and then demands a Supply and concludes with his Desires to have this a healing Parliament The House chose Mr. Seymour the Speaker of the last Parliament to be their Speaker in this but the King rejected him which was no good Presage of a healing Parliament and so the Commons chose Mr. Serjeant Gregory and the King accepted him The Commons began where the last Parliament left in prosecuting their Impeachments against the Earl of Danby and the Popish Lords in the Tower but who should be first tried and what were the Jurisdiction of the Bishops Right of Voting in their Impeachments and their Judgments in Cases of Blood run quite through this Sessions wherein the Lords and Commons seldom agreed There were two things which made the Earl of Danby's Case more favourably spoken of one That tho he was prosecuted several Weeks after the Popish Lords were committed yet the Commons would not proceed in their Impeachments against the Popish Lords before the Lords had given their Judgments upon the Earl's Plea The other was a Vote of the Commons upon the 9th of May That no Commoner whatsoever should presume to maintain the Validity of the Earl of Danby ' s Pardon without Leave of the House first obtained and that the Persons so doing shall be accounted Betrayers of England and there was no Nobleman a profest Lawyer so that tho the Earl's Plea upon his Pardon was Matter of Law yet no Commoner must presume to plead his Cause The King besides his sending the Duke of York beyond Sea that the World might now see how otherways he was become a new Man for the future upon the 20th of April 1679 made this Declaration in Council and in Parliament and after publish'd it to the whole Nation how sensible he was of the ill Posture of his Affairs and the great Dissatisfaction and Jealousies of his good Subjects whereby the Crown and Government were become too weak to preserve it self which proceeded from his use of a single Ministry and of private Advices and therefore professed his Resolution to lay them aside for the future and be advised by those whom he had then chosen for his Council in all his weighty and important Affairs together with the frequent Advice of his great Council in Parliament and indeed in this Council were many worthy Members my Lord of Shaftsbury was President of it and the then Sir Henry Capel and Sir William Temple Members of it But this Declaration of the King 's added to the sending the Duke of York into Holland had not the King 's desired Effect the Commons besides the Dread of the Popish Plot as well at present but more in consequence after the King had declared he would not alter the Succession of the Crown in the right Line were no ways satisfied with the Disbursements of the Money nor the disbanding the Army yet were resolved it should be done and voted another Sum of 26462 l. for it but it was not carried without some Difficulty that these Monies should be paid into the Exchequer but Chamber of London however the Commons carried That the Money so raised should be appropriated to that Use and to that End appointed Commissioners to disband the new-rais'd Army and so voted That the Continuance of any standing Forces in this Nation other than the Militia to be illegal and a great Grievance and Vexation to the People hereby meaning the King's Guards They also ordered a Bill to be brought in for annexing Tangier to the Imperial Crown of England and voted That those who did advise the King to part with Tangier to any foreign Prince or State or were instrumental therein ought to be accounted Enemies to the King and Kingdom But how jealous soever the Commons were of the King yet they conceived it was his Life which secured them from the Fears they dreaded of the Duke's coming to the Crown and therefore upon the 11th of May voted Nemine contradicente That in Defence of the King's Person and the Protestant Religion this House does declare that they will stand by his Majesty with their Lives and Fortunes and that if his Majesty shall come to an untimely End which God forbid they will revenge it upon the Papists It seems the Commons had more Care of the King than he had of himself for he not only countenanced the Plotters but ridiculed the Plot. In his Speech at the opening this Parliament he told them he had not been idle in discovering the Plot and in the last he told Sir William Temple he was displeased with the Earl of Danby for bringing the Popish Plot into Parliament against his absolute Command Oliver's Professions and Actions never appeared so hypocritical and deceitful as this King 's and all this after the Parliament had voted there was a hellish Conspiracy by the Papists against his Life and this proved by a Cloud of Witnesses agreeing in the Manner and Circumstances of it as Oates
not foreknown and ordered to be taken into Custody tho in Northumberland and Yorkshire and rarely I think any of them were discharged without paying their Fees but what Fees was what the Serjeant pleased nay the Commons outrun all which was ever thought of before For on Tuesday the 14th of December having voted one Mr. Herbert Herring to be taken into Custody and Mr. Herring absconding from being taken the House resolved That if he did not render himself by a certain Day they would proceed against him by Bill in Parliament for endeavouring by his absconding to avoid the Justice of the House Though I doubt the Lords in the Temper they were in nor the King neither would have passed such a Bill It was strange methought that the Commons should be so zealous against any Arbitrary Power in the King and take such a Latitude to themselves which puts me in mind of a Story I have heard of an old Usurer who had a Nephew who had got a Licence to preach and the Uncle having never done any thing for his Nephew he resolved to be revenged upon his Uncle in a Sermon which he would preach before his Uncle in the Parish where he lived and made a most invective Sermon against Usury and Usurers but after the Sermon was done the Uncle thank'd his Nephew for his good Sermon and gave him 2 Twenty-shilling Pieces the Nephew was confounded at this and begg'd his Uncle's Pardon for what he had done for he thought he had given him great Offence No said the Uncle Nephew go on and preach other Fools out of the Conceit of Vsury and I shall have the better Opportunity of putting out my Money Yet so zealous were the Commons against Popery and Arbitrary Power that upon the 15th of December they resolved that one Mean for the Suppression of Popery is That a Bill be brought in to banish immediately all considerable Papists out of the King's Dominions And that a Bill be brought in for an Association of all his Majesty's Protestant Subjects for the Defence of his Majesty's Person the Defence of the Protestant Religion and for the Preservation of his Majesty's Protestant Subjects against all Invasions and Oppositions whatsoever and for preventing the Duke of York or any other Papist from succeeding to the Crown And upon the 16th of December the Commons read another Bill the first time for exempting his Majesty's Protestant Subjects dissenting from the Church of England from the Penalties imposed upon the Papists and upon the 18th ordered a Bill to be brought in to unite his Majesty's Protestant Subjects In this Ferment of the Commons this Parliament they run counter to the Commons of the last Parliament for then they chose Mr. Edward Seymour to be their Speaker and when the King refused him they were much disgusted but in this Parliament the Commons the 25th of November impeached him upon four Articles and a Motion was made for an Address to be made to remove him from his Majesty's Council and Presence And in the last Parliament the Commons would not proceed to the Trial of the Popish Lords in the Tower before the Lords should give their Judgment upon the Earl of Danby's Plea whereas in this Parliament they proceeded to the Condemnation of my Lord Stafford without taking any notice that I can find of having the Lords Judgment upon the Earl's Plea The Commons took Care also to prosecute and impeach all those that countenanced the Popish Plot or were Abhorrers of petitioning the King for the Meeting of the Parliament in the manifold Prorogations of it and voted That it is and ever hath been the undoubted Right of the Subjects of England to petition the King for the Calling and Sitting of Parliaments and Redress of Grievances And that to traduce such petitioning as a Violation of Duty and to represent it to his Majesty as tumultuous and seditious is to betray the Liberty of the Subject and contributes to the Design of subverting the antient legal Constitutions of this Kingdom and introducing Arbitrary Power The first that fell under these Votes was Sir Francis Withens after made a Judg a Member of the Commons whom they voted to be a Betrayer of the undoubted Rights of the Subjects of England and ordered him to be expelled the House for this high Crime and to receive the Sentence at the Bar of the House kneeling which he submitted to The next was Sir George Jefferies then Recorder of the City and ordered that an humble Address be made to the King to remove him out of all publick Offices and that the Members which served for the City should communicate this Vote to the Court of Aldermen Upon this Account tho the Commons discriminated the Crime they ordered Sir Giles Philips and Mr. Coleman to be sent for into Custody of the Serjeant at Arms for detesting and abhorring the petitioning for sitting of the Parliament and voted it a Breach of Privilege of Parliament the like the Commons did by Captain William Castle Mr. John Hutchinson Mr. Henry Walrond Mr. William Stavel Mr. Thomas Herbert Sir Thomas Holt Serjeant at Law and Mr. Thomas Staples and because Sir Francis North Chief Justice of the Common Pleas advised and was assisting in drawing up a Proclamation against petitioning for the sitting of the Parliament the Commons voted That it was a sufficient Ground for the House to proceed against him for high Crimes and Misdemeanours The like Vote passed against Sir Thomas Jones one of the Judges of the King's Bench and Sir Richard Weston one of the Barons of the Exchequer I do not find these Votes went further but the Commons actually impeached Sir William Scroggs of High Treason for discharging the Grand Jury of Middlesex before they had finished their Presentments and for the Order made in the King's Bench against Care 's Pacquet of Advice from Rome 〈◊〉 the History of Popery that it should be no more printed or published by any Person whatsoever I do not find the Articles particularly recited but they were ingrossed upon the 7th of January and the Impeachment carried up to the Lords by my Lord Cavâ—â—dish and received by the Lords Note in this common Danger the Commons ordered Leave to bring in a Bill for a general Naturalization of all Protestant Aliens giving them Liberty to exercise their Trades in all Corporations Now it 's time to see wherein the Lords and Commons did agree and wherein they ran counter The Lords agreed with the Commons in repealing the Act of 35 Elizabeth viz. for Payment of 20 l. per mensem for every Man who resorted not to his Parish-Church being so terrible a Law that it lay dormant above 80 Years and in the Feuds between the Tories and Whigs it was begun to be put in Execution which the Commons apprehending would make a Breach so wide as to let in Popery which would make no Distinction between Dissenters and the Sons of the Church they brought in a Bill
to preserve Fire and Water mingled together and was not the Monarchy of Scotland preserved though his Grandfather reigned twenty Years in Scotland while his Mother was alive without her and so continued after her Death That no Expedient would be entertained but a total Exclusion nor could be nor did the King ever propound any how otherwise the established Religion might be preserved That the Business of Fitz-Harris was carried to that Extremity that there were no hopes of a Reconciliation c. and put the Houses out of a Capacity of transacting Business it was upon Friday the twenty sixth of March the Commons sent up the Impeachment of Fitz-Harris and there were but Saturday and Sunday between this and the Dissolution of the Parliament and the Houses sat not on Sunday so that the King 's no Hopes or indeed Fears of a Reconciliation were very sudden Why might not the Lords if they had been permitted to have sat upon Conferences with the Commons and hearing their Reason have altered their Resolutions which is usual and it seems this Resolution of the Lords was very sudden and admitted of no great Debate to receive the Impeachment of Fitz-Harris and the same Day to throw it out which caused him to put an end to that Parliament However the King says that notwithstanding the Malice of ill Men who laboured to perswade the People that he intended to lay aside the Use of Parliaments he declared that no Irregularity in Parliament should make him out of love with them and that he was resolved to have frequent Parliaments yet lived near four Years after and never called another and in the Intervals would use his utmost endeavours to extirpate Popery and redress the Grievances of his Subjects the truth of this will best appear hereafter This Declaration which carries the Title of his Majesty's Declaration to all his loving Subjects was ordered to be read in all the Churches of England but if the Matter of it were so surprizing and amazing to the Nation the Manner of it was not less For never any King of England before as King no not this King's Father or Grandfather ever spake to his Subjects but either personally in Parliament or under the Broad Seal of England Whereas this Declaration is only Signed Francis Gwyn it might have been as well Edward Coleman and the Subjects as much obliged to have taken notice of the one as of the other And the Reason is twofold one That the Chancellor or Keeper is responsible if he puts the Seal to any Declaration or Proclamation not warranted by Law and therefore my Lord Chancellor Finch's Sagacity in not putting the Seal to this Declaration was as apparent as his Veracity which he would not expose in seconding the King's Speech at the opening the last Westminster Parliament And the other is to avoid all Impostures and Cheats which might otherwise be imposed upon the Nation under the Name of the King That we may take a better View of the rest of this King's Reign if it be