Words but if the Demands were read perhaps they would imply nothing less and if so how otherwise to be answered but by the Sword all other Means being first assayed which is ever to be supposed For Sir Henry Vane's and Northumberland's Testimony about perswading of an Offensive War he said he remembred it very well and thought it as free for him to give his Opinion or an Offensive as they for a Defensive War Opinions said he if they be attended with Obstimacy or Pertinacy may make an Heretick but that they ever made a Traytor he never heard it till now nor under favour should I be an Heretick either said he for as I was then so am I now most willing to acknowledge my Weakness and correct my Errors whereof no man hath more or is more sensible of them than I my self yet if that Opinion of mine had been followed it might perhaps have spared us some Money said he and some Reputation too of which we have been prodigal enough For the last about the Ships it proves nothing but he would willingly confess that some Ships were there detained and that by himself and his own Direction as Vice Admiral of Connaugh but it was at the Command of the Lord Admiral the Earl of Northumberland and produced his Letter to that purpose To the English Proof He marvelled much how Sir George Ratcliff's Words could be put upon him Sir George though alledged to be his Bosom Friend yet had thoughts of his own and might have some other thoughts in his Bosom and be to some other Expressions than Sir George Ratcliffe No man said he can commit Treason by his Attorney and should I by my Friend Sir George as by a Proxy For his Brother He never knew him before so rash but that was nothing to him except they could prove a nearer Identity than Nature had instituted and that his Brother's Words and his were â—ll one yet withal he conceived that his Brother's Words might be very well understood of the Scots conquering England but not at all of the Irish and so he wished with all his heart that he had not spoken something which is like a Prophesie To the Primate's Testimony with all Reverence to his Integrity be it spoken he is but one Witness and in Law can prove nothing Add to this said he that it was a private Discourse between him and me and perhaps spoken by me Tentandi gratia and how far this should be laid to a mans Charge let your Lordships judge Yea this seems to me against Humanity it self and will make the Society of men so dangerous and loathsom to us that our Dwelling Houses will be turned to Cells and our Towns to Defarts That which God and Nature our Tongues have bestowed upon us for the greater comfort of venting our own Conceptions or craving the Advice of Wiser and Learnecer men should become Snares and Burdens to us by a curious and needless Fear yet if my Words be taken said he with all that went before and followed after I see no danger in it To the Lord Conway I may reply the same with this Addition That it is a very Natural Motion for a man to preserve himself every Greature hath this Priviledge and shall we deny it to Monarchy provided this be done in a lawful though in an extraordinary way This grain of Salt must be added to season all my Discourse To that of Sir Henry Vane of offering my Service to the King I thank him for the Testimony and think he hath done me much honour thereby but if he or any body else do suspect that his Majesty will employ me in unlawful Enterprizes I shall think them more liable to the Charge of Treason than my self To the subsequent Testimonies I shall not need to wrestle about them much only the last of Sir Henry Vanes pinches and lies sore upon me but to that which the Earl of Clare and I thank him for it hath said already give me leave to add this that the Testimony of one man is not a sufficient Witness nor can a man be Accused much less Condemned of Treason upon this and for that read the Stat. of Hen. 7.12 and of Edw 6.5 Now my Lords said he to give you further satisfaction I shall desire all the Lords of the Councel which were then present only to the number of eight may be examined whether they heard these words or not for the Archbishop and Sir Francis Windebank they cannot be had Sir Henry Vane gives the Testimony I deny it four only remain First The Earl of Northumberlands Testimony which was read had declared expresly that he had never heard those words nor any like them from the Lord Strafford but he spake with great Honour and regard to the Kingdom of England Secondly the Marquess Hamilton who declared upon his Oath that he had never heard such words but that he had heard the Lieutenant often say that the King was to rule his Royal Power Candidè Castè that it would never be well for this Kingdom till the Prerogative of the Crown and the Priviledge of the Subject went in one pace together and that Parliaments were the happiest way to keep a correspondency between the King and People The very same was delivered by the Lord Treasurer and the Lord Cottington Now my Lords you may mervail how these words rested only on the ears of Sir Henry Vane but my Lords said he that I may remove all scruple from you I will make it evident that there was not the least intention that the Irish Army should set a foot in England and then I hope you will conceive that I had no meaning to reduce this Kingdom This he made clear by the Testimony of Northumberland the Oaths of Marquiss Hâ—milton Lord Cottington Lord Treasurer Sir Thomas Lucas who only were private to that matter For other of my words my Lords said he I desire you would not take them by halves if so who should be free from Treason Certainly if such a precident take sooting Westminster-hall shall be more troubled with Treason then with Common-Law look therefore to the Antecedents and Consequents of my Speeches and you shall find the state of the question clearly altered the Antecedents were upon an absolute or inevitable necessity upon a present Invasion when the remedy of a Parliament cannot be expected the Consequents for the defence of the Kingdom which acompts afterward to the Parliament The qualifications too in a lawful convenient and ordinary way so far as the present necessity can permit Add but these and which of you are not of my mind Is the King endowed with no power from the Lord Is he not publicus inspector Regni Stands it not him in hand to do something on present necessities And that these were his words he often proved over and over again by the Marquess by the Lord Treasurer Cottington Sir Tho. Jermine My Lords what I have kept to the
Defence and Protection yeâ— though he had done it by himself alone yet he conceived he had so much power by his Commission causing the Commission to that effect to be read That albeit he should mistake his Commission and do some inferiour Act beyond it because Military proceedings are not alwayes warranted by the Common Law yet it should not be imputed as an Act of Treason to him And to this effect read a Statute of the Seventh of Henry the Second To the Proofs First Colonel Pennyman's Warrant or Sir Edward Osburnes it nothing concerned him and he doubted not but these worthy Gentlemen could justifie their own Act and that he had enough to do to answer his own Misdemeanors Secondly For Sir John Burrowes he was at Rippon when that Proposition was made Thirdly That as the Warrant so neither the Execution troubled him at all Fourthly For Sir William Ingram he was but a single Testimony and that such an one too as he could produce an Evidence to testifie he had mistaken himself in his Testimony upon Oath if it were not to disadvantage the Gentleman He concluded That he had done nothing in that Business but upon the Petition of that County the King 's special Command the Connivance at least of the Great Council and upon a present necessity for the Defence and Safety of the County And so much for Wednesday Upon Thursday the Committee for the Charge declared that they had done with all the Articles and were content to wave the last for Reasons best known to themselves only Sir Walter Earles added that he had some Observations to bring forth upon the two and twentieth Article which he conceived might do much to prove the Earl of Strafford's Designs for Landing the Irish Forces in England And they were First That in his Commission he had Power to Land them in Wales or in any part of England or in Scotland which were altogether superfluous unless there had been some purpose for the same Secondly That within two days before the Date of the Commission Letters were sent to the Lord Bridgewater and Pembroke from Sir Francis Windebank to assist the Earl of Worcester in Levying Forces for the Kings Service and these might be supposed to have intended a joyning with the Irish Thirdly That the Lord Ranelaugh at the raising of the Irish Army did fear such a Design as this Fourthly That the Town of Ayre in Scotland where the Lord Strafford pretended he would Land those Forces was fortified with a Bulwark a Garrison and Block house which would prohibit Landing there that the Earl of Argile's Bounds were divided thence by the Sea and that the Barr or Entry into the Town was very dangerous and shallow The Proofs were only the Reading of the Commission granted to the Lord Strafford The Lieutenants Reply First That his Commission was the same Verbatim with Northumberland's for England and and that it was drawn up by the Council-Board here and sent over unto him so no more Design in him than in the Gentlemen of the English Army nor no larger than that was put upon him Secondly That this was the first time he heard of any such Letters nor did they concern him more than any of the House Thirdly That he was not bound to purge the Lord Ranelaugh from all his Fears and that he had his own Fears too which God forbid should be Evidence of Treason against any man whatsoever Fourthly That it seemed the Gentleman had better Information from that Kingdom than himseâ—f