speaking out of the Mouths of Phanatical Protestants or the last Speeches of John Kid and John King c. pag. 11. The matter of fact being thus stated the Reader need not wonder they were severely treated when they suffered the pains of Treason and Rebellion but besides those they had committed a vast number of Massacres and Assassinations before they murthered the Primate and this aggravated their sufferings Now all the cunning of this Declaration lies in this that they tell us what they suffered and perhaps truly but not a tittle of the case Which is just as if all the Rogues in the Nation should joyn and pen a complaint ennumerating how many of them since his Majesties Return have been Hanged Quartered Whipped Branded Transported Pillored Imprisoned which never meant any hurt to his Majesty or the Government but only to get a Living the best and easiest way they could Now to one that is as little vers'd in our ways of Punishment as we are in the Scotch it would seem a rueful Story whilest an English man would smile as knowing why they suffered all these hardships I need not apply it but shall add this they have deserved ten times more then they have felt as being the bloudiest Cut-throats in the world So that in Scotland no man dare to offend them openly for fear of assassination but such as either must by the necessity of their places or else have good means of defending their Lives against them Next I observe this Declaration is nothing but a large flourish upon the Speech and drawn just at that loose general rate which that is calling those Taxes and Punishments Arbitrary which they acknowledg were according to several Acts of Parliament and then pretending the persons that do constitute their Parliaments or States are overawed But then I must commend their ingenuity in this that they do not with the Commons of England lay the blame of all this upon the Duke of Lauderdale or their Ministers but upon the total change of their Government and State both Sacred and Civil and upon the Parliament of Scotland and the King whom they supplicate with menaces to restore him into the same State he found them in without which they were sensible the removing of the Duke of Lauderdale or any other of the great Ministers of State would signify nothing as to their Designs which was as they plainly tell us to set up the Presbyterian Doctrine and Church Government to serve the King in nothing else any further then he would serve them in that And lastly to obtain a free and unlimited Parliament and Assembly that is such as it might not be in his Majesties power to dissolve or frustrate by prorogation till they had extirpated Popery and Prelacy both together which was freely and roundly to tell us what they would have without canting and amusing us with general terms and hints but then I must not deny they had swords by their sides to justify these demands which our Gentlemen want and I wish ever may do but yet the Reader may observe that Speech that was so hugged in England and the Scotch Declaration meant the same thing though in different terms Observe also that they call the Presbyterian Doctrine and Government the Religion established though they own it to be taken away by a rescissory Act of Parliament for they believe all those Acts that have or shall be made against it are Null and Void and the former Acts are still in force though repealed which is an odd sort of Establishment consisting in the fancy of the people that own it and not in Law or Nature They lay the stress of their Justification upon necessity and yet own the greatest part of it to arise from hence that they must be deprived of the Gospel preached by the faithful Ministers and be made Slaves if they did not rebel Now as to their civil interest they would be in the same State with their Country men who are so far from rebelling that they have several times chastised them for it with a very little assistance from England And as to their Preachments I wonder in what part of the Gospel they learned to defend Christs Religion by rebellion but we must know this is pure Scotch Calvinistical Jesuitical Doctrine begun by the Devil and his Vicar the Pope not many hundred years ago and for which Bellarmine acknowledges there is neither Precept nor Example in the Bible nor in all Church History till near a thousand years after our Saviour's time and he gives this reason why the Gospel taught patience and submission because the contrary would have ruined Christianity then when but a few professed it but tells us St. Paul would have taught otherwise if he had lived in our days I shall not dispute how the Cardinal or the Scotch Gentlemen who talk at the same rate came to know this but I say it is equally destructive of any other Doctrine a man hath no mind to practise as of this of submission to Princes and suffering patiently for the truth without resistance As suppose I have a mind to revenge and they tell me of the Doctrine of meekness and forgiving injuries and Enemies if I reply this Doctrine was adopted to the Infant state of Christianity when Professors were few and exposed to persecution and could have got nothing by revenging their quarrels but ruine but the state of things is otherwise now and I may revenge my self with security both as to my self and as to my Religion and from thence infer that that Doctrine is ceased and I am at liberty to do in that particular as I see cause and that St. Paul would have taught so if he had lived in these times I say if I should argue thus upon their principles it could never be answered and a man might say as much for any other Gospel precept he had no mind to obey But to return The Covenanters in their first Declaration date the rise of all their troubles from the year 1648 and that is true and worth a Note You must know Charles the first had given them by the pacification all that they asked and the long Rebel Parliament had sent them home loaden with thanks Money and the spoils of England before our wars began * A View of the late Troubles cap. 18. but things going ill on the Parliament side after the King had routed Waller in the West and almost totally subdued the North by the valour of the E. of Newcastle the Parliament having no other way to turn them were forced to call in the Scots once more with Money and Promises yea and Oaths too to settle the Presbyterian Church Government here in England These two things prevailing upon them in they came and that ruined the King and his Party who at last surrendring himself to the Scots they dutifully sold him to the Parliament for 300000 lb. as all the World knows but the Chapmen fell out and