worthy to be called so it 's fit we look into Scotland and see what 's doing there for the Discovery of the Popish Plot but it 's fit to look a little back and take notice that the King in his Speech at the opening of the Second Westminster Parliament told them that to take away all room for any Jealousy of his not prosecuting the Discovery of the Popish Plot he had sent his Brother beyond Sea but having by the Duke of Monmouth wholly suppressed the Kirk Party in Scotland he fairly sends for the Duke of York back again and from an Exile made him Vice-Roy or Regent of Scotland where all things lay open for him to prosecute his Designs as he pleased When the Duke came into Scotland the Earl of Argyle was one of the first that waited upon him The Earl's Story will better appear if first you take his Character He was Son of the Earl of Argyle after made Marquess by King Charles the First who so preferred him to take him off from heading the Kirk Party and thereby to oblige him to become of the King's side which had no Effect for the Marquess above any other of the Scotish Nobility was a most zealous Assertor of the Kirk's Power and was the Head of them when Montross took up Arms against them but though the Marquess was most unfortunate in it yet it no ways abated his Zeal to the Kirk nor was he less esteemed by them When Cromwel had overthrown Duke Hamilton and taken him Prisoner who came into England not to establish the National League and Covenant but to deliver King Charles out of Prison The zealous Kirk Party were highly offended at it and the Marquess of Argyle was the principal Agent to call Cromwel into Scotland to suppress the Hamiltonian Faction and to establish the Kirk which Cromwel then did though he undid it soon after and for this the Marquess was the first Year after the King's Restoration condemned and executed for High Treason upon which he lost all his Honours as well as his Estate But in all the Marquess's Actions his Son the Lord Lorn run counter to him and when this King Charles was in Scotland he was of all others the most obsequious to him and afterward when Middleton made some Incursions into Scotland for the King Lorn was most assisting in them Hereupon after the Marquess was attainted and executed King Charles restored his Son to all his Father's Estate and Honours except that of Marquess Afterward the Earl of Argyle continued constant in his Integrity to the King in all his Civil Affairs and was most zealous and forward in suppressing Tumults and Field-Conventicles so that before the Duke came into Scotland the King had so entire a Confidence in the Earl that he gloried that in thirty Years which must be computed from the King 's going into Scotland in 1650 he never received one Frown from the King how he should become such a prejured Traitor after the Duke's coming into Scotland is now to be enquired into The Earl of Argyle was one of the Lords of the Articles and by the Duke made one of the Committee for the Articles of Religion which by the Custom of Scotland and by the King's Instruction was to be the first thing treated of In this Committee an Act was prepared for securing the Protestant Religion which approved the Confession of Faith and also the Act containing the Coronation Oath to be taken by all the Kings and Regents of Scotland before their entry to exercise their Government This Act as drawn was less binding to the Successor of the Crown as to his own Profession yet did oblige as strongly the Maintenance of the Protestant Religion in the publick Profession by all others as before and added a Test to be taken by all in publick Emploiments to exclude the Popish Party out of them and because in case of a Popish Successor all Fines and
genuine and literal Sense we understand it so far as the Test is not opposite or contradictory to the aforesaid Exceptions and before they subscribed this they were allowed to insert after the Oath We underwritten do take this Oath according to the Explanation made by the Council approved by his Majesty's Letter and do declare we are no further bound by it Thus things stood with others when the Earl of Argyle upon Wednesday the Second of November waited upon the Duke and humbly besought him to decline his present taking of the Test but if his Highness would have a present Answer he begg'd that he would accept of the Earl's refusing it in private which the Duke denied then the Earl desired he might go home and consider and he would either give Satisfaction or the time prescribed by the Act of Parliament would elapse and then he would go off in Course and without Noise which the Duke absolutely refused upon which the Earl asked what good his appearing in Council to refuse I think it should have been reside there would do to which the Duke answered he need not appear but imploy some Friend to speak for him and named one Hereupon the Earl drew a Letter to the Person the Duke named wherein he exprest his constant Resolution to continue a true Protestant and loyal Subject which were the true Ends of the Test but the Letter concluding a Delay of taking the Test which no honest Man the Duke said could do and the Duke having given some Indication how little pleasing that Office would be to him neither the Person named by the Duke nor any Friend of the Earl's would by any means accept of it But the Earl being advised that an Explanation of the Test would be more acceptable the Earl drew a short one and put it into his Pocket but would not offer it till he knew the Duke's Pleasure and being told by the Bishop of Edinburgh it would be very kindly accepted the Earl went into the Council-Chamber and with an audible Voice read his Explanation of his taking the Test close by the Duke whereupon it was administred to him which the Duke accepted with a Smile and commanded him to take his Place which at that time was next the Duke and the Duke spake several times privately to him and always pleasantly However the Earl was so cautious that after he had made the Explanation of the Test in Council he would not communicate it to any other The Earl's Explanation was I have considered the Test and I am desirous to give Obedience as far as I can I 'm confident the Parliament never intended any contradictory Oaths therefore I think 〈◊〉 Man can explain it but for himself accordingly I take it as far as 〈◊〉 is consistent with it self and the Protestant Religion And I do declare that I mean not to bind up my self in my Station and in a lawful Way to wish and endeavour in a lawful Way any Alteration I think to the Advantage of the Church and State not repugnant to the Protestant Religion and my Loyalty and this I understand as part of my Oath And as the Earl was so cautious in not communicating his Explanation of the Test so was it never so much as charged upon him that he ever disparaged the Test or disswaded any other from taking it However this must be the Grand Work for his and only his Destruction for as was said many others had explained their taking the Test much more contradictory than the Earl had done and printed and published their Explanations Next Morning the Earl waited upon the Duke expecting his Yesterday's Countenance and beginning to speak the Duke interrupted him and said he was not pleased with his Explanation the Earl answered he did not give it till the Duke allowed him the Duke acknowledged the Bishop of Edinburgh had told him that he intended an Explanation but the Duke said he thought it would have been a short one such as the Earl of Queensberry's to which the Earl answered he heard what he said and that the Earl said the same thing in private to him and the Earl going on to say more the Duke interrupted him saying It 's past with you but it shall pass so with no other The next Day after the Earl was summoned again to the Council to take the Test as one of the Lords of the Treasury and an extraordinary Council was held at the Abbey Where so soon as they were met the Test was tendred to the Earl saying as before when the Earl of Roxburgh standing behind the Duke and never heard to speak in Council before with Clamour asked what the Earl of Argyle had said which the Duke told him upon which Roxburgh desired that what the Earl had said the Day before might be repeated which at first he declined till he was peremptorily commanded by the Duke the Earl then said he had a Note of what he had said in his Pocket which the Duke commanded him to produce which he did and was willing to sign it but the new Lord President now made Chancellour and the new made Register did not agree whether the Earl should then sign it the Treason not appearing as when they talked of it in private So the Earl was bid to withdraw and when he was called in he was positively required to sign the Paper he had given in to which the Earl answered that if the Words did please them as when they were given in he would but if there were the least Matter of Displeasure in them he would forbear whereupon he was removed and being called in he was told he had not given the Satisfaction required in the Act of Parliament in taking the Test and therefore could not sit in Council to which the Earl answered that he judged all the Parliament meant was to exclude the Refusers of the Takers of the Test from their Places to which he submitted and that as he had served his Majesty faithfully within doors so he was resolved to do without doors and so made his Obeisance and went out But now the Earl saw his Estate Life and Honour were struck at he communicated these Secrets to some for his own Vindication Upon Saturday the fifth of November the Earl waited upon the Duke again and told him he was strangely surprized that the saying he could not bind himself up in a lawful way c. as contained in the Paper was looked upon as a Crime when as he had said the same to him before without any Offence and that the Duke then said they were unnecessary Words that the Earl scrupled needlesly and that he was not tied up by that Oath as he imagined and that after a little Pause the Duke told him you have cheated your self you have taken the Test to which the Earl answered then he hoped his Highness was satisfied but the Duke after some other Expostulations told the Earl That he and some others had a
Design to bring Trouble upon a Handful of poor Catholicks that would live peaceably however they were used but that it should light upon others Now the Design appears barefac'd for would you think it the Earl having delivered the Explanation of his taking the Test by the Duke 's peremptory Command this is interpreted a publishing of it and upon Tuesday the eighth of November a Council was called without calling the Earl to it and an Order was sent by one of the Clerks of the Council to the Earl that before 12 a Clock next Day he should enter himself a Prisoner in the Castle of Edinburgh and a Warrant was sent to the Deputy Governour to keep him Prisoner wherein the Word Sure firmance tho fairly writ was struck out The Earl obeyed and by himself alone in a Hackney Coach rendred himself a Prisoner accordingly And now you 'll see how absolutely in this deputed Authority the Duke demeaned himself without Reserve what then might be expected from him in Case he should become King The Earl some Days after he had rendred himself Prisoner wrote to the Duke telling him how he had obeyed his Highness and Council's Order in rendring himself a Prisoner and how that he wrote no sooner lest he might be thought too impatient of Imprisonment which appeared to be the Effects of high Displeasure which he hoped he no ways deserved and was resolved to continue all Duty and Obedience to his Majesty and Highness and begg'd to know what Satisfaction was expected where and how he might live in his Highness's Favour to which no Answer was returned but a Summons charging the Earl with leasing making and depraving of Laws And after another Summons came out and published with Sound of Trumpet charging the Earl with Perjury and Treason but when it was told the Duke that such a Process threatned the Earl's Life and Fortune the Duke said Life and Fortune God forbid The very Day November the eighth that the Council ordered the Earl to render himself a Prisoner the Council sent a Letter to the King wherein they sent the Earl's Explanation of his taking the Test and how they had commanded his Majesty's Advocate to raise a Pursuit against the Earl upon it yet expecting his Majesty's Commands for their further Prosecution of it But the King might command what he pleased his Commissioner and Council would do what they would with it for before any Return of their Letter they caused the King's Advocate to exhibit an Indictment against the Earl upon the Points of slandering and depraving And after the Return of the King's Letter they ordered a new Indictment against the Earl containing besides the former Points the Crimes of Treason and Perjury before they acquainted the King with it The Earl thus mewed up that he might not give any Offence twice petitions the Duke and Council that Sir George Lockhart might be his Advocate to plead his Defence yet both times refused the Reason of these Petitions were that without Leave none would dare to plead the Earl's Cause for fear of the King's Displeasure However by the Act 11 Jac. 6. Cap. 90. It is the undeniable Privilege of all Subjects accused for any Crimes to provide themselves Advocates to defend their Lives Honours and Lands against whatsoever Accusation So by the 11 Jac. 6. c. 90. it is declared That in case Advocates refuse the Judges may compel them Hereupon the Earl drew up a Letter of Attorney constituting Alexander Dunbar to require Sir George Lockhart to plead for him which the Duke no sooner heard but said If Sir George Lockhart plead for the Earl he shall never plead for my Brother nor me But the Earl might set his Heart at rest for whatever Counsel he had his Case was fore-judged before heard However for forms sake upon the Twelfth of December 1681 the Earl was brought by a Guard of Soldiers before the Justice Court where the Earl of Queensberry was Chief Justice General and the Lords Narin Collingtoun Newtoun and Hirkhouse Lords Justiciary sitting in Judgment It is inconsistent with the Design of this Treatise to set down the Earl's Speech at large and the long and learned Pleadings of Sir George Lockhart and Sir John Dalrymple for the Earl's Defence and the King's Advocates pleading against the Earl and