the Warre in the Kingdom continued if not both for none ever saw quiet times after so great Innovations Now which were better That a King should let all His Subjects be imbrueing their hands in each others Bloud or by calling in Assistance by dispencing with Penalties against still to be remembred not setting up one sort of his Subjects happily procure a Peace to all For if he had been considerably strong peradventure His Rebells would not need to have been fought with but by Treaty have made a Peace secure though not pleasing to all If they would not were it not farre better He had power to reduce them Lastly can it be hainous in Him to call Forraign friends to his assistance who hath his own Subjects of this Kingdom and others though Subjects to Him yet Forraigners to the Kingdom in the bowells of the Kingdom invading Him and sooyling His Subjects Besides when is it that He promiseth this ultima Ratio Regis but in March last Nay it was a secret then to Her who was conceived the Cabinet of all His secrets so as I may say it entred not into His heart till danger shewed it Him or He kept it for a Reserve that he would not part with if he could save Cursed be those that put the necessity on Him For the objection how this suits with Defendor of the Faith surely nothing clearer For it is to enable himselfe to defend the Religion professed That title leads Him as much as He can to make all His Kingdom of one beliefe But rather to leave unpunisht divers Professions then let that establisht perish That this is the true case nothing clearer For see whether the Propositions of the Houses either to take the Sword not his Militin alone but also his Iudicature into their power or the altering the government of the Church be demands upon the old Foundations or Lawes of this Kingdom or rather upon new desires of a sort of men ambitious both to reigne over their King and fellow Subjects If both Innovation as without any controversy they are then is the case truly stated And if so sarewell the Peace of this Kingdom for the Question will not nor can be What is But what to the then Members of Parliament seems best And if the King will not consent to it as now so ever hereafter a Warre may be levied Poore Country-men would you could distinguish betwixt Pretences and Realities that you might not thus court your own Ruine and call that Courtship or Flattery to your Prince which is defence of Magna Charta and consequently of your Peace For grant once the present Lawes of a Kingdome may be altered by any other way then they were made you shall never have a Parliament but you may justly feare a Warre But let the King have his just Rights of denying what he thinkes unfit and the Houses theirs of tendting what they think fit and the old splendor and Peace of this Kingdome may be restored The second Observation is That in all the Letters it is manifest the King sincerely sought by His Treaties the Peace of his Subjects and that he made the Lawes in being the Standard or rule to measure it by Nay the Queen is as earnest for it as any one A Peace that might not last is that wich both of them only feare First observe In all this secrecy of Letters there is not one Word that expresses the making use of the Treaty to any other end then procuring Peace which as it shewes the Kings integrity so it manifest the Queenes innocency For had shee been contrarily affected the King would have used arguments to have induc'd her thereunto Read then what He saies of it what she saies First in respect of the aversenesse of those at London to Peace He is forced to use dexterity in procuring a Treaty you see then from whom the Treaty moved Therefore proposes His own comming up to London And you see this is no delusion for the Queen Pag. 31. Startles at it as being by Her supposed probably of much danger to His Majesties Person But alas that She is carefull of Her Husband will be anon objected to be Her fault but not one of those that I think worthy to Answere Nay observe whether she be against it She only tells Her thought and hath had too just ground to suspect If you trust to these People you are lost c. Pag. 20. She declares I wish a Peace more then any and that with greater reason The short of all Her meaning is in pag. 30. J have nothing to say but that You have a care of Your Honour and that if you have a Peace it may be such a one as may hold A Peace with the Kings Honour who from the beginning desired no new thing or any of that glorious greatnesse promised and such a one as might last are very ill wishes or they very ill men that interpret them so Nay observe in the same Letter She writes concerning Catholicks and you 'l find She knew not what the King might resolve for there is no such dangerous influence from Her Majesty on the King as the People must believe For saies she in my opinion Religion should be the last thing upon which You Treat Why For if You doe agree upon strictnes against the Catholicks then for ought she knew it might be it would discourage them to serve You. Look upon pag. 11. And you 'l read the wayes the King hath used to come to a Treaty and the Grounds These His Majesty sets downe how His whole party are strangely impatient for Peace where are His evill Councellors then unlesse advising Peace be one evidence of it What doth the King upon this Is it to comply with them No His Answer is Which obliged me so much the more to shew my reall intentions thereunto If you read on you 'l find the King takes notice of Factions among you What use doth He make of it or what hope I am put in good hope some holds it a certainty that if I could come to a faire Treaty the ring-leading Rebells could not hinder me from a Peace Sure then it 's plaine the Treaty was only sought to procure Peace Nay pag. 2. See Whether the King be not ready to resume the Treaty after it was broken so certainly it was left at your doores and to make the Queen the meanes of it so he were satisfied but of a willingnesse to yeeld to reason Nay before I part with this I 'le desire you but to remember who were the Treaters Men of great Honour and Integrity and to the end they might have all freedome observe but their Oath and how strictly it bound them from certifying even to His Majesty the name though in some cases they might the number of the dissenters Would you were in a Constitution and Temper to weigh I dare say you could not then but value His Majesties Wisdom in the Instructions He gave