Commons and so the King was not to be blamed and all that would Inform any thing concerning the Plott in these Intervals had been as Kindly used by the King and Councel as they could have been by the Parliament So that this was as I said an Injurious Reflection upon His Majesty and the Government and was an Argument of an ill temper and could not but disgust his Majesty Their limiting their Petition of Pardon to onely such persons as made any Discovery to their House was look't upon as much restrain'd for if the Discovery were really and effectually made what matter was it to what house or person it was made But it may be this might not be intended by them for any such purpose as the limiting of the thing to them tho in effect it did so and therefore I shall pass it over From this Address the House proceeded to the Votes about the Petitions which were as followeth Resolved Nemine Contradicente Which shewes the Strength of the party and not the Consent of the whole House That it is and Ever hath been the Vndoubted Right of the Subjects of England to Petition the King for the Calling and Sitting of Parliaments and Redressing of Grievances Resolved N. C. That to traduce such Petitioning howsoever managed for so it must signifie or else it will conclude nothing from the Other as a Principle as a Violation of Duty and to represent it to his Majesty as Tumultuous and Seditious is to betray the Liberty of the Subject and Contributes to the Design of Subverting the Antient Legal Constitutions of this Kingdom and introducing Arbitrary Power Ordered That a Committee be appointed to inquire of all such persons as have offended against these Rights of the Subjects Resolved That an Address be made to his Majesty declaring the Resolution of this House to Preserve and Support the King's Person and Government and the Protestant Religion at home and abroad This last seemed to sweeten the Crudity of the former Votes and to Countenance and Justifie one of the greatest disorders that Contributed to the Ruine of his Father As to their first Vote which is their Principle it is granted modo forma as they have set it down But the Second is too general and an Undeniable foundation for Rebellion as hath been Experimented for all the Controversie was here about the manner of Petitioning viz. Whether a few private men might agree upon a Petition and then send Emissaries abroad to procure Hundreds and Thousands of Ignorant people to Subscribe it and then tender it to his Majesty as it were by the Number to fright him into a Complyance with them against his declared Resolution to the Contrary if this might be allowed the Liberty of the Subject would soon eat up the Prerogative of the King and disorder this or any other Government in the World In the Reign of Henry the Seventh one Thomas Flammock Lord Bacon 's Hist of H. 7. a Lawyer thought he could make a Rebellion and never break the Peace and the People of Cornwall being discontented about some Subsidies granted to the King he perswades them that it was not good they should stand like Sheep before the Shearers but put on Harness and take Weapons in their hands yet to do no Creature hurt but go and deliver the King a Strong Petition for the Laying down of those grievous Payments and for the Punishment of those that had given him that Counsel and to make others beware how they did the like in time to come And he said for his part He did not see how they could do the Duty of true Englishmen and good Liege-men except they did deliver the King from such Wicked ones that would destroy both him and the Country or in the Language of our dayes introduce Arbitrary Power And accordingly 16000 men armed assembled and marched from Cornwal to Black-Heath in Kent Modestly and Quietly enough Except that at Taunton in Somersetshire they killed in fury an Officious and Eager Commissioner for the Subsidy whom they called the Provost of Perin but by that time they came at Black-Heath they Threatned either to bid Battle to the King for now the Seas went higher than his Councellors or to take London within his View imagining themselves there to find no less fear than wealth And accordingly they persisted till the King having drawn out his Forces and Surrounded them he fought them and killed 20000 and took all the rest Prisoners Now I would Know whether this Strong Petition was Justifiable and whether if any body in our dayes should perswade a Number of Men to Act this over again it would be an offence against the Rights of the Subjects to abhor such Petitioning as a Violation of Duty and represent it to his Majesty as Tumultuous and Seditious or rather plainly Rebellious and it would be worth the while to try whether Flammock's Strong Petition may not be Justified by these Votes as they now stand penned for it doth not appear that any sort of Petitioning whatsoever may be opposed by the Votes But it may be replyed That here were no men in Arms in the case of the Petition in hand but what then if there should be for the future these Votes will Justify them too for if the People may Petition for the Calling or Sitting of a Parliament or Redressing of Grievances when and howsoever they please and no man may hinder them then is Honest Old Father Flammock's Strong Petition which was for the Redress of two Notable Grievances fairly Justifiable if it were now to be acted over again But if the People be allowed to Petition but not any way it had been fit to have told us and them what manner of way they were allowed to Petition as well as for what for that was the main thing in question But seeing they were not so kind to the People I will try if I cannot direct them into a better course the next time they shall have an Occasion to Petition the King for the Calling and Sitting of Parliaments and Redressing of Grievances And to that purpose I will here insert a whole Act of Parliament XIII Car. 2. Cap. V. An Act against Tumults and Disorders upon pretence of Preparing or Presenting Publick Petitions or Addresses to His Majesty or the Parliament WHEREAS it hath been found by Sad Experience That Tumultuous and other Disorderly Soliciting and Procuring of Hands by private persons to Petitions Complaints Remonstrances and Declarations and Other Addresses to the King or both or either Houses of Parliament 1. For Alteration of Matters Established by Law 2. Redress of pretended Grievances in Church or State 3. Or other Publick Concernments have been made use of to serve the ends of Factious and Seditious persons gotten into power to the Violation of the Publick Peace and have been a great means of the late Unhappy Wars Confusions and Calamities in this Nation For preventing the like Mischiefs for the