their Doubling's and Tripling's yet it 's fit to say something of them and leave the Reader at Liberty to read them at large in the Earl's Case which is printed The Earl in his Defence only claims the Privilege of the meanest Subject tho under an ill Character to explain his own Words in the most benign Sense and how strange and impossible it would be to believe he intended any thing but what was sutable to the Principles of his Religion and Loyalty though he did not express himself at all Then he enlarged how from his Youth he had made it his Business to serve his Majesty faithfully constantly and to his Power especially in all times of Difficulty and never joined or complied with any Interest or Party contrary to his Majesty's Authority and so that he never received a Frown from his Majesty these thirty Years and that even in this Parliament how he had shewed his Readiness to serve the King and Royal Family in so vigorously asserting the Lineal Succession of the Crown and in offering Supplies to his Majesty and Successor and that he had always kept his Tenants in Obedience to his Majesty How strange then is it that Words spoken for the clearing his own Conscience should be wrested into Treason especially where the same was done before by many Orthodox Clergy whole Presbyteries Synods and some Bishops so that an eminent Bishop took the Pains to write a Treatise that was read over in Council and allowed to be printed and a Copy given to him which contains all the Expressions he is charged for and many more may be stretched to a worse Sense and having wished all Happiness to the King and a Continuance of the Lineal Succession left his Defence to his Advocates Sir George Lockhart and Sir John Dalrymple then several Letters from General Middleton and the Earl of Glencarn were read testifying the Earl's Loyalty and Services to the King The Treason charged upon the Earl in the Indictment consists of these six Heads 1. That the Earl considered the Test and was desirous to give Obedience to it as far as he could clearly insinuating thereby he was not able to give full Obedience 2. That he was confident the Parliament never intended contradictory Oaths therebâ— to insinuate to the People that the Parliament did impose contradictory Oaths 3. That every Man must explain for himself and take it in his own Sense whereby that excellent Law lost its Obligations 4. That he took the Test so far as it was consistent with it self and the Protestant Religion which depraved the Test and misrepresented the King's Parliament's Proceedings in the highest Degree 5. That he did
Man be asked his Opinion of any Law or Point in Law and he gives it according to the best of his skill shall this be taken for Treason and depraving of the Law and a Man be in danger of his Life for it This was the Earl's Case he was called upon by the Duke to take the Test with his Explanation before he did it and whereas Mackenzy says there was no Force upon the Earl I 'm sure if my Author says true the Earl refused to give in the Paper whereof he is indicted and proffered to lay down his Offices upon it till the Duke peremptorily commanded him to do it if this were not Force I would know what is I 'm sure there was no Force but Corruption and Bribery upon the Advocate to enter into this villanous Conspiracy against this Noble Earl to murder him under the Pretext of Justice which is to be esteemed sacred And let any Man read his whole Harangue and see if there be any thing in it but forced and strained Inferences or any one Proof against the Earl within the Act 60 Parl. 6. Mary or the 9 Act. Par. 20. Jac. 6. which makes it Treason to make false Construction of Laws to others with a Design to raise Sedition and Dissension among the King's Subjects so that some Overt Act or Speech to others with a Design to raise Sedition c. must be proved and not what is said in the Council or any Court of Judicature However as was the Advocate such were the Assizers whereof the Marquess of Montross the Earl's Father's most bitter Enemy was the Fore-Man and the rest of the Pack of the same Stamp who with one Voice found the Earl guilty of Treason Leasing-making and Leasing-telling but like conscientious Men having made the Earl to have forfeited his Life Honour and Estate by a Majority they find the Earl innocent of Perjury which they could get nothing by So that the Noble Lord Lorn is become the Forlorn late Earl of Argyle yet the Earl not to be wanting to himself in this deplorable State next day but one viz. December the 15th by a Friend humbly intreated to speak with the Duke who returned Answer It was not ordinary to speak with Criminals except with Rogues on some Plot where Discoveries might be expected By this you may see what Spirit governed this Prince and what might be expected from him if he became King The next Day after the Earl's Sentence viz. December the 14th the Council gave the King notice of it and expected his further Pleasure now the Work is done to his Hand but it seems his Highness was very impatient till he had the Earl's Blood for he said If the Express from the King came not timously he would take upon himself what was to be done by which you may see what an Ascendency the Duke had over the King However the Earl upon the sixteenth petitioned the Duke that he might send a Petition to the King which was refused Things brought to this Extremity and the Earl hearing that some Troops and a Regiment of Foot were to be brought down from the Castle to the Common Goal from which Criminals were usually brought to Execution he resolved to try to make his Escape and the rather because about seven at Night he had notice that new Orders were given for further securing him and that the Castle Guards were to be doubled and that none were suffered to go out without shewing their Faces and therefore a Friend advised him not to attempt it No said the Earl now is the Time and so he attempted it and it pleased God he escaped Hereupon the Lords of Assize upon the twenty third of December pronounced the Earl guilty of the Crimes of Treason Leasing-making and Leasing-telling for which being detained in the Castle of Edinburgh out of which since the Verdict having made his Escape therefore they adjudged the said Earl to be executed to Death and his Name Memory and Honours to be extinct and his Arms to be riven forth and delete out of the Book of Arms swa that his Posterity may never have Place nor be able hereafter to bruick or joyse any Honour Offices Titles or Dignities within this Realm iâ— time coming and to have forefaulted all his Lands and Tenements c. But tho the Earl be escaped out of Prison whereto shall he flee For Terras I 'am sure Britannicas Astraea reliquit he had some thoughts of casting himself at the King's Feet but those soon vanished for the same Counsel which governed in Scotland raged all England over and so privately he passed into Holland where for some time we leave him and see what 's doing in England Mr. Hawles in his Remarks upon Fitz-Harris's Trial F. 18. out of Tully's Offices lays this down for a Rule That nothing is profitable but what is honest for which Tully gives many Reasons but nothing so convincing as the Examples he brings in publick and private matters and tho the Empire was vast and he bore a great Figure in it and was very knowing in the Greek and Roman Histories yet was he not able to bring a hundredth Part of Examples to prove his Position as had been in this little Island in the space of eight Years And in his Preface gives six Reasons for the Disaffection to the late Government viz. Exorbitant Fines cruel and illegal Prosecutions outragious Damages dispensing with the Test and penal Laws and undue Prosecutions in criminal but more especially in capital Matters But these I take to be the Effects of those Councils which governed in England ever after the King's Restoration tho they did not so manifestly appear till the Duke was sent into Scotland and after the Dissolution of the Parliament at Oxford and for these first six Years after the Dissolution of the Parliament at Oxford the Tories in England as well as in Scotland were the Tools which the Popish Faction made use of for carrying on their Designs then they were laid by and the Whigs set up as they thought to finish the Work The Tories were so far from being suppressed by the Proceedings of the Commons against them last Westminster Parliament that they only so much more irritated them against the Whigs after the Dissolutions of the last Westminster and Oxford Parliaments and this was what the Popish Party desired The King's Declaration signed Francis Gwyn was not only obeyed by the Tories but entertained with unexpressible Joy and celebrated with manifold Returns of Thanks to his Majesty and now nothing but Halcyon Days were expected and an absolute Dominion over the Whigs and the King to gratify the Tories in their Jollity and after the Bill for repealing the Act of 35 Eliz. was taken out of the House of Lords before it was passed which little sorted with the King's Declarations of Indulgence has this Law now put in Force against the Dissenters and prosecuted with that Violence that many thousands of Families
presumed to take Cognizance of Cases which were in the Jurisdiction of or depending in Parliament for this was to depose the Parliament and usurp their Jurisdiction nor do we read that ever any other Court assumed this Authority but in the Reigns of Kings affecting Tyranny and Arbitrary Power The first Judges which I think gave their Opinion That the Courts in Westminster Hall might take Cognizance of Causes determinable in Parliament were Tresilian and Belknap in 11 Rich. II. for which they were impeached by the Commons in Parliament of no less than High Treason and for which by Judgment of the Lords in Parliament Tresilian was hanged and Belknap banished Mr. Williams in his Pleadings for Fitz-Harris cites another Case in 20 Rich. II. of a Person who exhibited a Petition in Parliament which suggested something which amounted to High Treason which it may be was determinable by Common Law This Person was after indicted at Common Law found guilty and pardoned but because the Business was depending in Parliament the Prosecution and Judgment were made void in Parliament The next Case I think but of an higher Nature for Tresilian and Belknap only gave their Opinion was that of Sir John Elliot my Lord Hollis c. 5 Car. I. when an Information was exhibited against them in the King's Bench they pleaded to the Jurisdiction of the Court being for Matters transacted in Parliament the Court over-ruled their Plea and gave Judgment against them and Reasons such as they were for their Judgment but in the 19 Car. I. upon a solemn Debate in the Commons House and upon their Reasons given at a Conference with the Lords the Judgment of the King's Bench Reasons and all were reversed by a Writ of Error in the Lords House and after the Judges who gave the Judgment were impeach'd of High-Treason by the Commons for endeavouring to subvert the fundamental Laws and Constitutions of the Kingdom This Case of Fitz-Harris I take to be the fourth of this kind yet shall open a Gap for a fifth but that this Case may be better understood it will be necessary to distinguish between an Indictment or Information and an Indictment by the Commons in Parliament An Indictment or Information is at the Suit of the King and the Judges and Jury are tied up to some single Issue as in this Case of Fitz-Harris the Trial was whether he was guilty or not of the Treason whereof he was indicted But an Impeachment of the Commons is at their Suit and of all the Commons of England nor are they tied up to one single Issue but impeach for Treason and other Crimes and Misdemeanours in the same Impeachment they assume to themselves That all the Commons in England have a Right in the King and all the Laws and Constitutions of the Nation and therefore can impeach where none of the Courts of Westminster-hall can take any Cognizance at the Suit of the King either by Indictment or Information After Fitz-Harris was committed to Newgate he was examined by the Earls of Essex and Shaftsbury Sir Robert Clayton and Sheriff Cornish who found in him a Disposition to discover the bottom of the Popish Plot and also to make a further Discovery of the Murder of Sir Edmundbury Godfrey but the next Day Fitz-Harris was carried to the Tower and kept close Prisoner and out of their Power to whom Fitz-Harris promised to make a Discovery The Commons conceiving themselves and all the Commons of England concerned in this Plot wherein the French Ambassador his Confessor my Lord H the Dutchess of Portsmouth and her Woman Wall and even the King himself for Fitz-Harris had several times acquainted the King with it and the King gave him Money and countenanced it were Agents impeached Fitz-Harris thereby to enquire into the Bottom of this Business which no Court in Westminster-Hall could do and this I take to be the Reason of the Commons Vote of the 27th of March 1681 That if any inferiour Courts shall proceed upon Fitz-Harris and he be found Guilty the House will declare them guilty of Murder and Betrayers of the Rights of the Commons of England And so it fell out that Fitz-Harris being indicted upon the single Issue of contriving and publishing the Libel was convicted and executed upon it tho he desired to proceed upon the Discovery of this Plot to the Earls of Essex Shaftsbury and to Sir Robert Clayton and to make an End of his Evidence against my Lord H which was denied So that whether Fitz-Harris was murder'd in his Person or not it 's no Question but his Evidence for further Discovery of this and the Popish Plot was murder'd by this Trial. I will make these Remarks more upon this Trial that in the Case of Tresilian and Belknap the Nation was in no other Danger than the Courts of Westminster-Hall's invading the Jurisdiction of Parliament and the Case of my Lord Hollis Sir John Elliot Mr. Selden c. was only for Misdemeanour whereas the King's Person and the Safety of the Nation were concerned in the Discovery which Fitz-Harris might have made see Mr. Hawles's fine Remarks upon the Practices and Illegalities of the Judgment of the Court not warranted by the Common or any Statute Law and that the Consequences of this Trial were manifoldly more mischievous to the Nation than if Fitz-Harris's Design had taken Effect The Fright of Fitz-Harris's Discovery of this new Popish Plot being seemingly allayed by his Death Revenge with winged Haste pursues the Discoverers of the old It was in Trinity-Term that Fitz-Harris was tried and executed and after this Term an Indictment of High Treason was exhibited to the Grand Jury of London against Stephen Colledge a mean Fellow but a great Talker against the Popish Plot who was more known by the Name of Protestant Joiner than Stephen Colledge The Fore-man was one Wilmer This Indictment would not down but the Grand Jury returned an Ignoramus upon it for which Wilmer was forced to fly his Country The Design not succeeding in London the Scene against Colledge is laid at Oxford the Judges were Chief Justice North Justice Jones Justice Raimond and Justice Levins To make sure of a Bill to be found there against Colledge the King's Counsel had prepared Witnesses at the Assizes to post thither and there to make sure Work the King's Counsel are privately shut up with the Jury till they had found the Bill which Mr. Hawles says was a most unjustifiable and unsufferable Practice Whilst these things were contriving Colledge had the Honour as well as Fitz-Harris to be committed and continued a close Prisoner in the Tower yet the Lords impeached in Parliament had the Liberty of it and free Access was permitted to them it 's true indeed Colledge was permitted to have a Solicitor and Counsel which was Mr. West I think a Plotter or Setter in the Rye-Plot as dark as Fitz-Harris's and as like it as two Apples are one to the other But this was