yet he would be confident to say at Ayre there was never such a thing as a Block-House or Garrison But to remove all Scruples for indeed the Road or Landing-place is not there safe he declared that it was his intention to have Landed some Miles above Ayre and made only his Magazine of that Town To the Earl of Argiles Bounds he hoped the Gentleman knew they came not on foot out of Ireland but had Ships to wast and transport themselves and that one of his prime Houses Rosneth was within some few Miles of the same Frith The Lord Digby finding Sir Walter Earles on ground did handsomly bring him off and told the Lords that all their proofs for that Article were not yet ready and that this was a Superfoetation only of the Charge and that in such a Business ac the Plotting of Treason they must be content sometimes with dark Probabilities Then Mr. Glyn desired the Lieutenant to resume his Defence that they might give a Repetition of their Charge and so close the Process so far as concerned the matter of Fact He replied that in his Case all slackness is speed enough the matter touched him narrowly even in his Life and Estate yea in that which he esteemed above thâ—m both his Honour and Posterity and therefore he confessed he had no desire to ride post in such a Business That he knew the Gentlemen at the Bar if they were in his Case would think the time little enough except their more able Judgments could sooner dispatch the matter in hand and therefore he humbly intreated that that day might be granted to him for strengthening himself and recollecting his Thought and Spirits and to morrow he would be ready with his last Replies for himself which after a little Ceremony and Contestation was condescended unto by the House of Commons Upon Friday Morning about Eight of the Clock the Lieutenant of the Tower and my Lord's Chamber-Groom came to the Hall and gave information to the House upon Oath That the Lord Strafford was taken with an exceeding great pain and fit of the Stone and could not upon any conditions stir out of his Bed Mr. Glyn replied That it was a Token of his wilfulness not his weakness that he had not sent a Doctor to testifie the same The Lord Steward made answer that a Doctor could not be had perhaps so soon in a Morning nor was it possible for any Physician to give a certain judgment concerning a man's disability by the Stone because there is no outward Symptomâ— that appear Mr. Glyn excepted That if he did not appear upon Saturday Morning he should lose the privilege to speak in his own defence afterwards and they permitted to proceed The Lord Steward replied That the Lords had appointed four of their Number to go to the Tower and learn the just cause of his Stay and if by any means he were able he should be obliged to come then if not Humanity and common Equity would excuse him In the Afternoon it was reported that he was dead of which there can be no better reason given than the Humour and Genius of the Times that dally with nothing oftner than untruths and calumnies and certainly there are many men of shallow understanding and weak affections who either will not or cannot understand the Gentlemans worth but out of fearful and needless apprehensions are so desirous to hear of his Ruin
my Guilt If your Lordships will conceive of my Defences as they are in themselves without reference to either and I shall endeavour so to present them I hope to go away from hence as clearly justified as I am now in the testimony of a good conscience by my self My Lords I have all along my Charge watched to see that poysoned Arrow of Treason that some men would sain have to be feathered in my Heart and that deadly Cup of Wine that hath so intoxicated some petty misalleaged Errors as to put them in the Elevation of High Treason but in truth it hath not been my quickness to discern any such Monster yet within my Breast though now perhaps by a sinistrous Information sticking to my Clothes They tell me of a two-fold Treason one against the Statute another by the Common-Law this direct that consecutive this individual that accumulative this in it self that by way of construction For the first I must and do acknowledge that if I had the least suspicion of my own guilt I would spare your Lordships the pains cast the first Stone at my self and pass Sentence of condemnation against my self And whether it be so or not I refer my self to your Lordships Juâ—gment and Declaration You and only you under the favour and protection of my gracious Master are my Judges under favour none of the Commons are my Peers nor can they be my Judges I shall ever celebrate the Providence and Wisdom of your noble Ancestors who have put the Keys of Life and Death so far as concerns you and your Posterity into your own hands not into the hands of your inferiours None but your own selves know the rate of your noble Blood none but your selves must hold the Ballance in dispensing the same I shall proceed in repeating my Defences as they are reduceable to these two main points of Treason and for Treason against the Statute which is the only Treason in effect nothing is alleaged for that but the fifteenth two and twentieth and twenty seventh Articles Here he brought the sum of all his Replies made to these three Articles before and almost in the same words as before only that testimony of Sir Henry Vane's because it seemed pressing he stood upon it and alleaged five Reasons for the nullifying thereof First That it was but a single testimony and would not make Faith in a matter of Debt much less in a matter of Life and Death yea that it was expresly against the Statute to impeach much less to condemn him upon High Treason under the testimony of two famous Witnesses Secondly That he was dubious in it and exprest it with an as I do remember and such or such like Words Thirdly That all the Councel of eight except himself disclaim the words as if by a singular providence they had taken hold of his Ears only Fourthly That at that time the King had levied no Forces in Ireland and therefore he could not be possibly so impudent as to say to the King that he had an Army there which he might imploy for the reducing this Kingdom Fifthly That he had proved by Witnesses beyond all exceptions Marquess Hamilton the Lord Treasurer the Earl of Northumberland Lord Cottington Sir William Pennyman and Sir Arthur Terringham that there was never the least intention to land those Forces in England He went on So much for the Articles that concern Individual Treason To make up the Constructive Treason or Treason by way of Accumulation many Articles are brought against me as if in a heap of Felonies or Misdemeanors for in their conceit they reach no higher some prolifical seed apt to produce what is treasonable could lurk Here I am charged to have designed the ruin and overthrow both of Religion and State The first seemeth rather to have been used to make me odious than guilty for there is not the least Proof alleaged concerning my confederacy with the Popish-faction nor could there be any indeed never a Servant in Authority beneath the King my Master was ever more hated and maligned by those men than my self and that for an Impartial and strict executing of the Laws against them Here your Lordships may observe that the greater number of the Witnesses used against me either from Ireland or from York-shire were men of that Religion But for my own Resolution I thank God I am ready every hour of the day to Seal my disaffection to the Church of Rome with my dearest Blood But my Lords give me leave here to pour forth the grief of my Soul before you these proceedings against me seem to be exceeding rigorous and to have more of prejudice than equity that upon a supposed Charge of my Hypocrisie or Errors in Religion I should be made so monstrously odious to three Kingdoms a great many thousand Eyes have seen my Accusations whose Ears shall never hear that when it came to the upshot I was never accused of them Is this fair dealing amongst Christians But I have lost nothing by that Popular applause was ever nothing in my conceit the uprightness and integrity of a good Conscience was and ever shall be my continual Feast and if I can be justified in your Lordships judgments from this grand imputation as I hope now I am seeing these Gentlemen have thrown down the Bucklers I shall account my self justified by the whole Kingdom because by you who are the Epitomy the better part yea the very Soul and Life of the Kingdom As for my Design against the State I dare plead as much Innocency here as in matter of my Religion I have ever admired the wisdom of our Ancestors who have so fixed the pillars of this Monarchy that each of them keep a due proportion and measure with other and have so handsomly tied up the Nerves and Sinews of the State that the straining of any one may bring danger and sorrow to the whole Oeconomy The Prerogative of the Crown and the Propriety of the Subject have such mutual Relations this takes protection from that that foundation and nourishment from this And as on the Lute if any one string be too high or too lowly wound up you have lost the Harmony so here the excess of a Prerogative is oppression of pretended Liberty in the Subject Disorder and Anarchy The Prerogative must be used as God doth his Omnipotency upon extraordinary Occasions the Laws answerable to that potentia ligata in Creaturis must have place at other times And yet there must be a Prerogative if there must be extraordinary occasions the Propriety of the Subject is ever to be maintained if it go in equal pace with this They are fellows and Companions that have and ever must be inseparable in a well governed Kingdom and no way so fitting so natural to nourish and entertain both as the frequent use of Parliaments By those a commerce and acquaintance is kept betwixt the King and Subject These thoughts have gone along with me these fourteen