in Arms candidly and sincerely are these 1. The defending and securing of the true Protestant Religion and Presbyterian Government founded upon the word of God and summarily comprehended in our Confessions of faith and Catechisms and Established by the Laws of this Land To which Kings Nobles and People are solemnly sworn and engaged in our National and Solemn League and Covenant and more particularly the defending and maintaining the Kingly Authority of our Lord Jesus Christ over his Church against all sinful Supremacy derogatory thereto and encroaching thereupon 2. The preserving and defending the Kings Majesty his Person and Authority in preservation and defence of that true Religion and Liberties of the Kingdom that the World may bear Witness with our Consciences of our Loyalty and that we have no thoughts or intention to diminish his just Power and Greatness 3. The Obtaining of a free and Unlimited Parliament and a free General Assembly in Order to the Redressing or foresaid Grievauces for preventing the eminent danger of Popery and Extirpating of Prelacy from amongst us This therefore being the cause we appear for and resolve in Gods great Name to own They are much more honest and ingenuous than our Dissenters for that they speak frankly and freely what they mean to do which the other deny in words and prosecute in deeds as much as the Scots as far as they durst thereby Homologating all the Testimonies of faithful Sufferers for the truth in Scotland these eighteen years by gone We humbly request the Kings Majesty would restore all things as he found them when God brought him home to his Crown and Kingdoms and if that cannot be obtained then we heartily and humbly invite intreat beseech and obtest in the Bowels of Jesus Christ all who are under the same * * That is the Obligation of the Covenant Bonds with us to occur in the Defence of this Countrey Cause and Interest And that they will not stand still and see not only us oppressed but this foresaid cause ruined Adversaries highly and proudly insult against God and all good Friends of the truth discouraged Yea the Protestant Cause in Britain and Ireland and even your selves within a little time made a Prey of or else forced when we are Broken which the good Lord prevent dreadfully to wrong your Consciences Finally because we desire no mans hurt or blood We request our Countrey men now the standing Forces of this Kingdom some of them being our Friends and Kinsmen not to fight against us least in so doing they be found fighting against the Lord whose cause and quarrel we are sure he will own and signally countenance seeing we fight under his Banner who is the Lord of Hosts I have taken the pains to transcribe this Long Declaration not for any delight I take in it but because it is an undeniable instance and demonstration that the Kirk-men in Scotland did then intend to have renewed that War again that formerly brought this Nation to the very brink of Ruine and was the means of the Barbarous Murther of his Majesties Father of the Banishment of our King and his Brothers and Sisters for twelve years of the expence of 48 Millions of Money and Plate and of the loss of one hundred thousand Lives by Fire Sword and Famine All which calamities were begun and carried on by these very men first in Scotland by the incouragement of some factious men of our own Nation and afterwards here in England upon the same pretences As any man may remember that is but fifty years old and the rest may see by comparing this Declaration with those that were made then and therefore I cannot but admire the Providence of God in preventing this Presbyterian Plot by a Prorogation in the very nick of time without which this Rebellion would in all likely-hood have had much countenance from some in England who encouraged it Underhand upon pretences of Countenance from above how groundless soever nor had it ended as it did and where it did if they had got the first battel or but been able to have kept the Field But for the benefit of my Country Reader who is not acquainted with the affairs of Scotland let me observe two or three things for the better understanding of this Grand Cheat and without which this doleful Story may leave great impressions of pity upon the mind of an English-man which these bloudy Rebels of all the world do not deserve The Reader then shall be pleased to understand that besides this Rebellion there was a former one at Pentland Hills where these Covenanteers fought the Kings Forces in ranged Battel in 1666 and in many of their Field Conventicles there was weekly Meetings of Hundreds and Thousands of Armed men formed into Troops and Companies ready upon all occasions of probable capacity to fight against the King for the King in Sion And in 1676 they appeared so numerous that the Privy Council of Scotland advised his Majesty to send English Forces to lie in readiness upon the Borders and to order Viscount Granard to lie with an Army on the Irish Coasts ready to be transported upon occasion and likewise upon the Motion of the Marquess of Athol to procure the Lords of the Highlands a Commission to march with their Vassals under the Command of his Majesties Major General into the West which descent of the Highlanders is mentioned in the Declaration and Aggravated beyond truth or reason by stilling them Barbarians which those that knew these men aver they were not but behaved themselves very civilly to prevent the Field Conventicles from running together into a general Rebellion as they did this May. But to come to particulars they had a Field fast near Iedburgh in Tiveotdale toward the latter end of March 1678 where there were present 7 Preachers and 5000 people the men being armed to seek God for three things 1. That he would be pleased to put an end to the persecution of his people in that Kingdom 2ly That he would have mercy on all those that took the wicked Bond that was not to suffer any Conventicles on their Lands and give them grace to repent 3ly That he would bless with success those Noble Lords that were gone to London to complain of the Duke of Lauderdale and who procured the first Address against him though to no purpose There was another in the March the May following where were assembled eight or 9000 People to receive the Sacrament and renew the solemn League and Covenant of which the Privy Council gave his Majesty an account And another near Dumbar shortly after where they fell upon the Kings forces of the Basse that went out to dismiss them and killed one of the Souldiers and wounded more Finally my Author who is a learned Gentleman saith if he should go on to enumerate all the Field Meetings till that great one which began the Rebellion this May he might write a History The Spirit of Popery