purpose 3. Oates said Turbervile said a little before the Witnesses were sworn at the Old-Baily That he was not a Witness against Colledge nor could give any Evidence against him and that after he came to Oxford he had been sworn before the Grand Jury against Colledge and that the Protestant Citizens had deserted him and God damn him he would not starve John Smith swore Colledge's speaking scandalous Words against the King and of his having Armour which he shewed Smith and said These are the things that will destroy the pitiful Guards of Rowley and that he expected the King would seize some of the Members of Parliament at Oxford which if done he would be one should seize the King that Fitz-Gerald had made his Nose bleed but before long he hoped to see a great deal more Blood shed for the Cause that if any nay Rowley himself came to disarm the City he would be the Death of him 4. To confront this Evidence Blake testified that Smith said Haynes's Discovery was a Sham-Plot a Meal-Tub-Plot Bolron said Smith would have had him swore against Sir John Brooke my Lord Shaftsbury and Colledge things of which he knew nothing and told him what he Bolron should swear lest they should disagree in their Evidence Oates testified Smith said God damn him he would have Colledge ' s Blood and Mowbray testified that Smith tempted him to be a Witness against Colledge and Sir John Brooke and said if the Parliament did not give the King Money and stood on the Bill of Exclusion that was Pretence enough to swear a Design to secure the King at Oxford And Everard and others testified Smith said he knew of no Presbyterian or Protestant Plot and said Justice Warcup would have perswaded him to swear against some Lords a Presbyterian Plot but he knew of none These were the material Evidences thus confronted which should prove Colledge's Treason and Misdemeanour for taking away his Life But this Evidence was so baffled that for Shame the King's Counsel never play'd them after against any other but my Lord of Shaftsbury but were forced to set up for new against my Lord Russel Colonel Sidney c. Objection In criminal Cases especially of Treason if Evidence did not arise from the Conspirators who are supposed to be ill Men scarce any other means can be found for preventing or punishing these and that Dangerfield was of an ill Fame and Dugdale Smith and Turbervile were Witnesses in Discovery of the Popish Plot and so their Evidence is to be credited as well in this as in the Popish Plot. Answer Nor would the Popish Plot have been believed if it had no Foundation but the Credit of the Witnesses but Coleman's Letters Sir Godfrey's Murder and Harcourt's Letters of it that Night to Evers my Lord Aston's Confessor c. gave more than sufficient Evidence of the Popish Plot beside the Evidence in the Popish Plot did arise from the Evidence of their own Accord not hired and sought to give it as in this And can any Man believe that Colledge so zealous a Protestant should design the Destruction of the King and contrive it by Papists to whom he was so averse And it were Madness to think Colledge could do this alone for none of all the Evidence swear any other to be concerned with him in it There were other Evidence against Colledge viz. Mr. Mâ—sters Sir William Jennings about Words which Colledge should speak and Atterbury Seywel and Stevens concerning finding Pictures in Colledge's Possession when they seized him but as Mr. Hawles observes these by no Law in England could be made Treason admitting all they said to be true But tho at Colledge this Scene began and he was executed as a Traitor it did not end in him as he prophesied For Colledge's Blood was too mean a Sacrifice to appease the offended Ghosts of the martyred Roman Saints and was but an Inlet to spill nobler Blood therefore upon the 31st of August he was executed and upon the 24th of November following 1681. the Earl of Shaftsbury had a Bill of High Treason at the Sessions of the Old-Baily London preferred against him I will not here curtail any of the Remarks which Mr. Hawles has made upon this Bill or the Trial of my Lord Russel Colonel Sidney's Mr. Cornish's and Wilmer's Trials but leave them entire to the Reader it 's enough for me to shew how well the King by these Trials made good his Declaration of preserving the Protestant Religion and his utmost Endeavour to extirpate Popery yet I shall make some Remarks upon my Lord Shaftsbury's Case which Mr. Hawles either has not or not so fully Upon the 20th of April 1679 the King after he had sent the Duke into Holland dissolved his old Privy Council and chose a new one whereof the Earl of Shaftsbury was President and in Parliament declared the ill Effects he had found of single Councils and Cabals and therefore had made Choice of this Council which next to the Advice of his great Council of Parliament which he would often consult in all his weighty and important Affairs he would be advised by this Privy Council and to take away all Jealousy that he was influenced by Popish Councils he had sent his Brother beyond Sea But now quanto mutatus No more Parliaments so long as this King lives The Council whose Advice next the Parliament he would take is now dissolved and the President 's Life is sought for the Duke of late sent away that he might not influence the King's Councils is now returned and governs all and made High Commissioner of Scotland where at this time he is contriving the Destruction of the noble Earl of Argile whilst his Brother is doing that of my Lord of Shaftsbury and both act their Parts under the Vail of sacred Justice But how to bring the Earl of Shaftsbury upon the Stage was Matter of great Inquiry other Evidence besides Irish and those Colledge had so baffled could scarce be found and this Evidence 't was feared would no more prevail upon a London Grand Jury than before it did when the Bill was preferred against Colledge Captain Henry Wilkinson was a Yorkshire Gentleman who having served King Charles I. in his Wars and been very instrumental in the Restoration of King Charles II. being fall'n into Decay a Fate usually attending the Cavaliers who served either of those Kings was for his Sufferings Integrity and Honesty preferred by the Earls of Craven and Shaftsbury to be Governour of Carolina and one of his Sons to be Surveyor-General of it and another a Register Captain Wilkinson made use of the little Stock he had left and such Credit as he could procure to fit himself upon this Account and hired a Ship called the Abigail of a hundred and thirty Tuns and victualled her for the Master and ten Men and such other Passengers as he should take in In this Number one Mr. John Booth desired that he and his
in taking the Customs without Grant of Parliament and such as were never granted by Parliament and in further raising Ship-Money and imprisoning the Members of Parliament without Benefit of their Corpus's yet he thought best to do it by such Judges as he should make So this King in the Executions of Fitz-Harris and Colledge would have the Colour of Justice by a Form of Law for which there was no Law But as the Knights of Malta could make Knights of their Order for eight Pence a-piece yet could not make a Soldier of Sea-man So these Kings tho they could make what Judges they pleased to do their Business yet could not make a Grand-Jury from whom the Judges in all criminal Cases between the King and Subject must take their Measures these Grand-Juries in London are returned by the Sheriffs and the Sheriffs are chosen by the Livery This Difficulty after my Lord Shaftsbury's Case put the Court to their Trumps and at present a Stop to their Proceedings The Assistance of the Duke of York was necessary but at this time he was as busy in Scotland about my Lord of Argyle as his Brother was in England about my Lord Shaftsbury The City upon the Dissolution of the Four last Parliaments were aware of the Designs of the Court and chose Sheriffs accordingly when Colledge's Bill was preferred Mr. Cornish and Bethel were Sheriffs and now another such was preferred against 〈◊〉 Lord of Shaftsbury Sir Thomas Pilkington and Mr. Shute were Sheriffs who tho at other times Sheriffs would rather fine than serve yet at this time none refused to serve so that unless Sheriffs of another Stamp were chosen all would be to no Purpose It 's scarce credible what a Noise the not finding my Lord Shaftsbury's Bill made all Justice now the Tory Party cried was stopped if these Ignoramus Juries were not set aside R. L. S. proclaimed Forty one would inevitably return and this countenanced by the Court flew out of the City all the Country over so that scarce any other thing was to be heard but of Ignoramus Juries and what would follow from them It was the latter End of Michaelmas Term the great Inquest returned an Ignoramus upon the Bill of High Treason preferred against my Lord Shaftsbury and in the Vacation all Wits were set on work how to take the Election of the Sheriffs of London out of the Power of the City and no other Expedient could be found out but by taking away their Charter which if it could be done would not only entitle the Court to making of Sheriffs but open a Gap to their making a House of Commons for near 5 6 of the Commons are Burgesses and Barons of the Cinque Ports who would not dare to contest their Charters if the City of London could not hold theirs So that in Hilary Term following a Quo Warranto was brought against the City for two hainous Crimes viz. That they had made an Address to the King for the Parliament to sit for Redress of Grievances and to settle the Nation yet King Charles the First thought the Parliament's Vote of non-Addresses to him was a Deposing of him and that the City had raised Money towards repairing Cheapside Conduit ruined by the Fire of London The City pleaded their Right and the King replied upon which there was a Demurrer but Judgment was not given upon it till Trinity Term 1683. However the Novelty of the thing caused an Amusement upon the Generality of the City and Nation too whereto this tended In the mean time the Duke having done his Work in Scotland was returned to London and his Zeal for promoting the Catholick Cause outwent his Patience for the Court's Judgment upon the Demurrer to the Quo Warranto so that Courtiers of the First Magnitude appeared barefaced for the next Election of Sheriffs and Sir Dudley North Sir Francis's own Brother and Sir Peter Rich were returned one by a shameless Trick the other by open Force Tho the Court had gained this Point they thought not fit to push it further till the Demurrer to the City Charter were determined in which such Haste was made that only two Arguments were permitted on either Side one in Hilary Term 1682-83 and the other in Easter Term following and so Judgment was given in Trinity Term next after against the City The Judgment against the City was as strange as the Election of the Sheriffs for it was without any Reason and by two Judges only one was Sir Francis Withens who had heard but one Argument and I believe understood but little of that and who after in the Absence of Sir Edward Herbert delivered that for his Opinion which Sir Edward when present disowned and Sir Thomas Jones However they said Justice Raimond was of their Opinion and so was Saunders the Chief Justice tho he was past his Senses and only had Sense enough to expostulate with them for then troubling him when he had lost his Memory But the Court of Kings Bench were not so ripe for this hasty Judgment as that at White-Hall was for Discovery of Plots against the Government and Justice of the Nation of which they set three on Foot viz. A Plot to surprize the Guards the Rye-Plot to murder the King and Duke as they should come from New-Market and the Black-Heath Plot for the People to rise upon a Foot-Ball Match if those Sheriffs would not do the Court's Work you may be sure the next should where the King should have the Nomination but these were as trusty as any the King could make and it was now Graham and Burton's Work to find Good Jury-Men and then the Sheriffs would be sure to return them In all these Plots for ought I can find the Fox was the Finder my Lord H and Rumsey in that of the Guards Lee and Goodenough in that of Black-Heath Keeling and West in that of the Rye-Plot Lee was set to trapan Rouse and Baker in the Black-Heath Plot. Rumball at whose House 't was said the Rye-Plot was to be acted upon his Death denied he ever knew of any But the Great Design was upon my Lord of Essex and my Lord Russel one the most eminent of the Nobility for his great Honour and all eminent Vertues the other of the Commons and both zealous Protestants and Opponents to the Design of introducing Popery and Arbitrary Power I will not again curtail Mr. Hawles's learned Remarks upon my Lord Russel's Trial on the Thirteenth of July 1683. yet I must observe how that that Day whether my Lord of Essex killed himself or was to be killed the King and his Brother were both in the Tower when the Act was done and immediately Notice was sent to the Old-Baily to give Notice of it to the Court that in the worst Sense Use might be made of it by the King's Counsel against my Lord Russel The Blaze of the Earl's having murdered himself having had its designed Effect upon my Lord Russel's Trial