AN IMPARTIAL ACCOUNT OF THE Arraignment Trial Condemnation OF THOMAS Late EARL of STRAFFORD And Lord LIEVTANANT of IRELAND BEFORE The PARLIAMENT at WESMINSTER Anno Dom. 1641. LONDON Printed for Joseph Hindmarsh at the Black Bull near the Royal Exchange in Cornhil 1679. TO THE READER AMongst the Superfoetations of the Press I hope you will have no Cause to reckon this small Collection either if you respect the Matter of it I mean the Pleadings in it or the Great Personage concerned in them I am apt to perswade my self it may not altogether be unseasonable in the present Conjuncture of Affairs or unbeneficial to the Reader who shall carefully peruse it The Case it self as well as the Actor the Great and Noble Earl of â—trafford have somewhat more than ordinary and peculiar in them and as this Great and Solemn Trial is so Paramount in the Equipage of all its Circumstances that as former Ages have been unable so future are unable to produce its Parallel To give you though but a Rude Draught of this Great Master of Defence who so easily put by the Thrusts of his most applaudedly Skilful and Dexterous Adversaries will require an Abler Pencil than mine Take then his Character in this Book from his own Mouth seeing otherwise whatsoever may be spoken of him is beneath what was spoken by him and instead of those Strange and Unheard of Monopolies laid to his Charge in this his Trial he may seem a greater himself in engrossing so much of Worth and Ability in his own Bosom As to the Matter of these Collections you have in them a Fine and Pleasant Intermixture of Points of Law and Matters of State You may thereby understand the Constitutions of the two Kingdoms which were then in a strange and most preter-natural Fermentation a Sick Stomach nauseating at Pleasant and Wholsome Meat the Body Politick growing Hot and Feavourish in strange Jactations and Unquietnesses wilfully refusing and scorning the Help and Advice of a most Skilful Aesculapius The Collector you will find hatâ— very well discharged his Part Ne quid Falsi dicere audax ne quid Veri dicere non audax Herein is nothing false Reported no material Truth Omitted and nothing Trivial to swell the Book and make it more Chargeable and less Vseful to the Peruser is for any private End or Design of the Publisher's Gain here set down or observed So that I may compare this Collection to a well-made and easily manageable Net that as Nothing Considerable escapes its Draught so there is no great Pains or Toil in the Cleansing of it no Sticks Stones or Small Fish to give thee any Trouble to return them whence thou hadst them To be short In the Perusal of this Brief but Full Account of this Great Transaction â—s thy Pains will not be Great so thy Charge but not Advantage will be Inconsiderable Farewell THE PROCEEDINGS AGAINST THOMAS Earl of STRAFFORD Lord Lieutenant of IRELAND in the Parliament at Westminster Anno Dom. 1641. Sir YOu have here the Diurnal of the whole Process against the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland it was taken by the hand of a ready Writer a faithful Ear and an understanding Head He was present at all the Action and I make no doubt of the Fidelity of his Relation Which beginneth thus THE House for the Appearance of the Lord Lieutenant was the great Hall in Westminster where there was a Throne erected for the King on each side thereof a Cabinet enclosed about with Boards and before with a Tarras Before that were the Seats for the Lords of the Upper House and Sacks of Wool for the Judges before them ten Stages of Seats extending farther than the midst of the Hall for the Gentlemen of the House of Commons at the end of all was a Desk closed about and set apart for the Lord Lieutenant and his Councel Monday Morning about seven of the Clock he came from the Tower accompanied with six Barges wherein were one hundred Souldiers of the Tower all with Partizans for his Guard and fifty pair of Oars At his Landing at Westminster there he was attended with two hundred of the Trained Band and went in Guarded by them into the Hall The Entries at White-Hall King Street and Westminster were guarded by the Constables and Watchmen from four of the Clock in the Morning to keep away all base and idle persons The King Queen and Prince came to the House about Nine of the Clock but kept themselves private within their Closets only the Prince came out once or twice to the Cloth of State so that the King saw and heard all that passed but was seen of none Some give the reason of this from the received practice of England in such Cases Others say that the Lords did intreat the King either to be absent or to be there privately lest Pretentions might be made hereafter that his being there was either to threaten or some otherwise to interrupt the course of Justice A third sort That the King was not willing to be accessary to the Process till it came to his Part but rather chose to be present that he might note and understand what Violence Rigor or Injustice happened When the Lieutenant entred the Hall the Porter of the Hall whose Office it is asked Mr. Maxwel whether the Axe should be carried before him or no who did answer That the King had expresly forbidden it nor was it the Custom of England to use that Ceremony but only when the Party accused was to be put upon his Jury Those of the Upper House did sit with their Heads covered those of the Lower House uncovered The Bishops upon the Saturday before did voluntarily decline the giving of their Suffrages in Matters Criminal and of that Nature according to the provision of the Cannon-Law and Practice of the Kingdom to this day and therefore would not be present yet withal they gave in a Protestation that their Absence should not prejudice them of that or any other Priviledge competent to them as the Lords Spiritual in Parliament which was accepted The Earl of Arundel as Lord High Steward of England sate apart by himself and at the Lieutenants Entry commanded the House to proceed Mr. Rym being Speaker of the Committee for his Accusation gave in the same Articles which were presented at his last being before the Upper House which being read his Replies were subjoyned and read also the very same which were presented before in the Upper House Some give the Reason of this because the Lower House had not heard those Accusations in publick before 〈◊〉 others that the Formality of the Process required no les however that day was spent in that Exercise The Queen went from the House about eleven of the Clock the King and Prince stayed till the Meeting was dissolved which was after two The Lieutenant was sent to the Tower by his Guard and appointed to return upon Tuesday at nine of the Clock in the
the other Secondly That neither he nor they had ever given Sentence or determined any thing concerning Matters of Inheritance but only concerning violent intrusion which fell directly within a Suit of Equity To which he added First The Equity of that Court that it proceeds upon the same Grounds and Evidences of that of the Common Pleas and that he had the assistance of two of the Learned Judges in deciding the Controversie Secondly The Profit of that Court which dispatcheth the poor in a day or two whereas the Common-Law would keep them so many years which they are not able to sustain Thirdly The Necessity of that Court in that Kingdom which hath been ever governed by that way and therefore impossible to debarr the Natives from it without great inconvenience for it would utterly undo them and none is prejudiced by it but the Lawyers And therefore seeing that he had done nothing but what was customary necessary and equitable commanded to it and the Sentence just he hoped rather for Thanks from the State than a Charge for his ill Deportment withal he shewed with what Extortion and Violence the Lord Mount-Norris had taken seisure of that piece of Land and made the playing of his Game to be very foul And at last he added That he had done no more in Ireland than the Courtâ— of Request in England usually doth and that the Chancery-Court in Ireland doth the same daily and the last Chancellor was never Charged said he for such Proceedings though this his Power and Authority was less than mine But the difference of the Person and his Authority it seemeth differeth the Matter And this was the Business on Monday On Tuesday they passed by the 7th Article and the two first parts of the 8th about the Lady Hibbot's Land That he had violently thrust her from her Possession by this Summary way of Justice and afterwards Purchased the Land to his own use by borrowing the Name of Sir Robert Meridith In this Probation the Testimony of the Gentlewomans own Son was used of the Lord of Cork and the Lord Mount-Norris all his back-Friends or professed Enemies and yet they proved very little but what they took upon Hear-sayes Their prime Allegation was First That though the Major part of the Council-Board had Voted for the Lady yet the Lord Lâ—utenant had given Decrees against her Secondly That all was done to his own behoof To the First He produced the Sentence under the Hand of the Clerk of the Council-Board Subscribed by the Major part To the Second He attested that he had no under-dealing with Meredith for the Lady had got her own Lands back from the said Sir Robert Meredith he also declared at length with what fraud and deceit the Lady had come to her Lands and upon what Reasons they were restored After this Article they fell upon the 9th about the giving of Commission to the Bishop of Down and Connar for apprehending all such Persons and presenting them before the Council-Board as contemned the Ecclesiastical Ordinances ' This was aggravated as a Point mainly against the liberty of the Subject To this he Replied First He produced the Primate of Ireland's Testimony under his Hand he being himself sick that the same course had been used in Ireland before and that Bishop Mountgomery his Predecessor