future Be it Enacted by the Kings Most Excellent Majesty by and with the Consent of the Lords Commons assembled in Parliament and by the Authority of the same That no person or persons whatsoever shall from and after the First of August One thousand six hundred sixty and one sollicite labour or procure the getting of Hands or other Consent of any persons above the number of Twenty or more to Petition Complaint Remonstrance any Declaration or other Address to the King or both or either Houses of Parliament for alteration of Matters Established by Law in Church or State Unless the Matter thereof have been first Consented unto and Grdered by Three or more Justices of the County or by the Major part of the Grand Jury of the County or Division of the County where the same matter shall arise at their Publick Assizes or General Quarter-Sessions or if arising in London by the Lord Mayor Aldermen and Commons in Common Councel assembled And that no person or persons whatsoever shall repair to his Majesty or both or either of the Houses of Parliament upon pretence of presenting or delivering any Petition Complaint Remonstrance or Declaration or other Addresses accompanied with Excessive Numbers of People * * Nor. not at any one time above the number of Ten persons upon pain of Incurring a penalty not exceeding the Sum of One hundred pounds in Money and Three Moneths Imprisonment without Bail or Mainprise for every offence to be prosecuted at the Court of Kings-Bench or at the Assizes or General Quarter-Sessions within Six Months after the Offence committed and proved by two or more Credible Witnesses Provided always That this Act or any thing therein contained shall not be Construed to Extend to debar or hinder any person or persons not exceeding the Number of Ten aforesaid to represent any publick or private Grievance or Complaint to any Member or Members of Parliament after his Election and during the Continuance of the Parliament or to the Kings Majesty for any Remedy thereupon to be had or to Extend to any Address whatsoever to his Majesty by all or any of the Members of both or either Houses of Parliament during the Sitting of the Parliament but that they may enjoy their Freedom of Access to his Majesty as heretofore hath been used Now had this Act of Parliament been pursued I believe there would have been no Controversie in this case and there was great reason it should * Because By reason of the Unquietness of the Times when every thing seemed to tend to the renewing of those Calamities the Act mentions in the Preface and was made to prevent But supposing it had been never so Regular what reason can be assigned why one part of the People should be freer to Petition for any thing than the other was against it if one party may for the instance Petition the King to change his Mind after he hath declared it in any cause why is not the other part as free to desire him not to change now that which may seem a publick Grievance to one County or Place may be a great Advantage to another and they are totally debarred of all means of Maintaining their present advantage if they may not Counter-Petition But in this case here the persons that Petitioned were private men and contrary to the express Letter of this Act solicited hands in an irregular way and such sort of hands as besides their Number were of No Consideration for the directions that they sent with the Petitions were That it mattered not whether they were Gentlemen or so much as Free-holders so they were Numerous Now let any man consider whether it be reasonable that a company of Rude Country Clowns and a parcel of Pragmatical Apron-men should contrary to his Majesty's Proclamation pretend themselves wise enough to Advise his Majesty when the Parliament should Sit. But if it be alledged That there were others besides these why were not these totally left out why was there such care that the Subscriptions should be so Numerous did these small Folk add any weight to the Advise No surely On the other Hand they that appeared against them were Parliament-men themselves Justices of the Peace Grand Juries at Assizes and Sessions Common-Councels and Magistrates in Corporations men full as likely to Understand what was fit to be done and as Unlikely to betray the true Liberties of the People on the one hand or to invade the just Prerogatives of the Crown on the other but then these were men true to the Religion and Government by Law established and the Petitioners were of the same sort for the most part with them that had brought on the former Calamities by this and other such specious and popular pretences to the ruine both of King and People Prerogative and Liberty and therefore the more justly suspected to be playing over the Old Game Thus much may suffice concerning the Votes And now let us see how they proceeded against the pretended Offenders And in the first place Sir Francis Withens a Member of their House being accused on this Account as an offender against the Rights of the Subject who was not then present It was Ordered That Notice should be given him to attend in his place the next Morning On Thursday October 28. Sir F. Withins appearing in his place It was ordered that the Clerk of the Peace for Westminster should attend the House the next Morning at Ten of the Clock with the Roll of the Orders for the Last Easter Sessions for the City of Westminster Then they fell upon an Information which had been given the House against Sir Robert Yeomans of Bristol and Sir Robert Cann a Member of the House That they did in October 1679 Publickly declare That there was no Popish Plot but a Presbyterian Plot. Which was attested against them by Mr. Row Sword-Bearer of Bristol and Sir John Knight a Member of the House Sir Robert Cann being to make his defence Uttered several Reproachful and Reflecting words against Sir John Knight for which he was called to the Bar and received a Reprehension on his Knees and then being ordered to withdraw they Voted he should be committed to the * Where he lay till the 8th of Novemb. then was discharged Tower and Expelled the House and that Sir Robert Yeomans should be sent for in Custody of the Serjeant attending their House This weighty affair took up the whole day and it had been well spent if the Popish Plot had been made one jot the plainer or the Presbyterian Plot ever so little taken off by it but the World was full as well satified of the truth of the former before notwithstanding what these Gentlemen had said to the Contrary and much confirmed in the truth of the latter by this Violent if not Arbitrary way of proceeding against them For if these Gentlemen had offended against any Law why were they not prosecuted in a Legal way where