the next Step was to satisfy the Nation the Earl murdered himself and to this Purpose the Coroner's Inquest must necessarily sit and give their Verdict but so the Business was ordered that before the Jury was impannelled the Earl's Body was taken out of the Closet where 't was pretended he murdered himself and stript of his Clothes which were carried away and the Closet washt and when one of the Jury insisted upon seeing my Lord's Clothes in which he died the Coroner was sent for into another Room and upon his Return told the Jury it was my Lord's Body not his Clothes they were to sit upon and when it was moved that the Jury should adjourn and give my Lord's Relations Notice Thaâ— if they had any thing to say on my Lord's Behalf it was answered The King had sent for the Inquisition and would not rise from the Council-Board till it was brought I do not find that when the like Practices were used and wheâ—â— the Coroner's Inquest found Sir Thomas Overbury died a Natural Death in the Tower that two Years after when Reves the Apothecary's Servant made the first Discovery of Sir Thomas his being poisoned that Reves was prosecuted for flying in the Face of the Government and questioning the Justice of the Nation as Mr. Speke and Mr. Braddon were for endeavouring to discover the Murder of my Lord of Essex I 'm sure their Inducement for the Proofs of it were manifoldly more than Reves's were of Sir Overbury's and I wish I understood what their Crimes were more than Reves's but that being for the King and Justice of the Nation they ought to have been encouraged if there had been no foul dealing in the Earl's Death After the Death of these Noble Persons the rest of the Game was plaid without scarce any Rub Colonel Sidney Bateman Walcot Hone and Rouse followed for Treason all and all of different Complexions and where Treason could have no Colour actually to take away the Lives of the Opponents of Popery and Arbitrary Power Misdemeanours are set on foot to take away their Means of living Fines from 10000 to 100000 l. for words against the Duke though by Magna Charta a Salvo Contenemento is reserved for Misdemeanors against the King Graham and Burton would find Juries for all and the Sheriffs would return them to do the Work But the Rage and Tyranny against the Opponents of Popery and Arbitrary Power was not more illegal than the Indulgence to the Lords impeached by Parliament for the King resolving to have no more Parliaments upon the present Constitution made Judges to take Bail for them to appear next Parliament Hereby as much invading the Rights and Jurisdiction of Parliament as the Judgments against Fitz-Harris Colledge my Lord Russel Colonel Sidney c. were illegal which though at Common Law they might have been Treason yet by the Statute of the 25th of Edward the Third the Judges in Westminster-Hall were prohibited to take Cognisance of them and by the Act of 13 Car. 2. c. 51. wherein the Prosecution ought to be within Six Months after the Fact and the Indictment within three Months after Though the City of London and many other Cities in England those their Sheriffs yet the Sheriffs of all the other Shires and Counties of England were named by the King so that the King 's next care was how to subvert the Constitution of Parliament and like Oliver Cromwel have a House of Commons of his own making For the House of Commons is compunded of five hundred and thirteen Members whereof but ninety two are Knights of Shires so that near 5 6 are Burgresses Citizens and Barons of the Cinque Ports The Generality of the Corporations which send these Members are poor decayed places and so not able as the City of London to contest their Charters or if they could they had little hope to keep them now London could not hold theirs Yet this would cost the Court a great deal of time to bring Quo Warranto's against above two hundred Corporations and now all Hands are set at work to prevail upon these poor Inhabitants and mighty Rewards are promised to those who should surrender them but because Money was scarce Bargains were made with Multitudes of them to have Grants of Fairs for surrender of their Charters and those which refused had Quo Warranto's brought against them To humour the Court and in perfect hope that in time the Mountains would bring forth a Multitude of Corporations or rather some loose vain Men who assumed the Names of the Corporations by heaps surrendred their Charters and at excessive Rates I cannot say renewed but took new ones whereby the King reserved to himself the Power of disposing of all Places of Profit and Power which at present was intrusted in their Hands who had betrayed their former Trust nor did these Men care for the expence of purchasing their new Charter tho it were to the starving the Poor of their Corporations who should have been fed with the Monies expended in the Purchase But a Multitude of lewd Fellows who in meaner Corporations were all as willing to betray their Charters as the Richer yet had not Money to purchase new ones and without it nothing could be had and never was King furnished with such a Lord Keeper for by this time North who had drawn the King's Declaration against petitioning for a Parliament and for which he was impeached in Parliament and had so highly merited in Colledge's Trial was made Lord Keeper and Attorney General for taking Money with both Hands though by their Oaths they ought to have to the best of their Skill informed the King of the Justice and Lawfulness of all those things which were to pass the Seals and this put some stop to the hurry of the surrender of Charters But in these Corporations there were some Members who made a Conscience of their Oaths and betraying their Trusts and according to the Obligation to both performed their Duties but these were prosecuted as Rioters and Tumultuous Persons and fined extravagantly even to their undoing and imprisoned till payment and bound to their good Behaviour These things were not carried on with that Security but some Umbrages of fear there were that some Disturbances might arise before they could be brought to Perfection to quell them if they should happen The Duke had secured Scotland and had 20000 Foot and 2000 Horse and a Year's Pay to be assisting upon all Occasions a greater liberty was given to the Irish than ever and to crown the Work Tangier is demolished and the Garison which was a Nursery of Popish Officers and Souldiers is brought over and placed in the most considerable Parts of England Whilst the King is framing this goodly Structure the French King against his Faith at the Treaty of Nimeguen by foul and base Treachery seizes upon Strasburg on the Rhine the most considerable City of Germany and by plain Force took Courtray and the City
sign a Warrant of Execution for the Duke his Brother's beloved Son without any Trial or Process of Law against him But his Grandfather James the First had either done the like or at least not unlike it when he came to Newark upon Trent in his Passage to London at his first coming to the Crown one was said to cut a Purse whereupon the King without more ado signed a Warrant for his Execution to the Sheriff and the poor Fellow was executed accordingly The Duke suffered upon the 15th of July but the Issue of Blood did not stanch with him for towards the latter end of August a Special Commission of Oyer and Terminer was granted to Sir George Jefferies and four other Judges to try the Duke of Monmouth's Adherents in the West But as the Duke suffered without any Trial and so was unjustly put to Death so I believe this Commission was initiated by such a Trial as can scarce be parallel'd by any other and this was the Case Alicia Lisle a Woman of extream Age was Wife of Lisle one of King Charles the First 's Judges and who was President of the High Court of Justice as 't was then called in the Trials of Duke Hamilton the Earl of Holland and my Lord Capel and also in the Trial of Sir Henry Slingsby Dr. Hewet c. and had entertained after the Defeat of the Duke of Monmouth one Hicks a Non-Conformist Minister who was with the Duke not in any Proclamation that he was so and one Richard Nelthorp a Stranger to Mrs. Lisle who was in the Proclamation and Out-lawed of High Treason for which she was tried at Winchester for High Treason for comforting and assisting Rebels It appears by the publick Prints the Jury were so unsatisfied by the Evidence Hicks not being in any Proclamation and Nelthorp unknown to Mrs. Lisle that they thrice brought her in Not Guilty at last upon Jefferies Threats they brought her in Guilty of High Treason and so had Sentence passed upon her accordingly which in Women is to be burnt but the Execution was by beheading of her so that whether the Sentence was just or not the Execution was unjust for though the King may pardon or mitigate the Punishment of any Crime against him as to pardon Treason or to mitigate the Execution to beheading which is part of the Sentence yet he cannot alter the Punishment into any other than the Law prescribes but the Convention after King William came in were so dissatisfied in her Case that though they could not restore her to Life yet they reverst the Judgment for her Death From this uncertain Justice Jefferies and his Brethren make haste to proceed in their Commission Summo Jure and from Winchester by Salisbury upon the 3d of September a day fam'd for Oliver's Victory over the Scots at Dunbar over King Charles the II. at Worcester and for his Death arrives at Dorchester and because time was precious the next day Jefferies contrives this Stratagem to shorten his Work Thirty Persons being found by the Grand Inquest to have assisted the Duke of Monmouth when they came upon their Trials and before they had pleaded Jefferies told them that whosoever pleaded Not Guilty and was found so should have little time to live and if any expected Favour he must plead Guilty But the Prisoners trusted little to what Jefferies said and pleaded Not Guilty yet 29 were found Guilty and immediately Sentence was passed upon them and a Warrant of Execution signed upon Monday following after which a couple of Officers were sent to the Goal to take the Names of all the Prisoners who told the Prisoners if they confest they might expect Mercy otherwise none was to be hoped for these wretched Men thus wheedled pleaded Guilty and so at one Sentence Jefferies condemned 292 whereof 80 were executed From Dorchester Jefferies proceeded to Exeter and used the same Stratagem as at Dorchester for one Mr. Fower Acres being arraigned and pleading Not Guilty yet being found so had immediately Sentence passed upon him and Execution awarded upon it whereupon 243 pleaded Guilty and by one Sentence had Judgment passed upon them From Exeter Jefferies marched to Taunton where some few pleaded Not Guilty but being found had immediately Sentence and Execution awarded the rest terrified pleaded Guilty and had Sentence passed upon them and thence Jefferies marched to Wells where he finished his bloody Assize where and at Taunton he condemned above 509 whereof 239 were executed and had their Heads and Quarters set up in the principal Places and High Roads of Somerset and Dorsetshires to the terror of Passengers and annoyance of those Parts In these Executions I find one remarkable Story it 's printed in a Treatise called The New Martyrology fol. 478. Colonel Holmes and 11 more of those condemned at Dorchester were carried from Dorchester to Lime towards their Execution by six in a Coach and six in a Cart and at Lime they were put in a Sledg prepared to carry them to be executed but the Horses could not be driven to go but turned backward whereupon the Coach-horses were taken from the Coach and put to draw the Sledg but then the Sledg broke so the poor Men were forced to go on their Feet to their Execution I will not dispute the Justice of these Executions but I say Justice ought to look forward viz. to terrify others from committing like Crimes never backward to take Pleasure in punishing and a black Brand is set upon the Reigns of those Princes which shed much Blood nor do we read in any Story such a Sea of Blood flowed from Justice as did in less than eight Months after this King began his Reign and that which rendred it more remarkable was the King's Profession to his Privy Council and after to the Parliament That he would imitate his good and gracious Brother but above all in his great Clemency and Tenderness to his People But if Justice look'd forward in Jeffries's Executions it did not in Kirk's who was one of King James's Major-Generals in the Expedition against the Duke of Monmouth who when after the Duke's Defeat he came to Taunton caused 90 wounded Men who had been taken Prisoners not permitting their Wives or Children to speak with them to be hang'd with Pipes playing Drums beating and Trumpets sounding and after their Bowels to be burnt their Quarters to be boiled in Pitch and hang'd in several parts of the Town and I have heard that when afterwards Kirk was charged with this Inhumanity he excused it that he could do no less it being but part of the Instructions he had from the Right Honourable the Earl of F General in this famous Expedition As yet no Pardon could be hoped for to any one but by those which could purchase it by the Ruin of their Estates and those which could not purchase one were sold for Slaves to the Plantations When Justice could take no further place then out comes a Pardon