in the Bishoprick of Methe had had the same Secondly He shewed the Equity that such assistance should be given to Church-men who otherwise because of Papists and Schismaticks either to God or the King would have no Repect or Obedience given them in that Kingdom Thirdly He proved by two Witnesses that such Warrants were in use before his time Fourthly He said he had never granted any but that one and had presently within some few Months called the same in again what said he was the Bishop of Downes carriage in it he had no reason to answer for but he presumed the Bishop could give a satisfactory answer for himself when he should be called in question and so he concluded that a matter so just so necessary so customary and practical before he hoped should not be Charged upon him as an Introduction of a new and Tyrannical Form of Government and therefore submitted himself to the Mercy of God and the Equity of his Peers in his Trial. And this was the Work on Tuesday ' The Ability of this brave Gentleman ravished his Hearers with admiration though he be ' infinitely spent both in Body and Mind by the continued and almost unâ—interrupted Agitation After the Ninth Article was passed against the Commission issued in favour of the Bishop of Down and Connar Upon Wednesday Mr Glyn proceeded to the Tenth Article The Charge was That the Earl of Strafford having established an Arbitrary and Tyrannical Government over the Lives Lands and Liberties of the Kings Subjects his next desire was to make intrusion upon the Crown it self that by applying to his own use the Publick Revenues he might be the more enabled to accomplish his Disloyal and Trayterous Intentions To which end having by a new Book of Rates enhaunced the Customs he had gotten by advantage of his Lease above twenty six thousand pound yearly This they added was a Crime of higher nature than those contained in the preceding Articles because in those there was some colour or pretext of Justice here none those in Particulars this in General those against the Subject only this against the King himself For the Proof of the Charge they produced the Lease of the Duke of Buckingham Which was read and compared with that Lease to the Dutchess of Buckingham which the Lieutenant hath now by Assignment and some Difference shewn arising to the Sum of two thousand pounds in the Dukes Lease only the Moiety of concealed and forfeited Goods were due to him but the whole Goods to the Dutchess in her Lease Again the Kings Ships of Prizes did not pay Custom in the Dukes Lease in the Dutchesses they did Again the Impost of the Wines then belonging to the Earl of Carlile was not in the Dukes Lease in the Dutchesses it was Lastly Whereas the Earl of Strafford paid but fourteen thousand pounds per annum for the Custom it was worth to him as was apparent by the Books of the Exchequer forty thousand pounds Witnesses were examined First Sir James Hay who deposed that the Earl of Carlile had an advantage of one thousand six hundred pounds per annum by his Lease of Wines Secondly The Lord Renelaugh who deposed that by the inspection of the Books of Accompts he had found the Customs to be Anno 1636. thirty six thousand pounds Anno 16â—7 thirty nine thousand pounds Anno 1638. fifty four thousand pounds Anno 1639. fifty nine thousand pounds With the Proof they concluded the Charge That notwithstanding the Lord Strafford pretended a great measure of Zeal and Honesty in His Majesties Service yet it is evident he had abused the Trust put
Souldiers although the same be reputed Treason in any other To the Statute of Henry the Sixth he Replied that a slender Answer might serve He hoped that no man would think him so inconsiderate to war against the King of Britain and Ireland by the sessing of five Souldiers that he had been charged by many for taking Arms for the King but to that time never for taking Arms against him and that he heartily wished that no man in all his Majesties Dominions had more practises with Rebels and Rebellious Designs against the King than himself So much for Thursday ' At the Close he desired the intermission of a day that he might recollect his Spirits and ' Strength against the next Quarrel and with some difficulty obtained rest till Saturday Upon Saturday Mr. Palmea proceeded to the sixteenth Article and Charged thus That the Lord Strafford having established a Tyrannical and Independent Authority by giving Summary Decrees and Sentences had deprived the Subject of all just Remedy for in that Kingdom there was none supream to himself to whom they might appeal and lest their just grievances might be made known to His Majesty he had obtained a Restraint That no complaint should be made of Injustice or Oppression done there till the first Address had been made to himself and that no person should come out of that Kingdom but upon Licence obtained from himself For Proof of this First the Instructions were read whereby that Restraint was permitted Seconly the Proclamation That all Noblemen Gentlemen Undertakers Officers or other Subjects that should resort into that Kingdom should not come from thence without a Licence from him Thirdly That he had restrained the Earl of Desmond because of a Suit in Law depending between the Earl and himself till Publication of the same was passed Fourthly That the Lord Roch being informed against before the Star-Chamber he would not Licence him to come into this Kingdom till the Sentence was passed against him Fifthly Than one Marchatee having pretended a mind to travel was denied a Licence Sixthly That the whole Committee for the Parliament was restrained this last year by Deputy Waniford which they said might be interpreted to be his Fact both because they had such intelligence the one from the other as also by the Proclamation issued by him before Seventhly That one Parry Servant to Chancellor Loftis was fined five hundred pounds at his return for departing Ireland without Licence Eightly That the Irish Remonstrance complained of this as the greatest Innovation and Thraldom put upon them since the time of the Conquest They concluded the Charge That by this meanes having taken of that Intelligence which should be between the King and his People and having deprived them of that Remedy which in Reason they might expect from so Just and so gracious a Prince he had taken upon him a Royal and Independent Power and had faulted highly both against King and State The Lievtenants Reply was That he hoped to make it clear that he had done nothing in that particular but what was usual necessary and just and that he should be very well able by the Grace of God not only of that but of all other his publick Actions to give a reasonable Accompt though not be free from much weakness yet certainly from oll Malice and Treason To the Particulars First For Instructions laid upon him he was not so much Chargeable as those of the Council of England whereof there was a great many present who could witness their Commands but lest any thing should seem unjustly enjoyned by them or embraced by him he desired that the Reasons of their Instructions might be read which were That it were Injustice to complain of Injuries of Oppression done in that Kingdom till first the Deputies Judgment was informed and Trial made of his Integrity That it would much discourage the Ministers of State there and expend the Monies of that Kingdom if upon every trifling business Complaints should be admitted in England And that if Justice were there denied by the Deputy it should be lawfull for any man to come over Secondly For the Proclamation That the same was builded upon the Statute of that Kingdom the 25 of Hen. 6. which contained the same Restraint verbatim Thirdly That Anno 1628. the Agents for the Irish Nation had Petitioned for the same from the King Fourthly That the Deputy Faulkland had set forth the same Proclamation Fifthly That he had the Kings express Warrant for it Anno 1634. which was read Sixthly That he had received the Warrant in January yet the Proclamation issued not out till September after Seventhly That the whole Council-Board of Ireland had not only condescended but also pressed him to it Eightly The Necessity of the Kingdom required the same for if the Gentlemen had the Ports open to go to Spain and their Scholars to Doway Rhemes or St. Omers it were likely that at their return they would put fire both in Church and State and produce very sad Events by practising to distemper both Ninthly He conceived that the King as great Master of the Family might restrain whom he pleased from departing his Kingdom without his privity and here it was not lawful for any to go from England without Licence how much more necessary was this from Ireland To the Proofs he answered First For Desmond he granted he was Restrained indeed but not for any Suit of Law betwixt them but because at that time he stood Charged with Treason before the Councel in Ireland for practising against the Life of one Sir Valentine Cooke Secondly For the Lord Roch he had often-times marvailed with what reason the man at that time could seek a Licence seeing he was a Prisoner for Debt in the Castle of Dublin and if he had granted a Licence to him then it had been a far more just Charge of Treason than now Thirdly For Marcattee he was afraid of his going to Spain and if he had intended to go for England and complain of himself he would not have refused him Liberty as he never did to any Fourthly That the Committy of Irish was not restrained by him and therefore did not concern him at all Fifthly That for Parry he was fined indeed but that it is expresly said in his Sentence that it was not for coming over without Licence as is suggested but for sundry contempts against the Councel-Board in Ireland Sixthly That he had Replied in the last Article a Remonstrance was no proof at all He concluded that he hoped the least Suspition of Treason could not accrue to him from the Article For Oppression or Misdemeanour when it was laid to his Charge he made no doubt but he should be able to answer it The same day a new man was hurried out against him Mr. Whitlock who havâ—ng past over the 17 and 18 Articles resteth on the nineteenth about the Oath administred to the Scots in Ireland and Charged thus That it