God From which two I will infer this Conclusion That who ever shall attempt to alter this Right of Succession without a manifest revelation which is not now to be expected is a Notorious Usurper upon the Right of the Person who is to Succeed be the pretence for it what it will and a Rebel against that Providence which gave him that Right Nor will all the Antient Rebellions Usurpations and Disorders which have hapned in this Kingdom Justify them that shall begin them again Now if it should please God so to order it that the Duke should at his Majesties Death be the Next Heir to his Crown I cannot see how any humane Power shall prevent his Succession to it but by encroaching upon his Right and by rebelling against the Divine Providence that gave it to him So that be the Inconveniences that shall follow upon such a Succession what they will or can be we must submit to them upon pain of Rebellion against both God and his Anointed our Lawful Prince And then let any man be judge whether it is better to fall into the Hands of a Popish Prince or into the Hands of an Angry God who is a Consuming fire and who is not bound by any Act of Parliament from afflicting a Sinful and Rebellious People So tho the Church of England hath all the reason in the world to dread such a Prince yet she will have greater reason to dread a Rebellion against him because it runs her upon the Divine Vengeance and is directly contrary to her Principles and the Practise of the Apostles and Primitive Church and is plain down-right Popery So that I conclude Neither She nor any of her Children will be guilty of it come what will come But this is not all we are already Sworn to Bear Faith and true Allegiance to the Kings Highness The Oath of Supremacy His Heirs and Lawful Successors and that to our power we shall assist and defend all Jurisdiction Priviledges Pre-Eminences and Authorities granted or belonging to the Kings Highness his Heirs and Lawful Successors or United and Annexed to the Imperial Crown of this Realm of which that of an hereditary Succession is one of the principal and we are Sworn not onely to his Majesty whom God Long Continue but also to his Lawful Successors with which Oath none but they that have that Right can dispence for this being a promissory Oath made to them as well as him when their Rights shall fall his Majesty cannot remit their Right nor any of them anothers but they have Every of them in their respective degrees and orders an indispensable Right confirmed to them by this Oath Nor would they cease to be Lawful Successors in the Sence of this Oath tho a Law were made to prevent bar or cut off their Succession because all that is meant by the word Lawful in this place is to be understood by the common Rules of Succession Settled by the Common Law of England viz. the Eldest Son or Daughter before a Younger of the same Sex c. Now if his Majesty cannot do it much less can the Lords or Commons do it because they are all within the obligation of this Oath and it is unreasonable that men should dispence with their own promissory Oathes to others for this would destroy all Faith and Confidence amongst men and pull up the very Roots of all Society and Government Nor can any man imagine that this Oath was made in favour of a Protestant Successor only H. 8. being a Popish Prince in whose time it was Settled at first And the same in effect is Sworn by the Oath of Allegiance with this binding Clause I do believe and in my Conscience am resolved that neither the Pope nor any other Person whatsoever hath power to absolve me of this Oath or any part thereof which I Acknowledge by good and full Authority to be lawfully Ministred unto me And by this Oath we are also bound to bear Faith and true Allegiance not onely to his Majesty but to his Heirs and Successors and Him and Them to Defend to the Utmost of our power c. Which is to be understood according to their several and respective Rights and at such times as they shall grow and accrew to them and every of them And altho this Oath was Introduced by a Protestant Prince yet is not made to him as a Protestant but as Lawful and Rightful King of this Realm and who ever is So hath and must have Right to impose it upon us be his Religion what it will So that besides the former Sin of Rebellion against the Providence of God Here is an Apparent and Unavoidable Perjury in this Case to Aggravate the other And surely no good Religious man will run upon these two Hideous Sins deliberately to avoid any temporal affliction whatsoever So that were the Case just such as it is represented by the Author of the Character of a Popish Successor It would not Justify the Excluding of such a Successor as he hath described by Force and Arms against his Right and our Oathes to the Contrary tho we were never so certain to Succeed in the Attempt But then that wicked man has most falsly represented things to us and So as it is impossible they should ever prove in the Event if we do not give occasion for it by an improsperous Rebellion nay I believe I may say if we should First it is agreed by All the World That there are Ten Protestants for one Papist thro all the Dominions of England So that if such a Successor should attempt to Extirpate them the bare refusing to aid or assist him in such an enterprize would render it impossible Secondly All our Laws are in favour of that Religion that is Established which could never be Repealed but in Parliament and it is morally impossible to have a Parliament the major part of which will not be Protestants who will never Consent to ruine themselves Thirdly The Revenue of such a Prince will not bear the Charge of so great an Army as will be necessary to reduce the People to a Religion so generally detested and hated as this is In answer to this there is Two things pretended First That he may have Foraign Ayds And Secondly That he will have means to deter or allure many from the Protestant Religion to his own As to Foraign assistances no Prince will dare to admit so many as shall totally over-power his own People because then they will be able to ruine him as the Saxons did the Brittains and he may be sure they will do it So that this is a ridiculous Supposition in a Prince of our own Nation that hath No other Dominions but these As to any Number of People that he may be able to bring over to his Religion they will be very inconsiderable in proportion to those that will never be brought over tho we suppose the Number greater then it is like to be