and Tests against Dissenters was any ways intended in favour of the Protestants for notwithstanding the Slaughter Jeffries had made of them in the West the rest all over England were imprisoned and forced to give Security for their good Behaviour Nay my Lord D. of Albermarle who had done the K. so signal Service in keeping the Devonshire Men from joining with the D. of Monmouth must be sent out of England to Jamaica and the Earl of Pembroke and others who had been so active in suppressing Monmouth were scarce thanked and but coldly entertained at Court If things were acted with this indeed bare-fac'd dissimulation in England they were not less in Ireland for the King having revoked the Duke of Ormond from his Lieutenancy and given Talbot an independent Commission to make such a reform of the Army there as is aforesaid made my Lord Clarendon Deputy-Lieutenant and Sir Charles Porter Chancellour who arrived there the 10th of January 1685-86 with a Charge to declare that the King would preserve the Acts of Settlement and Explanation inviolable and to assure all his Subjects he would preserve these Acts as the Magna Charta of Ireland but this Declaration compared with Talbot's reforming the Army in Ireland seemed as strange as that the King 's dispensing with the Penal Laws and Tests was in favour of the Protestant Dissenters in England In Scotland the King had so settled Affairs there when he was Commissioner that after the cutting off the Earl of Argyle he did not doubt to carry on his Designs more bare-fac'd there than in England or Ireland and therefore tho he did not call a Parliament till April 1686 yet in his Letter to them of the 12th he takes no Notice of the Protestant Dissenters but recommends to them his innocent Roman Catholick Subjects Who had with their Lives and Fortunes been always assistant to the Crown in the worst of Rebellions and Vsurpations tho they lay under Discouragements hardly to be named These he heartily recommended to their Care to the end that as they have given good Experience of their true Loyalty and peaceable Behaviour so by their Assistance they may have the Protection of his Laws and that Security under his Government which others of his Subjects had not suffering them to lie under Obligations which their Religion cannot admit of by doing whereof they will give a Demonstration of the Duty and Affection they had to him and do him most acceptable Service This Love he expected they would shew to their Brethren as they saw he was an indulgent Father to them all The King having settled his Prerogative in Westminster-Hall by dispensing with the Penal Laws and Tests in the Beginning of the Year 1686 granted a Commission of Ecclesiastical Affairs but it was not opened to act till the 3d of August following why it lay so long dormant I do not find but only guess that the King might the better settle his Dispensing Power in the Country by such Judges as he had made as well as in Westminster-Hall and that he might be more at leisure to carry on the Design for surrender of Charters wherein one Robert Brent a Roman Catholick was a prime Agent and great Care was taken that the beggarly Corporations might surrender their Charters and take new ones without paying Fees and if any should be so honest as to insist upon their Oaths and Trust reposed in them for Preservation of their Charters to be prosecuted as riotous and seditious Persons But in regard the Commission of Ecclesiastical Affairs was not printed that I can find nor is in the State Tracts I thought fit to insert it here as I had it in Manuscript from a learned Hand JAMES the Second by the Grace of God King of England Scotland France and Ireland Defender of the Faith c. To the most Reverend Father in God our Right Trusty and Right well-beloved Counsellor William Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Primate of all England and Metropolitan and to Our Right Trusty and Right well-beloved Counsellor George Lord Jeffries Lord Chancellour of England and to Our Right Trusty and Right well-beloved Cousin and Counsellor Lawrence Earl of Rochester Lord High Treasurer of England and to Our Right Trusty and Right well-beloved Cousin and Counsellor Robert Earl of Sunderland President of Our Council and Our Principal Secretary of State and to the Right Reverend Father in God and Our Right Trusty and well-beloved Counsellor Nathaniel Lord Bishop of Duresme and to the Right Reverend Father in God Our Right Trusty and well-beloved Thomas Lord Bishop of Rochester and to our Right Trusty and well-beloved Counsellor Sir Edward Herbert Knight Chief Justice of the Pleas before us to be holden assigned Greeting We for divers good weighty and necessary Causes and Considerations Us hereunto especially moving of our meer Motion and certain Knowledg by force and virtue of Our Supream Authority and Prerogative Royal do assign name and authorize by these our Letters Patents under the Great Seal of England you the said Arch Bp of Canterbury Lord Chancellor of England Lord High Treasurer of England Lord President of Our Council Lord Bishop of Duresme Lord Bishop of Rochester and our Chief Justice aforesaid or any three or more of you whereof you the said Lord Chancellor to be one from time to time and at all times during our Pleasure to exercise use occupy and execute under us all manner of Jurisdiction Privileges and Preheminences in any wise touching or concerning any Spiritual or Ecclesiastical Jurisdictions within this our Realm of England and Dominion of Wales and to visit reform redress order correct and amend all such Abuses Offences Contempts and Enormities whatsoever which by the Spiritual or Ecclesiastical Laws of this Realm can or may be lawfully reformed ordered redressed corrected restrained or amended to the Pleasure of Almighty God and encrease of Vertue and the Conservation of the Peace and Unity of this Realm And we do hereby give and grant unto you or any three or more of you as is aforesaid whereof you the said Lord Chancellor to be one thus by Us named assigned authorized and appointed by force of Our Supream Authority and Prerogative Royal full Power and Authority from time to time and at all times during Our Pleasure under us to exercise use and execute all the Premises according to the Tenour and Effect of these our Letters Patents any Matter or Cause to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding And We do by these Presents give full Power and Authority unto you or any three or more of you as is aforesaid whereof you the Lord Chancellor to be one by all lawful Ways or Means from time to time hereafter during Our Pleasure to enquire of all Offences Contempts Transgressions and Misdemeanours done and commited contrary to the Ecclesiastical Laws of this Our Realm in any County City Borough or other Place or Places exempt or not exempt within this our Realm of England
have a Commission but by Law is utterly disabled and disarmed Will you exchange your Birth-right of English Laws and Liberties for Martial and Club-Law and help to destroy all others only to be eaten up at last your selves If I know you well as you are English Men you hate and scorn these things And therefore be not unequally yoked with idolatrous and bloody Papists Be valiant for the Truth and shew your selves Men. The same Considerations are likewise humbly offered to all English Seamen who have been the Bulwark of this Nation against Popery and Slavery ever since 88. The first Lightning which the dormant Commission of Ecclesiastical Affairs produced fell upon the Bishop of London a Person of Exemplary Vertue and Loyalty and who besides the Nobility of his Birth had his Father slain in the late Civil Wars in defence of the King's Father's Cause and had himself and all his Brothers freely and valiantly exposed their Lives in defence of it The Crime alledged against him was that by the King's Letter he did not suspend Doctor Sharp then Dean of Norwich now Archbishop of York for preaching a Sermon against the Frauds and Corruptions of the Church of Rome by a Power as Arbitrary as that by which the Commissioners acted and for this these Commissioners suspended the Bishop tho every one understood the true Cause was the Bishop's Motion in the House of Lords to have debated the King's Speech Tantum Religio potuit swadere malorum I 'm perswaded King Charles the II. to make a Roman Hierarchy in Scotland made the Bishops out of the most obnoxious of the Clergy who besides their profligate Lives run the King's Prerogative there to a higher pitch than Laud in the King's Father's time did in England And that towards the latter end of his Reign he laid the same design here for the Bishopricks of Oxford York St. David's and Chester becoming void about the latter end of his Reign or beginning of King James's I 'll not name the Bishoprick of Litchfield and Coventry for the Petticoat governed in that Election Dr. Samuel Parker whom Mr. Marvel in his Rehearsal transposed calls Bays a Man of a virulent Disposition and who by railing against the Church got into Preferment and when he was in became a zealous Railer against them without was made Bishop of Oxford Dr. Cartright as high for the Prerogative as Parker was made Bishop of Chester and the Succession to these two Bishopricks was the more observable because Parker succeeded Dr. Fell and Cartright Dr. Peirson Men of Piety and Learning equal to any in their time and one Watson an obscure Man was made Bishop of St. David's but the Archbishoprick of York was reserved for a Person of another Temper whom these Bishops were making way for The Presidentship of Magdalen College in Oxford becoming void and the Fellows fearing a Mandamus would be imposed upon them for some Person not qualified by the Statutes and whom by their Oaths they could not submit to chose Dr. Hough for President a Person qualified by their Statutes for that Place As the Fellows feared so it came to pass for the King sent them a peremptory Mandamus to chuse the Bishop of Oxford Bays their President but he being a Person not qualified by the Statutes of their College which the Fellows were sworn to observe they in a humble Answer excused themselves as being otherways obliged as well by their Oath as Statutes I will not repeat the Anger the King express'd hereupon 't is in Print but sure such Language was never used by any Prince before But if the King 's harsh Language will not work the Fellows to his Will he will send the Commissioners of Ecclesiastical Affairs among them to turn them out of their Fellowships wherein they had as much Property as any other had to any real or personal Estate nor shall these Commissioners stay here but by a new strain of Tyranny never practised but by Absolute Tyrants they make the Fellows uncapable of any other Ecclesiastical Preferments The Fellows thus expelled the Statutes of the College are thrown out of Doors to make room for a Seminary of Jesuits and Popish Priests as much tending to the Subversion of the established Church of England as the Statutes of the College But see how God in his Providence blasted these things for the Bishop of Oxford had scarce taken possession of his thus new-acquired Presidentship when he died and you 'll soon see the Fellows restored again in spite of these Commissioners and Dr. Hough made Bishop of Oxford as well as President of Magdalen College If the King were zealous in advancing his Prerogative Royal both in the Church and State of England he will not be less in Scotland whereupon the 12th of February 1686-87 he issues out his Proclamation for Toleration of Religion which you may read in the State Tracts wherein he asserts his Absolute Power which he says his Subjects ought to obey without reserve But the Toleration which the King allows his Roman Catholick Subjects in Scotland he 'll scarce permit to his Protestant Subjects in Ireland for Tyrconnel for so has Talbot merited for his Service in Reforming the Army is not only made an Earl but Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in the room of my Lord Clarendon and one Fitton made Sir Alexander an infamous Person detected for Forgery not only at Westminster but at Chester and fined in the House of Lords was brought out of the King's Bench in England to be Chancellor and Keeper of the King's Conscience in Ireland in place of Sir Charles Porter The first Proclamation which Tyrconnel issued out was dated Feb. 21. 1687. wherein he promised to defend the Laws Liberties and established Religion but leaves out the preservation of the Acts of Settlement and Explanation But tho at first he only left out the Acts of Settlement and Explanation being resolved first to out the Protestants and let the Irish into their forfeited Estates yet did he not stay here and Bishop King in his Treatise of the State of the Protestants in Ireland gives so particular and methodical an Account how he proceeded in the destroying the Church and State of Ireland as by Law established that I refer the Reader to it not intending to lessen it by taking parts of it When the Judges had been above a Year propagating the King's Power in Westminster-Hall and in their Circuits of dispensing with the Penal Laws and Tests against Dissenters from the Church upon the 25th of April 1687 out comes the King's Declaration to all his Subjects for Liberty of Conscience wherein the King declares That it had been a long time his constant Sense and Opinion that Conscience ought not to be restrained nor People forced in Matters of meer Religion and that it was contrary to his Inclination as he thought it to be the disinterest of the Government by spoiling Trade and depopulating Countries c. Sure no Prince ever acted