last said he is this and I would intreat you seriously to think of it If a mans Table his Bed his House his Brother his Friends and that too after they have given an Oath of Secrecy to be Raâ—â— to find out Treason against him who never knew what it meant what earthly Man shall pass free from Treason Let my misfortune my Lords be your advertisement your wise Ancestors were glad to put bands and limits to this Lion Treason if you give him the large scope of words to range into he will at last pull you or yours all to pieces But my Lords I did never think till now that matter of Opinion should be objected as matter of Treason For first Opinions are free and Men may argue both pro and eon in all faculties without any stain of his Reputation otherwise all consultations would be vain Secondly I may be of another Judgment then I declare my self to be of opinion perhaps to gain better Arguments for the maintenance of my own Grounds Thirdly Many and my self often times have propounded my Opinion yet upon hearing better Judgments have presently changed it Fourthly We use to strain our Opinions too â—igh sometimes that we may meet in a just moderation with those whom we conceive in the other extremity to be too low Fifthly It is expresly commanded by the Stat. Hen. 6.9 That though a Man should say the King is not lawful Heir to the Crown and may be deposed yet he is not to be charged with Treason but only with Felony and I hope my Lords those words are of a more transâ—endent and superlative nature than any alleaged by me to be spoken But my Lords said he lay it to your hearts it must come to you you and your posterity are they whom God and Nature Birth and Education have fitted to beautify the Royal Throne and to sustain the weighty affairs of the Kingdom if to give your Opinions in Political Agitations shall be accounted Treason who will be willing to serve the King or what a dilemma are you in If being sworn Councellors you spake not your minds freely you are convict of perjury if you do Perhaps of Treason What detriment What Incommodity shall fall to King and Kingdom if this be permitted Which of you hereafter will adventure yea dare adventure so much as to help by your advise unless you be weary of your Lives your Estates your Posterity yea your very Honour Let me never live longer than to see this confusion yea I may say it this inhumanity in England for my part my Lords I here confess my self I ever have and ever shall spaâ—k my opinion â—ely in any thing that may concern the Honour and safety either of my gracious King or my deer Countrey though the Sword be two Edged fearing rather him that killeth the Soul than him 〈◊〉 power reacheth only to the body Nor do I see how I am culpable of Treason unless it be Treason for not being Infallible and if it be so my Lords you have this rag of mortality before you loaden with many infirmities though you pull this into shreds yet their is no great loss yea there may be a great gain if by the same I may seem to have dared to far to give a Testimony to the World of of an Innocent Conscience towards God and a Resolute loyalty towards my Prince which have ever been my only Polâ— stâ—râ— in the whole course of my life and if by spilling of mine there be not a way found how to trace out the Blood of the Nobillity which I hope your Lordships will look too there is no disadvantage at all suffered by the loss of me You have his very words as neer as I could recollect Tuesday was a day of Rest Upon Wednesday Whitlock Charged thus That the preceding Articles were of so high a consequence and of so transcendent a Nature that nothing wanted to make up the perfect measure of the most horrid Treason and monstrous Attempt that ever by a Native was intended against his King and Countrey But putting these designed projects into Execution which had undoubtedly hapned to the ruine and Subversion both of Church and State had not the clemency and goodness of the Prince and the Piety and carefulness of the well affected Peers timously foreseen and prevented the same that still the Principles of Tyranny and Oppression had lodged within his 〈◊〉 and therefore had burst forth into these expressions and advises contained in the following Articles where first in the twenty fifth they Charged him with three things First That â—e had advised the King to a rigorous and unlawful exaction of Ship-Money Secondly That he had given Councel that if the Sherifs should deny their best endeavours and assistances to that effect they should be sent for and fined by the Star-Chamber and Imprisonment Thirdly That when the Aldermen of London had in all humillity represented the Causes why the Ship-Money could not be collected amongst them and had given in the Reasons why the refused to give in a List of their names within their City who were able to afford the Loan-Money He in a contemptuous and Tyrannical manner in the face of the Councel-Board had said to the King Sir These Men because of their obstinacy and frowardness deserved very well to be fined ransomed and laid by the heels And it will never go well with your service until some of them be hanged up for examples to others The Proofs were these First The Bishop of Loden Lord Treasurer who declared that he remembred the words very well that the Lord Lieutenant had advised the King to cause the Ship Money to be gathered in but he remembred withal that both himself and all the Councel had done the like and that it was upon a present necessity and defect of Money for entertaining the Army which the condition of the times considered they all conceiued was by any means to be kept on foot Secondly Alderman Wiseman declared that upon an humble Remonstrance made to the Councel Board the City would take it ill if a Tax-role should be delivered of their Estates who were thought able for the Loan Money the Lord Strafford said they deserved to be fined Ransomeâ— and laid by the Heels but for the words of hanging them up he heard not at all Thirdly The Earl of Barkshire declared that the Lord Strafford had said that upon the refusal of such a service enjoined by the Kings Peremptory Command it was his Opinion they might be fined Fourthly Alderman Gâ—â—way attested the preceeding words and â—ithal added that the Lord Lieutenant to his best remembrance had said It were well for the Kings service if some of them were hanged up They closed the Charge That by such undutiful Expressions he had injured the propriety of the Subject and had put such discontent upon the City that they were the less willing upon any occasion to 〈◊〉 for the advantage of the Kings
about the two first particulars but did hear of none and that it was no small disadvantage to him to be charged with a great many odious Crimes by a Book Printed and flying from hand to hand through the whole Kingdom yet when they came to prove there should be no such thing laid against him Secondly About the Speeches He ingeniously confessed that some such thing might perhaps have escaped the dore of his lips when he saw their backwardness to his Majesties Service and as the times were then conditioned he did not think it much amiss to call that faction by the name of Rebels but yet he thought he had abundantly satisfied for that oversight if it was any at York For having understood there that the City of London were willing to make a Loan of Money he there before the great councel of the Peers expressed himself to this sence that the Londoners had sufficiently made up all their delays hitherto by their Act that the King was oblieged to their forwardness and that he himself should be as ready to serve them as any poor Gentleman in England About the other words he said that being in conference with some of the Londoners there came at that time to his hands a Letter from the Earl of Leicester then at Paris wherein were the Gazets inclosed reporting that the Cardinal had given some such order as to leavy Money by forces this he said he only told the Lord Cottington standing by without the last application or intention concerning the English Affairs Cottington being examined upon this declared the same in the same manner Thirdly to Sir Ralph Freeman he said that his Testimony did not concern the Charge at all nor did he think any thing amiss in it though he had said it if the Servants of the Mint refused 〈◊〉 work according to directions they did deserve the House of Correction nor was it Treasonable to say the King might use that House for the Correction of his Servants as well as any Man in the Citty for theirs Fourthly He said that there was no great likelyhood that he had committed real Acts of Treason when his adverse party was content to trifle away so much time about words neither was there any Treason in them though they had been fully verified and therefore in that as in all other Articles he reserved a power for his Councel to dispute in matter of Law They went to the Twenty seventh Article and Charged thus That immediately after his Appointment to be Lord Lieutenant to the Army here in England he shewed what Principles of Arbitrary Government lurked within his bosom for by his own immediate Authority without and against Law he had laid Impost of Money upon the Kings Subjects where they mention three Particulars First That he had imposed 8 d. per diem upon the County of York for entertaining the Trayned Bands there one whole Month. Secondly That they had sent out Warrants for collecting the same and threatned to imprison such as should refuse to pay Thirdly That he said that it was a Crime nigh to the Crime