Petitions and Giving an Account to the House That Sir Fra. North Chief Justice of the Court of Common-Pleas was Advising and Assisting in the drawing up and passing of the said Proclamation and a Debate thereupon arising in the House they Resolved N.C. That it was sufficient Ground for the House to proceed upon an Impeachment against him for High Crimes and Misdemeanors and order taken for an Impeachment accordingly Thus the Dissenters are encouraged to go on and break the Laws and the Judges punished for Executing them On Thursday the 25 of November Nothing Extraordinary was done but the Exhibiting Articles against Edward Seymour Esquire formerly Speaker of the House to Each of which he being required to make a distinct answer there arising a Debate upon the first Article the whole was adjourned to the next day Samuel Verdon Under-Sheriff of Norfolk was ordered to be sent for into Custody upon a Complaint of several Crimes and Misdemeanors by him committed For a Notorious Breach of Priviledge of Parliament by him committed against their House No such thing being mentioned in the Complaint Friday Novemb. 26. The Bill of Repeal of the 35 of Eliz. was read the third time and passed And the House resolved to Impeach Mr. Seymour upon 4 Articles and appointed a Committee to draw up those Articles accordingly and Referred it to them to consider of Precedents concerning the Committing of Members to Custody when Impeached in Parliament On Munday the 29 day of November the House attended his Majesty with their Address concerning Tangier which being very long I will not trouble the Reader with it at Large The whole is a Tragical representation of the Advantages that Popery had gotten over the Religion and Government Assisted as they tell us by the Treachery of perfidious Protestants which must be the Dissenters by whose assistance they obtained the Toleration broke several Sessions of the Long Loyal Parliament if Coleman's Letter to Monsieur Le Chese may be Credited and it may truly be averred that the Papists have not obtained any Advantage without the Dissenters nor the Dissenters without them They say further That the ACT of Parliament enjoyning a Test to be taken by all persons admitted into any Publick Office and intended for a Security against Papists coming into Imployment had So little effect that either by dispensations obtained from Rome they Submitted to those Tests and held their Offices themselves or those put into those Places wore so favourable to the same Interest that Popery it self has rather gained than lost ground since that ACT. Now Supposing it true that some of them did obtain such dispensations what was this to his Majesty and if any of them that gat their Offices were apt to afford them unlawful favours they might have called them to account for it with much more general Satisfaction than they did the Abhorrers but let any man that Knowes any thing of the World Judge whether the Malice or falsehood of the Conclusion be greatest They tell the King a dreadful Story of the defeating of the Presentment intended against his Majesties Brother the Duke of York under whose Countenance all the rest of the Papists shelter themselves as they say But surely his Majesty was not to be informed what they thought of this who could not but be well informed of the Fact long since and so they descend to the business of the Weekly Pacquet of Advice from Rome which Exposes Popery as it deserves say they as Ridiculous to the People and they tell his Majesty That a New and Arbitrary Rule of Court was made in his Majesties Court of Kings-Bench That the same for the future should not be Printed by any person whatsoever But then they take no Notice how that Author has made many Odious False and Scandalous Reflections upon the Religion and Government by Law Established which was the cause why it was Supprest and not any talent he had of writing against Popery Finally They tell the King that they have freed themselves from the guilt of that blood and desolation which is like to ensue which is an Expression in that place that looks like a kind of Threat or Menace for there was then No prospect of blood or desolation that could arise from any cause or persons but what must be Countenanced by the Dissenters The Conclusion is But our Onely hope next under God is in Your Sacred Majesty that by your Great Wisdome and Goodness we may be effectually Secured from Popery and all the Evils that attend it and that none but persons of Known Fidelity to Your Majesty and Sincere Affection to The Protestant Religion What Religion may be put into any Imployment Civil or Military That whilst we shall give a Supply to Tangier we may be assured we do not Augment the Strength of our Popish Adversaries nor encrease our own Dangers which Desires of your Faithful Commons if Your Majesty shall Graciously vouchsafe to grant we shall not onely be ready to assist Your Majesty in defence of Tangier but do whatsoever else shall be in our power to enable Your Majesty to Protect the Protestant Religion and Interest at home and abroad and to resist and repel the Attempts of Your Majesties and the Kingdoms Enemies But His Majesty notwithstanding continued without any Supply and by the Blessing of God preserved the Town Now it is very observable that in the former Parliament there being a Report That Tangier should be Sold to relieve the Necessities of the Crown they then Voted April 9. 1679. That the House was of Opinion That those who should Advise His Majesty to part with Tangier to any Foraign Prince or State or be Instrumental therein ought to be accounted Enemies to the King and Kingdom And yet now that it was in apparent hazard to be lost to the Moors the Sworn Enemies of all Christians they would grant nothing to preserve it and many of the Commons in their Speeches were of Opinion that it was the best way to desert the Town So that if any did Advise his Majesty to Sell the Place they were Enemies to the King and Kingdom but if it were lost or deserted So the King had nothing for it the Matter was not much so that the King might bear the blame tho the Commons were in the fault On TVESDAT the 30th of November the Tryal of William Viscount Stafford was began which lasted till the 7th of December of which I shall take no Notice it being printed by it Self During all which time there was nothing material done by the House of Commons except that business Wednesday the 8th and Thursday the Ninth of December were spent in Reporting of Elections and discharging persons out of the Custody of the Serjeant and Ordering others to be taken in to Supply their places But very remarkable was their Severity against Mr. Sheridon and Mr. Day who were Ordered to be taken into Custody their Papers to be Searched and that