been bound Apprentices in them whilst these Free-men by the Prerogative of their Freedom impose what Rates they please upon the poor Artificers and set their own Prizes upon the Nobility Gentry and others who buy of them He that begins any Work labours under manifold more Difficulties and is more subject to Error than another who builds upon his Foundation This is my Case and therefore am more excusable for the Frailties and Errors I may have committed in this Design but upon the Discovery of any I promise to recant it I am sure my Intention is honest herein being for the Good of my Country and those Labours are best which are spent in the Benefit of it FINIS ERRATA PAge 20. line 16. r. as fierce P. 52. l. 16. del this l. 17. r. this House P. 57. l. 16. del the Parentheses P. 100. l. 5. del Comma after not P. 118. l. 28. after drawn add P. 119. l. 41. del the last that P. 132. l. 15. r. Spanish Secretary P. 135. l. 24. r. then went P. 167. l. 30. r. then P. 374. l. 15. del Comma after God P. 378. l. 10. and 379. l. 20. for former r. first P. 398. l. ult after confirmed put Comma P. 530. l. 10. r. they will P. 540. l. 37. r. 20 l. P. 646. l. 1. â— and not to do it and give An Alphabetical TABLE OF THE Principal Matters contain'd in this BOOK A. ABbot Arch-bishop zealous for the Elector Palatine 93. His plain Letter to the King 111 112. Refuses to license Sibthorp's Sermon 197. Is basely dealt with on that account ib. 268. His Character and Death 238. Abhorrers of Petitions for Parliament prosecuted by the Commons 555 556. Act of 35 Eliz. repeal'd by Parliament 557. but not by the King 559. Act of Vniformity 439. Adjutators in the Army 318. Albeville Marquess his Memorial at the Hague 649. Algerines at War with the English and Dutch 452. Alliance with Spain the Commons Votes concerning it 558. Amboyna the Dutch Cruelty there 121. Ancre a French-man his lamentable End 86. Ann K. James's Queen her Character 75. Is averse to Villiers and foretels what he would be ib. 76 124. Her Death 88. Apprentices 663 665 678. Arbitrary Notions see Cowel Archy K. James's Fool 112. Argyle Marquess executed 444. His Character and Story 568 569. Earl his Character c. 568 570 575 578. His Explanation of the Test for which he 's tried and condemned but escapes 578 586. Aristotle's Logick censur'd 22. Arlington Lord rudely treats the Prince of Orange but fails in his Design 508. Arminians severe against their Opponents 242. See Mountague c. Army declares for the King 319. yet draw up a Remonstrance against him march to London and exclude most of the Members 328. Articuli Cleri see Bancroft Ashley Cooper made Lord Chancellor 478. Joins with the Country Party and is turn'd out 492. His Life most unjustly aim'd at 596 598. Is clear'd by the Grand Jury 599. Remarks on his Case ib. Askew Sir George his Success at Sea 353 354. Avaux the French Ambassador discovers his Master's and K. James's Designs 649 650. Audley Palace what it cost 77. Author Story of his Father Brother and Himself in Cromwel's time 392 396. B. BAcon Sir Francis censur'd for Bribery 97. Bancroft ABp for Absolute Power in the King 57 59. Barebone's Parliament 373. Their Thoughts of the Dutch 374 375. Their Articles with them 376. Their Acts resign their Power to Cromwel 377. Barnvelt Head of a Dutch Faction 33 121. Takes Advantage of the ill Posture of K. James's Affairs 80. Loses his Head for opposing the Prince of Orange 121. Batton Sir William joins Prince Charles at Sea 326. Bedlow discovers Godfrey's Murder 534. Bill of Exclusion rejected by the Lords 557. Billeting of Souldiers voted a Grievance 207 217. Bishop of London his Motion to debate the King's Speech 629. Is suspended by the High Commission 639. Bishops in Scotland re-ordained 122 262. In England voted out of Parliament 276. Oppose several good Bills 490 629. Several of 'em both in England and Scotland most profligate Persons 639 640. Seven refuse to read K. James's Declaration are tried and clear'd 644 645. Remarks thereon and on their Prayers for the King 645 647 650. Blake Governour of Taunton 312. Commands at Sea 327 351 353 355. Bohemia History of that Kingdom 89 93 101 102. Chuse Frederick Count Palatine their King 93. Booth Sir George overthrown by Lambert 409. Bridgman Lord Keeper his Speech on K. Charles's Treaties 475. Is turn'd out 478. Bristol see Digby Britain its Situation Bounds c. 12. Justly claims the Soveraignty of the Seas 659 660. See Grotius Buckingham see Villiers C. CAbal in 1671. who they were 478. Their pretended Causes of the Dutch War 479. Another in 1673. 495. Care Henry sentenc'd for writing his Weekly Packet 546. Carr Sir Rob. has an extravagant Boon order'd by K. James 61. Made Viscount Rochester and courted by the Countess of Essex 63. Procures the Ruin of Overbury 64 68 70. Created Earl of Somerset and married in extravagant Splendor 70 71. His Fall 74. His Pardon refus'd to be sign'd 76. His vast Estate 77. which is seiz'd by the King 79. Tried for Overbury's Murder ib. Castlemain sent Ambassador to the Pope 642. Cavaliers slighted by Charles II. 424 426. Cecil Lord Treasurer saves K. James 15000 l. and how 61. Charles I. while Prince his breach of Faith in Spain breaks off his Match 116 117 128. Is proposed to the French King's Daughter 119 125 140. yet her Portion not a tenth of the Infanta's 142. The extravagant Articles of her Marriage 142 143. Berule's Deputation for a Dispensation for it 143 145. First 15 Years of his Reign perfectly French 153. His great Wilfulness and Levity 156 187. Makes War on Spain at Buckingham's Instigation 157. Commands Pennington to deliver up his Ships to the French 162. His Warrant in favour of Papists dispenses with the Laws 165 168. His first Breach with his Parliament 166. His many Mistakes the first five Months 171 172. His ill Success in the War with Spain 172 173. Breaks his Word with the Keeper 179. His peremptory Message to the Commons with their Answer and his threatning Reply 183 184. Reproves his Parliament 184 185. His Reasons for blasting Bristol's Articles against Buckingham 187. The Lords Reasons against his 188 189. His Arbitrary Declarations after dissolving the Parliament in favour of Buckingham descanted on 190 192. Is accountable only to God 190 210 219 236 268. Demands Money of his People out of Parliament 196 228 252. Imprisons the Gentry for refusing to pay and keeps up a Standing Army on free Quarter 199 228 236. His dissembling and threatning Speech at the opening of Parliament with large Remarks upon it 202 206. His Message to the Commons to hasten Supplies 210 211. His Answer to the Petition of Right 213. which he resolves to abide by 214. Passes the Petition 216. His unaccountable
against the Lords Jurisdiction in Appeals from Chancery 502 504. Their Bills to prevent the French Designs c. 503 555. Address the King for a League with the Dutch 505. Their Votes for disbanding the Army 536. for the King's Safety 539. against the Tories c. 552. concerning the Revenue 558 559. Confederates their Success against the French 504. Complain to our King of the French Ravages 513. Exclaim against the separate Peace 529. Convention act hand over head in restoring Charles II. c. 423 424. Sent him 50000 l. 425. Convocation frame an Oath to preserve the Church and grant the King a Benevolence 273 367. Cooke Rob. a Pythagorean his manner of living c. 664. Cornish Alderman his hard Vsage is murder'd 622 624. Corporation-Oath see Oaths Corporations unjust in excluding Foreigners 27 658. Cotton Sir Rob. his Advice to the King 199 200. Covenant see Scots Covenanters rise in Scotland their Proclamations c. 542. Their Actions are routed 543. Coventry Lord-Keeper his Speech on the King's behalf 184. Mr. Henry breaks the Triple-League is made Secretary of State 477 478. Offers to sell his Place 514. Cowel his Interpreter incenses the Commons 59 60. Croke Judg a remarkable Story of him 259. Cromwel Lord his Letter to Buckingham 157. Oliver his Pedigree and Character how he rais'd himself 301 302. Designs against him 303 305. His first Success and Loss 310. Treats with the King his Ambition therein 322 323. Intercepts the King's Letters 323. Storms Drogheda and reduces all Ireland 344. Is declar'd General of all the Forces his Success against the Scots 345 346. and at Worcester 346. Contrives how to set up himself 348 358 361. Summons several great Men about settling the Nation with their Opinions 348 349. Furiously dissolves the Rump with Remarks thereon 362 363. His first Manifesto to the Nation 370. Summons a Council to govern the Nation his Speech to them 372 373. Gets rid of 'em 377 378. Appoints another Council is declar'd Protector his Instrument of Government with Remarks 379 380. Treats with the Dutch his Design against the Pr. of Orange 381 382. His Selfishness c. 383 387. His pretended Parliament and Speech to 'em 385. Is highly disgusted and dissolves 'em 386. Makes an unjust War with Spain with the ill Success of it 387 388. Assists the French against them 389 390 401. His Ways to raise Money 392. Is ill belov'd under great Disquietudes his Misfortune by a Coach 397 402. His third Parliament 398. His House of Lords 399. Is attempted to be kill'd ib. Compar'd with the greatest Tyrants 399 401. His fourth Parliament 401. His ill Success at Ostend 402. His Army of Volunteers and Death 403. His good Deeds 404 405. Rich. declar'd Protector 405. Has 90 Congratulatory Addresses presented him 406. Recogniz'd by his Parliament which he is forc'd to dissolve and thereupon is depos'd 407 408. D. DAnby Earl impeach'd by the Commons 536 538. Dangerfield discovers the Meal-tub-Plot is vilified by the Chief Justice 546. His Trial barbarous Punishment and Death 638. Dean Admiral slain by the Dutch 371. Sir Anth. sent into France to build Ships 497. Delinquents first use of the Word 274. Denbigh Earl sent to relieve Rochel but did not 225. Derby Earl routed and beheaded 347. Deserters hang'd against Law 643. Dewit John his Character and Actions 484 485. He and his Brother assassinated by the Mob 487. Digby Earl of Bristol his noble Character and severe Charges against Buckingham 109 110 118 137 187. His Ruin design'd by the Prince and Buckingham his Defence of himself is recall'd from Spain 119 138 139. Refuses the K. of Spain's generous Offers 120. His Reasons for his Proceedings in Spain 128 129. Is confin'd and petitions the King 139 175 185. Petitions the Lords for his Writ whereon 't is sent him 186. Is accus'd by the King c. ib. Is committed to the Tower 192 193. Follow'd Charles I. in all his Adversity 193. Discords in Religion often arise from Kings 17. Dispensing Power see James II. Dissenters a Bill for their Ease past the Commons but fiting out by the Lords 490. Fierce Laws against them in Scotland ib. Severâ—ly persecuted by the King and Tories 587. Too forward to address K. James 642 647. Dover Treaty 474. Dumbar Fight 345. Dunkirk sold to the French 429. Dutch declar'd Free States 26 61 339. Much in our Debt 32 33 54. Pay Tribute for fishing 32 61. Get their vast Debt remitted and their Cautionary Towns 80 81. What they detain'd from the English 115 121 249 250 338. Dispute the Sovereignty of the Seas with the English 244 c. Refuse a Coalition with England 350 374. Their Engagements at Sea with the Rump 351 354 356 371 372. Their pretended Excuses c. therein 351 352 358 372. Animate Cromwel against the Rump 361 371. Are in great Confusion 374. Their advantageous Theaty with Cromwel 383. Court Charles II. to a League 426. An Account of their former Encroachments c. 450 452. Their double-dealing 452. Their Engagements at Sea with Charles II. 457 461. Enter the River and burn our Ships 468. Get a beneficial Peace with K. Charles 469. yet their Smirna Fleet set upon send Deputies to the English and French Kings 478 479. whose Fleets they rout 481. Recapitulation of their History 482 483. Make a separate Peace with France 523 527. Complain to the English Court of the French 524. Assist the Pr. of Orange in saving these Nations 649. Their Answer to Albeville's Memorial 650. E. EAst-India Company incorporated by Cromwel 338. Edghill Battel there doubtful 296. Education of Youth 23 240 448 665. Egerton Lord Chanc. refuses to sign Somerset's Pardon 76. Eikon Basilike disown'd by Charles II. 425. Elector Palatine see Frederick Elizabeth Queen forbid French and Dutch building Ships 30. Granted the Dutch Licence to fish 32. Her sharp Answer to them 33. Allow'd K. James in Scotland a Pension 34. Elliot Sir John against the Court 189 213 231. Information against him in Star-Chamber 234 235. Essex Earl the Parliament's General 296 297 303. His ill Success 307. Lays down his Commission 310. Essex Earl murder'd in the Tower 601 602. Exchequer shut up by the King and his Cabal 478. F. FAirfax Sir Tho. for the Parliament 298 300 306. Is made General 310. Lord favours Monk 412 414 416. Falkland Lord slain his Character 299. Felton stabs Buckingham 225. Is threatned with the Rack 227. Finch Sir Joh. refuses to put any Question concerning Grievances with Remarks thereon 229 230 232. Is made Chief Justice and complies with the King 's illegal Actions 253. Made Lord-Keeper 266. Sir Heneage made Lord Chancellor c. 492 493. His Veracity Speeches 493 501. Fines excessive granted the Duke of York 602. Fire of London with Notes upon it 461 462. Fishing Trade and fishing on our Coasts 32 61 83 87 243 364 376 390 391 450 653 654 675 676 679. Increases Navigation 390 676. Fitton an infamous
Indulgence to be read in Churches 644. Jefferies the Commons Votes against him 556. Releases the impeached Lords 611. His savage Cruelty in the West c. 613 620 621. Is made Lord Chancellor 630. Jesuits their Projects in England 200 201. for which some were taken yet releas'd by the King 201. Ignoramus the Play 74. Ingoldsby sent against Lambert 420. Inoiosa Spanish Ambassador presents the King a Paper against the Prince and Buckingham 130 132. which much perplexes him 132 133. Johnson Mr. Samuel whipt for writing an honest Address to the English Army 638 639. Jones Sir Tho. his Thoughts of a Dispensing Power 630. Sir Will. put out and for what 546. Ireland how bounded c. 12. A horrible Massacre there 277 343. Another design'd 448. and a Rebellion in Conjunction with the French 472 533. K. James's Proceedings there 624 625 632 641. Irish Cattle Act to prohibit their Importation with 9 Observations upon it 462 467. Is made perpetual 559. Judges their Opinion for Ship-Money 258. Those made by Char. II. 501. Juries hated by Cromwel 400 401. Are pack'd to murder honest Men 601 602 611. Jurisdiction of Parliaments discust in relation to Fitz-harris 588 590. Jus Divinum 330 332 544. Juxton Bishop of London made Lord-Treasurer 265. K. KIngs their divided Will against Law 5. Never parted with Parliaments in Disgust till the Stuarts 205 267. Not wont to be present at Debates in Parliament 502. Never speak but in Parliament or under the Great-Seal 568. Kirk Maj. General his barbarous Inhumanity at Taunton 622. Kirk-Party strict with James VI. 34. Mind the King of his Covenant 443. See Scots L. LAmbert turns against Cromwel 399. After against his Son 406. Is made Lieutenant-General 408. Petitions the Rump 409. Is turn'd out by them ib. and after turns them out 410. Marches against Monk 412 414. Is sent to the Tower 416. Is routed and taken Prisoner 421. Langdale Sir Marmad his Success for the King 309. Is discontented 311. Laud his Rise and Character 122 123. Puts the King on altering Religion in Scotland 122 123 242 255 256 260. Gets a Bishoprick by playing the Spaniel 123. His ways to ruin Bishop Williams 124 239. Proves a Firebrand c. 157 166 167 226 239 242. Is made Bp of London 226. Favours Popery 231. His great Care of the Church 167 227 241 242. Prosecutes his Injunctions concerning Ceremonies with great Severity 254 255 257 