of high Treason not to pay the saâ— Fourthly They added that in his general Replies he had brought two things for his defence first that this mony was freely and voluntarily offered by those in York-shire secondly that the great Councel of the Peers had notice of the same To the first they answered that a Petition was indeed preferred by the York shire men and a Month pay offered but that the Lord Srafford had refused to present the same upon this exception only because in the same they had petitioned for a Parliament whereby he evidently declared what little â—nclination he had to that way To the Second They appeal'd to all the Lords present whether any such Order did pass before the Council of the Peers at York The Proofs were First A Warrant issued by Colonel Pennyman for this Money and another by Sir Edward Osborne Secondly Mr John Burrowes who declared that he was Clerk to the great Council but did remember of no Order and withal added that it might have passed at that time when he attended at Rippon Thirdly Mr. Dunston who declared that he had known that Money levied by some Musqueteers Fourthly By Sir William Ingram who declared that he had heard the Lieutenant say that to refuse the same came nigh to the Crime of High Treason The concluded the Charge That by these Particulars it was more than evident what unhappyâ— Purposes and Trayterous Designes he had to subdue this Kingdom and subvert the Fundamental Laws and Priviledges First To the Petition That it was a true Petition drawn up by the York-shire Gentlemen and as true that he had refused to present the same because of that clause about the Parliament but the matter was thus At his Majesties coming to York it was thought necessary for the defence of that County to keep the Trayned Band on foot because the Enemy was upon the Borders and therefore the King directed him to write to all the Free-holders in York-shire to see what they would do for their own defence The Time and Place were designed by the King but the night before the Meeting a small Number convented and in a private and factious way did draw up that Petition upon the morrow at their appointed Diet in presence of the whole Number the Petition was presented to him where he did advise them to leave out that Clause and that because he knew the King out of his own Gracious Disposition had intended to call a Parliament which he desired should rather be freely done than upon the constraint and importunity of Petitions moreover it would seem a Mercenary thing in them at one and the same time to offer a Benevolence and withal to Petition for his Favour upon this Remonstrance they were all willing to recall the Petition and directed him by word of Mouth to offer unto the King the Months pay in their Names which he did accordingly in the presence of Forty of them to their no small advantage This he proved by Sir William Pennyman Sir Paul Neale Sir George Wentworth Sir William Savil Sir Thomas Danby who all of them declared as much in ample terms and withal added That nothing was done upon better grounds of Necessity and Obedience than the Offer of â—hat Money and that they never had heard any man grudge against it to this time For the Second about the Council of Peers he alledged that he never made mention of any Order of theirs but he remembred very well it was twice propounded before them that the King had approved it at that time a just and necessary Act and none of the Council had contradicted it which he conceived as a tacit approbation and an Order in Equivalence But though that had not been yet there was nothing done in the Business but at the special desires of the Gentlemen themselves and for their necessary
nothing but the Whipping-post or letting Blood can do them good or bring them remedy Vexatio tantum dabit Intellectum 't is nothing but sence will teach them Judgment and affliction Charity and both these I fear are hastning on a pace His Countenance was in a middle posture betwixt Dejection and Boldness a man may call it even Courage and Innocence it self without any fear of Criticks nor could his very Enemies through their multiplying Glasses perceive the least affectation of disguise in him never man looked Death more stately in the Face never man trembled more at his Sins such were his Contritions for his Oversights and such his immovable confidence of Gods Pardon and his Mercy His Prayer ravished all the standers by that they could not judge whether to prefer his Zeal or his Penitency yea the Primate of Ireland who is no complementer reported afterwards to the King that he had then first learned to make supplications aright to God-ward and withal told His Majesty That he had seen many die but never such a white Soul this was his own expression return to its Maker At which Words the King was pleased to turn himself about and offer a Tear to his Memory Tantorum mercede Laborum And because mis-report about him and my Lords-Grace of Canterbury hath wandred as far as Cambridge give me leave to add the Story of that mistake It was reported here by the divulgers of such slanders that a little before his death he had charged all his Misfortunes Oversights and Misdemeanors upon the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury as the prime Author and had bitterly curst the Day of their first Acquaintance A pretty Invention it was to charge the Axe again and to furnish the People with lungs and voices to cry for another Sacrifice yea to stain this Martyrs long white Robe with the Innocent blood of another Heroe O ye sons of men How long will ye love vanity and seek after leasing For this cause I was the more Inquisitive to learn out the Truth of this particular and had it thus related to me by a worthy Divine Doctor Wimberly who dining with my Lord of Canterbury the day after the Earl of Strafford's Execution had it from his own mouth And my Lords-Grace it seems having heard of the mistake did at every period take the Lieutenant of the Tower then present his Attestation and Approbation That the Lord Strafford the Night before the Execution had sent for the Lieutenant of the Tower and asked him whether it were possible he might speak with the Arch-Bishop the Lieutenant told him he might not do it without order from the Parliament Mr. Lieutenant said he you shall here what passeth betwixt us it is not a time now either for him to plot Heresie or me to plot Treason The Lieutenant answered That he was limited and therefore desired his Lordship would Petition the Parliament for that favour No said he I have gotten my dispatch from them and will trouble them no more I am now petitioning an higher Court where neither partiality can be expected nor error feared But my Lord said he turning to the Primate of Ireland then present what I should have spoken to my Lords-Grace of Canterbury you shall desire the Arch-Bishop to lend me his Prayers this Night and to give me his Blessing when I do go abroad to Morrow and to be in his Window that by my last farewel I may give him thanks for this and all other his former favours The Primate having delivered the Message without delay the Arch-Bishop replyed That in conscience he was bound to the first and in duty and obligation to the second but he feared his weakness and passion would not lend him Eyes to behold his departure The next Morning at his coming forth he drew near to the Arch-Bishops lodgings and said to the Lieutenant Though I do not see the Arch-Bishop yet give me leave I pray you to do my last observance toward his rooms in the mean time the Arch-Bishop advertized of his approach came out to the Window then the Earl bowing himself to the Ground my Lord said he Your Prayers and your Blessing The Arch-Bishop lift up his hands and bestowed both but overcome with grief fell to the Ground in Animi Deliquio The Earl proceeding a little farther bowed the second time saying Farwel my Lord God protect your Innocency To this relation the Lord of Canterbury added that it might perhaps seem an effeminacy and softness unbecoming him to be so cast down but he hoped by God's Assistance and his own Innocence that when he came to his own Execution which he daily longed for that the World should perceive he had been more sencible of the Lord Strafford's loss than of his own and good reason it should be so said he for the Gentleman was more serviceable to the Church he would not mention the State than either himself or any of all the Church-men had everâ—been And that there may be a slaughter-Goat for the Sins of the People in Scotland to wait upon this report they have fained another of the same Meal that the Arch Bishop of Canterbury casts back all his misdemeanors upon the Bishop of Ross as if either the Lord Strafford had been tutored by the Arch-Bishop or he by the Bishop of Ross in the King and Countrys Service I did not think that both of them had past their pupilage and could not have been bended to execute the directions of any man living but only their own Masters but this is a fair advertisement to the Bishop of Ross to make himself the scape-Goat Heu fuge nate Deo Give me leave to adjoin one thing more When he was marched to the Scaffold more like the General in the head of an Army to breath Victory than like a condemned man to undergo the Sentence of Death the Lieutenant of the Tower desired him to take Coach for fear the People should rush in upon him and tear him in pieces No said he Master Lieutenant I dare look death in the Face and I hope the People too Have you a care that I do not escape and I care not how I dye whether by the hand of the Executioner or the madness and fury of the People If that may give them better content it is all one to me It is but diminutive to call it a wonder it is something above that his thoughts and expressions should be so present with him no more putrifaction in them than if he had been about some ordinary business His Alacrity his Devotion did amaze yea tear in pieces the hearts of all those about him who had the least Grace or Humanity in them Too much Perfection indeed to be lost at one blow but this Age was not worthy of it nor shall any after Age I think ever enjoy the like that only which is possible is the object of the Will and therefore I will not endeavour to find out words for expressing