shall be Exposed Naked and Friendless to the Fury of those Reipublicans that Murthered his Royal Father and the Religion by Law Established to the Mercy of those that have Sworn the Ruine of it And finally the Property and Liberty of the Subject shall be Exposed to those men who have given the World too good an Account already what Trusty Guardians of them they are ever to be trusted with them again till the Memory of the late Times shall perish not onely as to the Memories of Men but Books and Records But yet after all this the branding those Gentlemen that were brought in without the Least Exception to Supply the places of those that were turned out of the Commission of the Peace and Lieutenancy with the odious Titles of Men of Arbitrary Prineciples and Favourers of Papists and Popery is in my poor Judgment Much worse and as it was impossible the Major part of the House should think so of them all so I am fully perswaded if Passion had not had too great a dominion over them they would Never have vented so Crude an Assertion in So August a place in So Serious a Manner to his Majesty and the whole World they may be pleased to think of this again Now the heat perhaps is over for as they have worded it it can never be maintained it being impossible to be known or proved nor is any favourable Construction to be allowed to an Expression and Declaration so publickly and deliberately made by so many men in so publick a Trust That from henceforth such Persons only may be Judges within the Kingdom of England and Dominion of Wales as are men of Ability Integrity and Known Affection to the Protestant Religion and that they may hold their Offices and Salaries quam diu se bene gesserint That several Deputy Lieutenants and Justices of the Peace fitly qualified for those Imployments having been of late displaced and others put in their room Who are MEN of Arbitrary Principles and Countenancers of Papists and Popery Such onely may bear the Office of a Lord-Lieutenant as are persons of Integrity and Known Affection to the Protestant Religion That Deputy-Lieutenants and Justices of the Peace may be also So qualified and may be moreover Men of Ability of Estates and Interest in their Country That none may be imployed as Military Officers or Officers in Your Majesties Fleet but Men of Known Experience Courage and Affection to the Protestant Religion These our Humble Requests being obtained we shall on our parts be ready to Assist Your Majesty for the preservation of Tangier and for putting your Majesties Fleet into Such a Condition as it may preserve your Majesties Soveraignty of the Seas and be for the Defence of the Nation If Your Majesty hath or shall make any Alliances for Defence of the Protestant Religion and Interest and Security of this Kingdom this House will be ready to Assist and Stand by your Majesty in the Support of the same AFTER this our Humble Answer to Your Majesties Gracious Speech Doubtless after all this fine Language and strong Reason if any Evil Instrument any man of Arbitrary Principles or favourer of Papists or Popery or finally if his Majesty or any Considerable part of the Nation should thro humane infirmity happen to Suspect either your Prudence in delaying the Care of these Great Things to so long a day or your Loyalty in making these demands of your Natural Soveraign or your Charity and Candor in bestowing Commendations on your fellow Subjects his Majesties Officers at the rate you have done I say if any such misfortune should happen you are not to Wonder much at it for great Merits and great Virtues great Attempts and Heroick Undertakings are Seldom well received at present but Posterity will Admire and Applaud them according to their Deserts we hope no Evil instruments whatsoever shall be able to lessen your Majesties Esteem of that Fidelity and Affection we bear to Your Majesties Service but that Your Majesty will always retain in your Royal Breast that Favourable Opinion of Vs your Loyal Commons that those other good Bills which we have now under Consideration Conducing to the great Ends we have before Mentioned as also all Laws for the Benefit and Comfort of Your People which shall from time to time be tendred for Your Majesties Royal Assent shall find acceptance with Your Majesty I will here insert those Reasons I mentioned above against the Bill of Exclusion which were delivered in the House of Commons the Fourth day of November before this Address by a Great Person a Member of that House Sir L. J. by which letters I understand Sir Leoline Jenkins one of the Principal Secretaries of State Sir I have spent much of my time in studying the Laws of this Land and I pretend to know something of the Law of Foreign Countries as Well as of our own and I have upon this occasion well considered of them but cannot find how we can Justifie the passing of this Bill rather much against it First I think it contrary to Natural Justice that We should proceed to Condemnation not only before Conviction but before we have heard the Party or Examined any Witness about him I am sure none in his defence And to do this by making a New Law of purpose when you have Old Laws in being that have appointed a Punishment to his Crime I humbly conceive is very Severe and contrary to the usual Proceedings of this House and the Birth-Right of every English-man Secondly I think it is Contrary to the Principles of Our Religion that we should dispossess a man of his Birth-Right because he differs from us in point of Faith For it is not agreed by all that Dominion is sounded in Grace For my part I think there is more of Popery in this Bill than there can possibly be in the Nation without it for none but Papists and Fifth-Monarchy-men did ever go about to dis-inherit men for their Religion Thirdly I am of opinion that the Kings of England have their Right from God alone and that no Power on Earth can deprive them of it And I hope this House will not attempt to do any thing which is so precisely contrary not only to the Law of God but the Law of the Land too For if this Bill should pass it would Change the Essence of the Monarchy and Make the Crown Elective For by the same reason that this Parliament may dis-inherit this Prince for his Religion other Parliaments may dis-inherit another upon some other pretence which they may Suggest and so Consequently by such Exclusions elect whom they please Fourthly It is against the Oath of Allegiance taken in its own sense without Jesuitical Evasions For by binding all persons to the King his Heirs and Successors the Duke as Presumptive Heir must be understood And I am of opinion that it cannot be dispensed withal Sir I will be very cautious how I dispute the Power
Exclusion of the Duke of York will onely Secure them once from a Popish Prince and make them that follow more Cautious how they discover themselves too soon and that if any Actual King of England should turn Papist which is as possible and more probable then that another Heir should do it they would then be in the same state as if the Duke Succeeded They constantly reply That it is unreasonable it should be in the power of one man to reduce us to Popery that is It is not reasonable that Kingly Government should be any Longer Continued amongst us From all which I conclude That the project of Uniting Protestants by remitting the Laws against the Dissenters is impossible and that these Consequences being Obvious and Apparent before-hand there could be no other design in the Attempt but the ruine of the Monarchy and the introducing Confusion and War amongst us at least these would certainly have followed So that the day a Toleration or which is all one an Vnion amongst Protestants upon the terms propounded is settled the Monarchy must be made Absolute or it will not Stand And Provision must be made to maintain a Standing Army bigg enough eo Keep all Parties