258. Quarrels with the King about visiting the Vniversities 256 257. Procures an Alteration in the Church of Scotland 262 263. Lauderdale some account of him 441 442 454. Is bitter against the Presbyterians in Scotland his Highland Government there 490 491. Laws c. ought to be in the Mother-Tongue 363 404 405 665. Lenthal made General by the Rump 408. Lestrange Roger Champion of the Tory-Cause 500. Is employ'd to ridicule the Popish Plot 545. Levellers in the Army 318. Liberty of Conscience to be continued 662. See Dissenters and James II. Lindsey Earl sent to relieve Rochel but in vain 225. Lisle Lady her unparallel'd Case is basely murder'd 620. London on ill Terms with the King 272. yet lend him Money 273. Raise Souldiers under Waller c. 321. In Confusion 414. Join with Monk for a Free Parliament 419. Is set on fire 461. See Hubert Long Mr. sentenc'd in Star-Chamber 234. Lorain Duke basely dealt with by the French King 474. Lords five impeach'd by the Commons 535. See Jefferies Lowden Chancellor of Scotland his Speech concerning Cromwel 303 304. Ludlow deposes Henry in Ireland 408. M. MAckenzy Sir Geo. pleads against the Earl of Argyle 584 585. Magdalen-College Story 640. Mansfield denied landing at Calais contrary to Agreement 146. Manwaring for the King 's absolute Power 197. Impeach'd by the Commons and sentenc'd by the Lords 214 215. Is promoted by Laud 227 256. Marriage with France see Charles I. Marsilly murder'd at Paris to the Dishonour of K. Charles 479. Marston-Moor Fight 307. Maurice Prince for the King 298. Is lost in the W Indies 327. May Tho. Esq his Treatise of the Civil Wars disprov'd 280 295. Mazarine turns K. Charles c. out of France 383. His Success against the Pr. of Conde 388 389. and Loss at Ostend 402. Opposes K. Charles's Restoration 421 422. Meal-tub-Plot discover'd 546. Militia who shou'd have the Power of it the chief Cause of the War 296. Whether it belongs to King or Parliament ib. 329. Mombas betrays the Dutch 484 486. Monk takes Sterling-Castle and Dundee 347. Complies with Cromwel 359. Engages the Dutch 356 371 372. Is caress'd on his Victory 373. Sent to Scotland 383. His Pedigree and Story 384 385. His Regency in Scotland 410. Is much courâ—ed secures Berwick 411. His ill Success treats with the Committee of Safety but displeas'd with the Agreement with a Story of him 412 413. Sends to Fleetwood summons a great Assembly at Edinburgh abjures K. Charles 413. His Success 412 416. Is declar'd for in Ireland 412. Marches to London is addrest for a Free Parliament 416. Is carest by the Rump his Speech to them 417. Pulls down the Gates of the City sends an angry Message to the Rump 418. Declares for a Free Parliament at Guild-hall and restores the secluded Members 419. Meets the King at Dover and is made Knight of the Garter 426. Monmouth Duke sent against the Covenanters 543. 'T was believ'd his Mother was married to the King and why 544. Is unjustly put to Death 619. Monopolies injurious 55 56 65. Montross for the King 313 315 316. Is routed and executed 344. Morley Col. Herbert secures the Tower for Monk 418. Mountague accus'd by the Commons of Arminianism 166. Is favour'd by the King 166 167 171 226. Impeach'd by the Commons for favouring Popery 180 183 226. Made Bp of Chichester 226. and after of Norwich 227. Holds Correspondence with the Pope 273. Muscovy the Czar revokes the English Privileges on K. Charles's Death 350. N. NAseby Fight 311 312. Navigation-Act made by the Rump 350. Its Inconveniences 364 367 391 455 653 658. Nayloâ— James his Blasphemy 396 Newberry first Fight 299. Second Fight 308. Newfoundland Fishery how the French got it from us 390 391. North Sir Francis a Tool in the late Times 592. Promoted 603. Northampton Earl concern'd in Overbury's Death see Carr and Overbury Yet in favour with the King tho a Papist 72 73 Incourages the Irish Papists 74. November 5. appointed an Anniversary Thanksgiving 58. Noy Mr. against the Court 208. Is taken off by being made Attorney-General 243. His Pretence for Ship-money c. 252. O. OAtes Dr. first discovers the Popish Plot 532. His excessive Fine 610. Indicted of two pretended Perjuries 610 613. His barbarous and illegal Punishment 613. Oaths Remarks on that of the Scots Covenant 368 438. on the Convocation-Oath 369 438. on the Corporation-Oath 431 439. Orange Prince General for the Dutch 486. Declar'd Stadtholder is courted by the French King his noble Answer to his Proposals
the King a great Revenue and pass the humble Tender 454. Scroggs Chief Justice illegally discharges the Grand Inquest 547. Is impeach'd of High-Treason 556. Sea its Dominion maintain'd by Navigation 660. Sea-men refuse to fight against Rochel 159 162. Are increas'd by the Fishing Trade 390 654. Secluded Members restor'd summon a Free Parliament 419 421. Selden Mr. for the Petition of Right 209. His Speech concerning Grievances 216. Self-denying Ordinance 309 310. Seymour Mr. invades the Commons Privilege 507. Is impeach'd by 'em 555. Shaftsbury see Ashley Cooper Sham-plots of the Court for which good Men are murder'd 601 602. Sharp ABp of St. Andrews murder'd 541 542. Sheriffs instrumental to save honest Mens Lives 590 600. Illegally chosen in London 600 611. Siâ—thorp for the King 's absolute Will 197. Slingsby Sir Henry beheaded 403. Sobiez his Success at Sea on behalf of the Reformed 146. Somerset see Carr. Southampton Lord Treasurer his Death and Character 470. Spain how bounded 1 Jac. I. 11 25. It s Barrenness in People and its Causes 25. Never recover'd its great Loss in 1588 c. 28. It s low State 428 471 472 652. Spaniards their Success against France 389. Spanish Trade tho beneficial forbid by Charles I. 174. Standing Army a Grievance 539. Kept up by K. James 642 643. States of England Three not King Lords and Commons 8. but Nobles Commonalty and Clergy 57. Strasburgh treacherously seiz'd by the French 604. Succession to the Crown in England 38 47 550. Surinam taken by the Dutch 467. but regain'd 468. Surrey-Men rise for the King but are routed 326 327. Sweeds join with the French at War against Brandenburg 499 511. T. TAlbot his Barbarity and Falshood in Ireland 624 625. Is made Lord Lieutenant 641. Tangier the Commons Votes concerning it 539 557. Temple Sir William employ'd in the Treaty at Nimeguen 472 478. in the Peace with the Dutch 495. His Conference with the King 498. Treats of a Peace with the French and Confederates 499. Is highly complimented by the French 509 510. His Thoughts of the Protestation against a separate Peace 512. Is admitted to the Debates with the King concerning the Peace 516 517. His going to France prevented 518. Test in England reflected on 501. In Scotl. with Remarks 570 575. Tiddiman Sir Tho. his Neglect at Bergen 457. Tories charge the Whigs with a Design to kill the King 532. Promote the Popish Designs 544 586. Their Impudence 562. Tour De la Count his Heroick Speech to the Bohemians 91 92. Trade in Market-Towns 27. To Spain gainful 165 387 389 463. to France prejudicial 166 389 463 672. In Wool how we lost it 338 339 662. To Greenland Newfoundland Norway c. 653 656. To America Newcastle 661. To Ireland 656 666. In Timber 669. In Companies and to East-India c. 670. Ought to be free 663 670 674 679. Traquair Lord Treasurer in Scotland 264 266. Prorogues the Parliament there which is protested against 267. Treason made a Stalking Horse 322. Treaty at Munster 339 340. Treaties Account of all between the K. and Parliament 328 332. Treâ—or Secretary his Queries concerning Buckingh c. 489. Triple League 472. Trump Van Admiral for the Dutch see Dutch Tunnage and Poundage see Charles I. and Commons V. VAne Sir Henry opposes the Scots Covenant 299. Promotes Lambert's Interest 409. Villiers his Descent comes into favour 73. Advanc'd by Somerset's Fall 74. His affable Carriage at first 76. Is promoted 77 86 111. Marries the greatest Fortune in England 88. His great Titles 111. Disswades the Prince from his Match with the Infanta 113. Sets up to be popular 115 118 125. His base Dissimulation in Spain 116 117 158. Charg'd with being a Papist and endeavouring to seduce the Prince 118. His Narrative of Proceedings in Spain with Remarks 127 129. Loses the King's Favour by means of the Spanish Ambassador 132 133. Restor'd to it again by the Keeper's fine Contrivance 133 134. Eager for a War with Spain 155. His base dealing with the Rochellers and the Merchants whose Ships he hired 159 163. His Behaviour at Paris 157 163. Is impeach'd by the Commons 189 190. Procures a War with France 193 196 198. His false Steps therein 198. Is routed 198 199. Is stabb'd 225. Vsurer a Story of one 555. Utrecht surrendred to the French 487. W. WAgstaff Sir Jos seizes the Judges at Salisbury 386 Wales its pretended Prince 647. Waller Sir William for the Parliament 298 306. See Fitz-harris Walloons persecuted by Laud 254 255. Settle in Holland 255. Come again into England and encourag'd by Char. II. 472 473 607. Walter Sir Joh. dissents from the Judges and is discharged 236. War with Holland projected by the French 450 473 478 484. War and Peace-making claim'd by the King 506. Warwick Earl Admiral for the Parliament 295. Wenthworth Sir Tho. a true Patriot 209 212. but made President of the North to his Ruin 243. and Lieutenant of Ireland 254 260. Weston Sir Rich. made Lord Treasurer tho a Papist 226. Whigs and Tories 531 532. Compar'd with the Prerogative-men and Puritans in Laud's time 560 561. Whitlock Serjeant his Thoughts of Cromwel c. 304 305 348 349 359 361. Advises to bring in the King 415. Wilkinson Capt. his Story his noble Constancy 596 598. Williams Lord-Keeper his Thoughts of the Spanish Match 113. His Ruin intended by Laud c. 124 179 253. Stops the King's Prohibition to the Judges and Bishops 126. His curious Contrivance on Buckingham's behalf 133 c. Is commended by the King for it 135. Ill requited by Buckingham 136 155. His Reasons against a War with Spain 155. His Advices to the King 168 170 302. to Buckingham 169. His Character 176 177. His Requests to the King c. 177 178. Is fin'd and imprisoned by Laud 239. Willis Sir Cromwel's Spy 393 402. Windebank Sir Fr. seizes Sir Coke's Papers favours Popery 253. Woollen Manufactures the Inconveniences they labour under 666. Worcester Fight 346. Workhouses 665 677. FINIS BOOKS sold by Andrew Bell at the Cross-keys and Bible in Cornhil THE General History of England as well Ecclesiastical as Civil from the earliest Accounts of Time to the Reign of his present Majesty King William Taken from the most Antient Records Manuscripts and Historians Containing the Lives of the Kings and Memorials of the most Eminent Persons both in Church and State With the Foundations of the Noted Monasteries and both the Universities Vol. I. By James Tyrrel Esq Fol. A New History of Ecclesiastical Writers Containing an Account of the Authors of the several Books of the Old and New Testament and the Lives and Writings of the Primitive Fathers An Abridgment and Catalogue of all their Works c. To which is added A Compendious History of the Councils c. Written in French by Lewis Ellies du Pin Doctor of the Sorbon In seven Volumes Fol. An Essay concerning the Power of the Magistrate in Matters of Religion wherein all the Arguments for Persecution and against Toleration are examin'd and refuted With the most proper Method of destroying all Schisms Heresies c. A Detection of the Court and State of England during the four last Reigns and the Interregnum Consisting of Private Memoirs c. with Observations and Reflections And an Appendix discovering the present State of the Nation Wherein are many Secrets never before made publick as also a more impartial Account of the Civil Wars in England than has yet been given By Rog. Coke Esq The third Edition much corrected with an Alphabetical Table Scotland's Soveraignty asserted Being a Dispute concerning Homage against those who maintain that Scotland is a Fee Liege of England and that the K. of Scots owes Homage to the K. of England By Sir Tho. Craig Translated from the Latin Manuscript with a Preface containing a Confutation of that Homage said to be performed by Malcom III. to Edward the Confessor and published by Mr. Rymer By Geo. Ridpath Ridpath his Shorthand yet shorter or the Art of Short-writing advanc'd in a more swift easy regular and natural Method than hitherto The second Edition A Discourse on the late Funds of the Million Act Lottery-Act and Bank of England Shewing that they are injurious to the Nobility and Gentry and ruinous to the Trade of the Kingdom By J. Briscoe The third Edition Mr. John Asgil his Plagiarism detected c. Emblems by Fra. Quarles with the Hieroglyphicks All the Cuts being newly illustrated The History of Genesis illustrated with 40 Copper Plates Advice to the Young or the Reasonableness and Advantages of an Early Conversion In three Sermons on Eccles 12. 1. By Joseph Stennett The Groans of a Saint under the Burden of a Mortal Body A Sermon at the Funeral of Mr. John Belcher late Minister of the Gospel from 2 Cor. 5. 4. By the same Author Several Practical Pieces of Mr. Daniel Burgess viz. Rules for hearing the Word of God The Sure Way to Wealth The most difficult Duty made easy Foolish Talking and Jesting describ'd and condemn'd The Christian Decalogue or the Gospel's ten Commandments The Church's Triumph over Death a Funeral Sermon on Mr. Robert Fleming A Funeral Sermon from Job 14. 14. on Mrs. Sarah Bull. Holy Union and Holy Contention describ'd and press'd In single Tracts or bound up together Fleming's Fulfilling of the Scripture Rutherford's Letters An Exposition with Practical Observations on the Book of Ecclesiastes By Alexander Nisbet A Directory of Prayer being a Commentary on the 20th Psalm By R. Campbel Chamberlen's Midwifery the third Edition Artamenes or the Grandâ—Cyrus In 10 Vol. A Birchen Rod for Dr. Birch being an Answer to his Sermon before the Commons Jan. 30. A Defence of the Arch-bishop's Sermon on the Death of the Late Queen and of the Sermons of the late ABp Bp of Lichfield and Coventry Bp of Ely Bp of Salisbury Dr. Sherlock c. on that and other Solemn Occasions against the Aspersions of two Jacobite Pamphlets A Tragedy called the Popish Plot reviv'd Wherein are several Letters c. of Dr. Oates to the Late Kings and other Great Men. The Rye-house Travestie The History of the Late Jacobite Plot in a Letter to the Bp of Rochester by T. Percival * Aesar in the Tuscan Tongue is a God See Suet. c. 97. in the Life of Augustus