Lords Spiritual and Temporal in Parliament at Westminster 1641. Sheweth THat seeing it is the good Will and Pleasure of God that your Petitioner is now shortly to pay that duty which we all owe to our frail Nature He shall in all Christian Patience and Charity conform and submit to that Justice in a comfortable assurance of the great hope laid up for us in the Mercy and Merits of our Saviour Blessed for ever Only he humbly craves to return your Lordships most humble thanks for your noble Compassion towards those Innocent Children who now with his last Blessing he commits to the protection of Almighty God beseeching your Lordships to finish your pious Intentions towards them and desiring that the reward thereof may be given you by him who is able to give above all that we are able either to ask or think wherein I trust the Honourable House of Commons will afford their Christian assistance And so beseeching your Lordships charitably to forgive all his omissions and infirmities he doth heartily and truly recommend your Lordships to the Mercies of our Heavenly Father that for his goodness he may protect you in every good work Amen There was a foolish ridiculous and scandalous Speech Printed which was pretended to have been spoken by the Earl of Strafford to certain Lords before his coming out of the Tower which is protested against and avowed to be false by the Lord Primate of Ireland Earl of Cleveland Earl of Newport Lord Rich Sir William Balfoure Sir William Wentworth Sir George Wentworth Dr. Carre Dr. Price De Moriuis nil nisi verum The Paper containing the Heads of the Lord Strafford 's last Speech written with his own hand as it was left upon the Scaffold falling out of his Bosom 1. Come to pay the last Debt we owe to sin 2. Rise to Righteousness 3. Dye willingly 4. Forgive all 5. Submit to justice but in my Intentions Innocent from subverting c. 6. Wishing nothing but good Prosperity to King and People 7. Acquit the King constrained 8. Beseech to Repent 9. Strange way to write the beginning of Reformation and settlement of a Kingdom in Blood 10. Beseech that demand may rest there 11. Call not blood on themselves 12. Dye in the Faith of the Church 13. Pray for it and desire their Prayers with me A true COPY of his SPEECH delivered on the Scaffold My Lord Primate of Ireland IT is my great comfort that I have your Lordship by me this day in regard I have been known to you these many years and I do thank God and your Lordship for it that you are here I should be very glad to obtain so much silence as to be heard a few words but I doubt I shall not the noise is so great My Lords I am come hither by the good will and pleasure of Almighty God to pay that last Debt I owe to Sin which is Death and by the blessing of that God to rise again through the Merits of Jesus Christ to Righteousness and Life Eternal Here he was a little interrupted Mr Lords I am come hither to submit to that Judgment which hath passed against me I do it with a very quiet and contented mind I thank God I do freely forgive all the World a forgiveness that is not spoken from the Teeth outward as they say but from the very Heart I speak it in the presence of Almighty God before whom I stand that there is not a displeasing thought arising in me towards any man living I thank God I can say it and truly too my conscience bearing me witness that in all my Imployment since I had the Honour to serve His Majesty I never had any thing in the purpose of my heart but what tended to the joint and individual prosperity of King and People although it hath been my ill fortune to be misconstrued I am not the first that hath suffered in this kind it is the common Portion of us all while we are in this life to err Righteous Judgment we must wait for in another place for here we are very subject to be mis-judged one of another there is one thing that I desire to free my self of and I am very confident speaking it now with much chearfulness that I shall obtain your Christian Charity in the belief of it I was so far from being against Parliaments that I did allways think the Parliaments of England were the most happy constitutions that any Kingdom or Nation lived under and the best means under God to make the King and People happy For my Death I here acquit all the World and beseech the God of Heaven heartily to forgive them that contrived it though in the intentions and purposes of my heart I am not guilty of what I dye for And my Lord Primate it is a great comfort for me that His Majesty conceives me not meriting so severe and heavy a punishment as is the utmost Execution of this Sentence I do infinitely reioyce in this mercy of his and I beseech God return it into his own bosom that he may find mercy when he stands most in need of it I wish this Kingdom all the prosperity and happiness in the World I did it living and now dying it is my wish I do most humbly recommend this to every one who hears me and desire they would lay their hands upon their hearts and consider seriously whether the beginning of the happiness and reformation of a Kingdom should be written in Letters of Blood consider this when you are at your homes and let me be never so unhappy as that the last drop of my Blood should rise up in Judgment against any one of you but I fear you are in a wrong way My Lords I have but one word more and with that I shall end I profess that I dye a true and obedient Son to the Church of England wherein I was born and in which I was bred Peace and prosperity be ever to it It hath been objected if it were an Objection worth the answering that I have been inclined to Popery but I say truly from my heart that from the time that I was one and twenty years of Age to this present going now upon forty nine I never had in my heart to doubt of this Religion of the Church of England nor ever had any man the boldness to suggest any such thing to me to the best of my remembrance And so being reconciled by the merits of Jesus Christ my Saviour into whose bosom I hope I shall shortly be gathered to those Eternal happinesses which shall never have end I desire heartily the forgiveness of every man for any rash or unadvised words or any thing done amiss and so my Lords and Gentlemen farewel farewel all things of this World I desire that you would be silent and Joyn with me in Prayer and I trust in God we shall all meet and live Eternally in Heaven there to receive the accomplishment of
all Happiness where every Tear shall be wiped away from our Eyes and every sad thought from our Hearts and so God bless this Kingdom and Jesus have mercy on my Soul Then turning himself about he Saluted all the Noble-men and took a solemn leave of all considerable persons upon the Scaffold giving them his hand After that he said Gentlemen I would say my Prayers and entreat you all 〈◊〉 pray with me and for me then his Chaplain laid the Book of Common-Prayer upon the Chaâ— before him as he kneeled down on which he prayed almost a quarter of an hour and then as long or longer without the Book and concluded with the Lords Prayer Standing up he spies his Brother Sir George Wentworth and calls him to him saying Brother we must part remember me to my Sister and to my Wife and carry my Blessing to my Son and charge him that he fear God and continue an obedient Son to the Church of England and warn him that he bears no private grudge or revenge toward any man concerning me and bid him beware that he meddle not with Church-livings for that will prove a Moth and Canker to him in his Estate and wish him to content himself to be a Servant to his Country not aiming at higher Preferments Aliter To his Son Mr. Wentworth he commends himself and gives him charge to serve his God to submit to his King with all Faith and Allegiance in things Temporal to the Church in things Spiritual chargeth him again and again as he will answer it to him in Heaven never to meddle with the Patrimony of the Church for if he did it would be a Canker to eat up the rest of his Estate Carry my Blessing also to my Daughter Anne and Arabella charge them to serve and fear God and he will bless them not forgetting my little Infant who yet knows neither good nor evil and cannot speak for it self God speak for it and bless it Now said he I have nigh done one stroke will make my Wife Husbandless my dear Children Fatherless and my poor Servants Masterless and will separate me from my dear Brother and all my Friends But let God be to you and them all in all After this going to take off his Doublet and to make himself unready he said I thank God I am not afraid of Death nor daunted with any discouragement rising from any fears but do as chearfully put off my Doublet at this time as ever I did when I went to bed then he put off his Doublet wound up his Hair with his Hands and put on a white Cap. Then he called Where is the Man that is to do this last Office meaning the Executioner call him to me when he came and asked him forgiveness he told him he forgave him and all the World Then kneeling down by the Block he went to Prayer again himself the Primate of Ireland kneeling on the one side and the Minister on the other To the which Minister after Prayer he turned himself having done Prayer and spake some few words softly having his hands lifted up and closed with the Minister's hands Then bowing himself to lay his Head upon the Block he told the Executioner That he would first lay down his Head to try the fitness of the Block and take it up again before he would lay it down for good and all and so he did And before he laid