His Commissioners I 'le end with these few notes out of them to let passe the substance of those Instructions since my purpose only is to shew how really His Majesty sought a Peace how fowly soever He is now traduced That He offered to joyne in the rectifying abuses if any have crept into the Church Easing tender Consciences c. Stands not upon giving the Rebells security by strong Townes that Articles agreed on should be performed And offering some of them rewards or places Nay in all the Letters there is not one word of taking revenge in the future on any Person which expresses as well His Majesties Christian as generous spirit Be not now angry with me that all this satisfies me of His Majesties Princely intentions to His people and amazes me of your Comments I cannot say remember Cham that discovered his Fathers Nakednesse for that 's not your case you discover not you make There is no Example But a Prophecy or a Character of such men as you That in these latter times Many should be Traitors and speak evill of Dignities c. Your present successes may make you unapt to believe this but when the time of Affliction comes then you may as Solomon saies Consider For truly I divulge this more to justify honest men who have a dutifull and reverend opinion of His Majesties Letters then with hope to convert an unreasonable and obstinate party Many more instances there are to be drawn out of the Kings Letters but there is a whole Book of the Treaty and I love not actum agere The next great Objection Is the Cessation and Peace with Ireland That also is at large handled in the said Booke and therefore I shall only touch some things naturall to these Letters See then the Reasons which are chiefly these pag. 27. All the World knowes the imminent and inevitable necessity which caused me to make the Irish Cessation And there remaines yet as strong reason for concluding of that Peace And pag. 16. 1. The impossibility of preserving my Protestant Subjects in Jreland by a continuation of a Warre having moved me to give you these powers and directions which I have formerly done c. 2. Besides it being now manifest that the English Rebells have as farre as in them lies given the Command of Ireland to the Scots I think my selfe bound not to let slip the meanes of setling that Kingdome if it may be fully under my obedience nor to loose that assistance I may hope from my Irish Subjects Here you may observe the necessity lay upon the King For you had deprived him of force either to save his Protestant Subjects or to reduce his Popish Then He saw Jreland as a prey given to the Scots And surely the Irish have which I hope we shall never grudge them since they are His-Majesties subjects what ever their Religion is reason to expect to have His protection And lastly His Majesty saw his Irish Subjects designed as a Conquest for the Scot and so he knew he should not only want that assistance which in duty the Irish ought to yeeld him for certainly Protestant Princes may use their Popish Subjects in their Warres since none doubt Christians formerly could serve Heathen Emperours in theirs But by the Scots Conquest of the Jrish he was also to expect the Rebellion against Himselfe so much the more strengthned Nay English subjects might hereafter find the Scots who now helped them in this Rebellion when they should be masters of their own Lands possessors of so much of ours for I doubt few of us shall live to see them wholly outed so enrich'd as they are by the plunder of this Country and so strengthned by the footing given them in Ireland Would at last be as like to conquer or give the Law to this Nation as they are now ready to assist some of them And here let me say since the King was borne in Scotland I cannot enough expresse how much the English are bound to Him for His sense of the honour of this Nation See how he expresseth it pagâ—â— The English Rebells whether basely or ignorantly will be no very great difference have as much as in them lier transmitted the command of Ireland from the Crowne of England to the Scots Observe what He saies in His Instructions concerning the Scots interest in the Government of the Militia of this Kingdome If the English Rebells will be so base to admit ten Scots to twenty English But this care of the Honour of England was no new humor or distast towards the present Scots Rebells for in that Letter pag. 34. so spitefully printed but so advantagiously to His Majesty you see the King is positive enough with the Question to whom now the only objection is that He is too indulgent And one part of the quarrell is She neglects the English Tongue and the Nation in generall Behold then upon all Oceasions how sensible He is of the Honour of this Nation who are at present so forgetfull of their Duty to Him and their Countrey But to returne to the businesse in hand Marke the King's Offers conclude a Peace with the Irish what ever it cost so as my Protestant Subjects there may be secured and my Legall Authority preserved A Fatherly a Kingly care one would think But for all this you are to make the best bargaine still it 's a Bargain and still it 's upon a necessity it 's still but a Dispensation with Penall Lawes and not discover your inlargement of power till you needs must At last if the suspension of Toinings Act for such Bills as shall be agreed on between you there and the present taking away of the Penall Lawes against