it down again he told the Executioner That he would give him warning when to strike by stretching forth his hands and presently laying down his Neck upon the Block and stretching forth his hands the Executioner strook off his Head at one blow and taking it up in his hand shewed it to all the People and said God save the King His Body was afterwards Embalmed and appoined to be carried into York-shire there to be buried amongst his Ancestors He left these three Instructions for his Son in Writing First That he should continue still to be brought up under those Governours to whom he had committed him as being the best he could pick out of all those within his knowledge and that be should not change them unless they were weary of him that he should rather want himself than they should want any thing they could desire Secondly He charged him as he would answer it at the last day not to put himself upon any public Employments 'till he was thirty years of Age at least And then if his Prince should â—all him to public Service he should carefully undertake it to testifie his Obedience and withall to be faithful and sincere to his Master though he should come to the same end that himself did Thirdly That he should never lay any hand upon any thing that belonged to the Church He foresaw that Ruin was like to come upon the Revenues of the Church and that perhaps they might be shared amongst the Nobility and Gentry But if his Son medled with any of it he wished the Curse of God might follow him and all them to the Destruction of the most Apostolical Church upon Earth FINIS Mondayâ— Tuesday Pyms first charge The Lieutenants Answer Three new Articles Expres Thursday Expres 2. Staffords Reply Friday Express 3. 4. Corks two Falls 1 Interlining 2 His Groom Satturday Charge 1. Staffords Reply Charge 2. Straffords Reply Charge 3. Straffords Reply Secondly Charge 4. Straffords Reply Glinn 's Ejaculation Straffords Reply Monday Charge Art 6. Strafford 's Reply Charge Strafford 's Reply Tuesday Charge latter part of the 8th Article Lady Hibot's Case Strafford 's Reply Charge Article 9. Stafford 's Reply Wednesday Charge Artic. 10. Strafford 's Reply Charge Artic. 11. Strafford's Reply Thursday Artic 12. Charge by Maynard Staffords Reply Charge by Mâ— Palmer latter part of the 15. Article seizing and laying Souldiers upon the Subjects Straffords Reply Glins Speech Straffords Reply Serjeant Savils Coppy of the Commission rejected Straffords Reply Saturday Charge Article 1â— by Mr. Palmer Straffords Reply Whitlocks Charge Article 19. Oath to Scots in Ireland Straffords Reply Monday Article 20 the next 〈◊〉 crowded together Glynâ— Honey Comb interposed Straffords Reply Strafford 's Reply Wednesday Whitlocks Charge Straffords Reply Charge Article 26. Straffords Reply Charge Article 27. Strafford 's Reply Thuasday Charge Sir Walter Earl's Observations Glyns charitable speech Strafford's Reply Friday he was hindred from coming by a fit of the Stone Glyn again Report of my Lord Strafford's death Saturday Monday spent in a conference betwixt both Houses Tuesday Strafford's reply My Lord Strafford's last Speech in the Hall The Recorder Thursday The formality of a conference Monday Protestation Saturday May 8. Sunday Four Bishops
this wonder of the Times only I leave his virtues to speak the rest to the Admiration of Ours and Compassion of succeeding Ages A Letter to a Friend BElieve me Sir this blessed departure of his hath put me in love with Scaffolds more than Death-beds Let it be my Paradox if not Prophetical to me that it is the best kind of Dissolution provided there be Innocence to uphold the Conscience and with good men at least to maintain the Reputation afterwards Here you are attended with the Pregnancy of Judgment and Memory not weakned nor clouded with tedious and giddy Sicknesses Here you have a time prefixed and must of necessity concentricate your self and your best resolution elsewhere Nature is unwilling to find a Suspension abhorring its own Destruction Imo quam multos in medio scelere mors occupavit medium secuit crimen Here a Moment ends the Pain which perhaps not seven Apprentiships elsewere and here if any where we find pitty yea deservings both with God and good men but he that sent us hither must prescribe us the way of our return Vpon that very day of the Execution in the Afternoon Abyssâ—s abyssum invocat Blood calls for Blood there happened a conflict betwixt the Scots and English Army no certain number yet reported nor what occasion some say Six score some Three score Scots some Twenty some Thirty English only the matter it self was represented by the General the Lord Holland upon a Letter from Sir John Conniers to the Parliament upon Friday with a mighty regret that he had been appointed for Peace but that unhappy rub had fallen out much contrary to his desire The King sent a Letter the day before the Execution by the Prince to the Vpper-house desiring the Rigour of that Sentence might be remitted but it was sent back unbroken up for fear either to refuse the King or discontent the People God forbid His Majesty should give so slender an ear to their Petitions The Lord Strafford's Children are restored to all his Estate and if they Petition for it shall be to his Honours too the House of Commons have been as forward in this as any else whether to make some recompence to them or to give proof to the Nobility lest they should be scared by the example that not so much the Means as the Man was aimed at But it will be a Question whether they can restore that Head too when the Kingdom shall need its service It is to be feared that his great Abilities will shortly be more understood by our want of them than our fruition so dark is mans understanding in Preserving that which is virtuous and useful amongst us Virtutem Incolumem odimus The Earl of Strafford's Letter to His MAJESTY IT hath been my greatest grief in all my troubles to be taken as a person that should endeavour to present and set things amiss between Your Majesty and Your People and to have given Councel tending to the disquiet of Your Majesty and Your three Kingdoms Most true it is that such an attempt my private condition considered had been a great madness seeing through your gracious favour I was so provided as I could not expect in any kind to mend my Fortune or to please my mind more than by resting where your bounteous hand had placed me nay the business is most mightily mistaken for unto your Majesty it is well known that my poor and humble advices concluded still in this That your Majesty should never be happy 'till there were a right understanding procured betwixt you and them No other means to effect and settle this happiness but by the Councel and Assent of the Parliament and no way to prevent the growing Evils of this State but by putting your self entirely upon the Loyalty and good Affection of your Subjects Yet such is my misfortune the truth finds little credit the contrary it seems generally believed and my self reputed the cause of this great separation betwixt you and your People Under a heavier Censure than this I am persuaded no Gentleman can suffer and now I understand that the minds of Men are the more incensed against me notwithstanding your Majesty hath declared That in your Princely Opinion I am not guilty of Treason nor are you satisfied in Conscience to pass the Bill This brings me into a great streight Here is before me the ruin of my Children and Family hitherto untouch'd in all the branches of it with any foul Crime Here are before me the many Evils which may befall your Sacred Person and the whole Kingdom should your self and the Parliament be less satisfied the one with the other than is necessary for the King and People Here are before me the things most valued most feared by mortal Men Life and Death To say Sir there hath not been a conflict within me about these things were to make my self less Man than God knows my infirmities will give me leave and to call a destruction upon my self and my young Children where the intentions at least of my heart have been innocent of this great Offence may be believed would find no easie consent from Flesh and Blood But out of much sadness I am come to a Resolution of that which I take to be best becoming me that is To look upon that which is principally to be considered in it self and that is doubtless the prosperity of your sacred Person and the Common-wealth infinitely to be preferred before any Man's private Interest And therefore in few words as I have put my self wholly upon the Honour and Justice of my Peers so clearly as I wish your Majesty hath been pleased to have spared that Declaration of yours on Saturday last and to have left me entirely to their Lordships so now to set your Majesty's Conscience at Liberty I do most humbly beseech You for the preventing of such mischiefs as may happen by your refusal to pass the Bill by this means to remove praised be God I cannot say this accursed but I confess this unfortunate thing forth of the way towards that blessed Agreement which God I trust shall for ever Establish betwixt you and your Subjects Sir my consent herein shall acquit you more to God than all the World can do beside To a willing Man there is no injury done and as by God's Grace I forgive all the World with a calmness and meekness of infinite contentment to my dislodging Soul so Sir I can give the life of this World with all chearfulness imaginable in the just acknowledgment of your exceeding favours and only beg that in your goodness you would vouchsafe to cast your gracious Regard upon my poor Son and his three Sisters less or more and no otherwise than their unfortunate Father shall appear more or less guilty of this Death God preserve your Majesty Tower May 9. 1641. Your Majesties most Humble and Faithful Subject and Servant STRAFFORD The Petition of THOMAS Earl of STRAFFORD to the Right-Honourable the