Papists by a Law will doe it I shall not thinke it a hard bargain Poinings Act which is knowne to be a Law whereby all Acts in Parliament there were to be first sent over hither and confirmed by the King before they be promulged is the first This indeed is a Branch of Royalty a Flower of the Crowne and not to be parted with certainly were it not upon such a necessity as endangers the being of Soveraignty True it was a marke of Irelands Conquest and if it were so hainous in my Lord Strafford to say the Irish were a Conquer'd Nation to the same Persons that were so severe in their Iudgements for that Can it now be so grievous that a mark of a Conquest should be wiped out The second is dispensing with the Execution and afterwards Repeale of the Penall Lawes This hath had my observations on it in the first Objection and therefore shall not be repeated in this Onely you plainly see it is a necessitated dispensing with the punishment of particular Persons Appeales to Rome denied Premunire must stand in force In short Papists may be eased Popery not countenanced Remember who causes the Storme that makes the Merchant fling his goods over boord For that Objection that His Majesty hasted
the Peace of Ireland least He should be preingaged Surely considering to whom the Warre of Ireland was designed and both for his owne Honour and this Kingdome of Englands good It were better that Realme depended on Him that is our King Then the Scots who have been our troublesome neighbours ever And if their hearts were look'd into though they have mett with an Age hath given them better beleife they have notwithstanding brought in but their old good will to this Nation The French paid them heretofore for disturbing our Peace the Houses at Westminster buy them in now to have such a footing as may lead them to pretend to more then they will hereafter spare them The Duke of Lorraine's Army is a great and a dangerous discovery The King of Denmarke being desired to assist The Prince of Aurange's ayde by shipping All speake the drawing in of Fortaigne Forces and this contrary to the many Quotations of the King's Declarations and Protestations They that slight the Answer know that it is a very substantiall one to say Doe but distinguish times and you accord all It will be hard to get beleife but known it is how backward the King was either to admitt Papists into his Army not but he knew he might justly make use of their service The Protestants of France serving the French King and the Hollanders imploying Papists in their Warrs or to call in Forraigne Forces But when He perceived your obstinacy How you could dispense with your owne imploying Walloon Regiments and diverse other Papists How you could have Collections in Holland Agents with Fortaigne Princes Committees in Scotland for the two States as you call them that sent you in a great Army Can you object this to Him and not thinke it concernes your Selves No you have too much reason to doe it If you found not that the Common People and your interessed Party have so submitted their reason to your Declarations that if an implicite beleife he rendred to the Chair-man at Rome you thinke it high disobedience to be denyed any of yours If I should in answer of the black Characters you put on your King in His Government desire you but to remember how when you procured a Law That contrary it was to the Liberty of the Subject they should be press'd to the Warre That notwithstanding immediately after Thousands were press'd by your Ordinances and how miserably many of them perished you know and see by their wretched Widows and Orphans How when for the Subjects Liberty Not the King not His Councell no Court of Iustice could imprison but the Subject must have cause shewen and his Habeas Corpus upon demand granted yet Thousands you restrained no cause shewen no admittance to Picad If I should mind you how Property was fenc'd by you That no Tax could be lay'd Nay Tonnage and Poundage must be limited for a few moneths by a new Law and yet in a moment forc'd from the Subjects without one As if you made Lawes not to preserve the Subjects Right but to shew your power to break them If I should remember you of your Murthering Ordinance that where no Law could deprived a Reverend Prelate of his Life Of your Repeale of Statutes in the businesse of the Common Prayer-Book by your Votes called an Ordinance Of your one day declaiming against an Excise and the next day setting it up and many more What fruit must I or any other honest Subject looke for by your Government How can you with any countenance question the King for not observing Lawes who thinke your selves bound by none Let the Soveraigne power reside where it will in one as in this and other Monarchies or in many as in Republiques Yet every where the Subject may take the benefit of the Law And so you may remember we were heretofore admitted to implead the King for ship-mony was not the time of Government happy when Subjects Pleas could be admitted Had the Law the same freedome now as then your Soveraignti's would soone be disproved and your Tyrannies made manifest Well all I shall say is you have your Iudge and He resides in Heaven The Lord is King be the People never so impatient You shall reckon for your disloyalty to your Soveraigne for your cruelty and oppression to your fellow Subjects for your slaundring the footsteps of Gods Annoynted Even for your Paraphrase upon these Letters whose stile and weight of Sense as well as Integrity and Honour they are lined with will rise more in Iudgement against you And I confesse were you as you ought to be were a better meanes to convert you then all that hath been so weakly but well-meaningly laid downe in these short notes which should have been drawn out longer but that it 's believed some Person of Iudgement will declare himselfe on this Subject as I have without ends my Duty and Affection to His Majesties Person and Cause FINIS