Quiet how much soever they are averse to it or our Peace at home will not be Maintained And as to all Foreign affairs England must look on and suffer all things to go as they will for Neither King nor Common-Wealth will be in a Condition to do any thing abroad in that unsettled state things will be at home and by that time England comes to settle France if God interpose not by Miracles will have brought under So many of its Neighbours that England will be able to make no effectual resistance if it should be attacked by that Potent Kingdom Conclusion My dearest Countrymen I humbly begg you would be pleased to reflect Seriously upon this in time if it be not Now too late and Unite heartily with His Majesty our most Gracious and Sweet-Natured Soveraign and the Religion Established and not suffer your selves to be led by pretended Fears into real and unavoidable Slavery and Consusion attended with all the Miseries of War and which as much as Man can foresee must end in Popery and a French Conquest of us I have laid the Matter plainly before you not Knowing what may follow as to my Self but this I am sure of that Advantage I can have none by it I am a private person and I Expect so to live and die I have no aim at any Publick Imployment or Place of Trust nor any means to attain it if I had I am Contented with the State God hath Set me In. And the Utmost I wish for is to Leave things to my Posterity as they ought Now to be if the Laws had their due Effects and therefore I am compelled by Nothing but my Zealous affection for my Country which next God and my own Soul I love above all things to run the hazard of giving you this Advice and thereby drawing upon me the Malice and Revenge of all those that seek to Ruine and Enslave You. As to those Gentlemen of the House of Commons who may possibly take offence at What I have written for all I am sure will not I desire they would in cool blood Consider what they have done and then let them think of Me what they please For if ever Faction Anger and ill designs were entertained by so great a Body of Men as the Major part of this House was it is Apparent they were here And I will instance in but a few Particulars tho I might in more Can any mortal man produce either Precedent or Law to Justifie the Imprisonment of the Gentlemen called the Abhorrers Have the meanest people of England a right to Petition the King against his Express Command in a thing of which he is the Sole Judge by all our Laws and that by Multitudes of Hands procured by men that have no authority for that purpose and may not Grand-Juries Justices of the Peace and other such like persons oppose them or which is less disown it But suppose they did more than they ought was it fit to imprison them before they were allowed to defend themselves Gentlemen it served your turn now but it may one day be turn'd against you and then consider how you will take it The Corporations do Now most of them send Gentlemen but they may when they please lay You by and send Mechanicks Trades-men Shop-Keepers How would your high spirits brook it to be sent for in Custody and made to Kneel without being Suffered to Speak and onely for doing your duties to such men and so be sent home again I am sure no English Gentleman can brook this indignity but with such inward Resentments as befit the Generosity and Temper of that Nation or otherwise I must think we are prepared for Slavery and all that Manly Courage that hath made our People Renowned in all Countries in the World is degenerated into the Most Shameful Effeminacy and Cowardise Onely in this case Religion and Loyalty made them yield even to Injustice and Oppression As long as his Sacred Majesty thought fit to Suffer it they Submitted but with such Thoughts as would have taught you more Justice and Moderation if this had not been in the case Your styling all those Gentlemen that had been brought in to the Commission of the Peace in the room of some others displaced MEN of Arbitrary Principles and Countenancers of Papists and Popery and if you could have invented more Odious Names and Words than these you might with as much truth and ingenuity have bestowed them upon them Was it fairly done or was it not Is it one of the Priviledges of your House to Vote Me a Jew or a Turk or that I was one of those men that occasioned the Breach betwixt Charles the First and his Parliament If it be then I will say no more but that I begg your Pardon and Kneel down at the Bar of a House of Commons with the same Submission as if I believed the Speaker Infallible and every Member an Angel But if your Votes ought to be not only Consonant to Law but agreeable to the truth of things then that Passage was hastily and passionately written and not well Considered and care ought to be taken for the future to Write more Cautiously and Speak and Vote like Men that had a little respect to your Places Your Votes of the 7th of January 1680. concerning his Majesties Revenues and borrowing of Money upon them are they justifiable or no may I not lend the King 100 l. if I please without your leave and not incur the danger of being reputed an Enemy to the Sitting of Parliaments Suppose the French should Land in England or Ireland or the Papists or Dissenters rise and the King Want Money to suppress the one or drive out the other must we hazard his and our Ruine rather
then supply him by a Lone in the Intervals of Parliament have we a Property in what is our own and may we not use it as we see cause without breach of Priviledge of Parliament Your Vote of the 10th of January That the Prosecution of the Protestant Dissenters upon the Penal Laws was at that time Grievous to the Subject a Weakning of the Protestant Interest an Incouragement to Popery and Dangerous to the Peace of the Kingdom is as little understood as any of the rest Why was it made To what Subject is it Grievous To the Dissenters Why then let them leave their Dissenting to the Church of England and all will be well What Protestant Interest doth it weaken for there are more Protestant Interests then one in the Nation doth it weaken that Protestant Interest which is Settled by Law Then say so But how it doth encourage Popery or endanger the Peace of the Nation is yet Harder to be understood but Suppose it did what then You may repeal the Laws and Bills you had afoot that would have Repealed them if they would have passed but you were to be adjourned and had not time to finish them And did you think to have laid them asleep by your Single Vote without the Consent of the Lords or the King You should have done well then to have told the Nation that you have the whole Legislative Power in your hands and that it is Contrary to Law for any man to Act against a Vote of the House of Commons tho in Obedience to an Act of Parliament But that I may not seem to set up my own Single Judgment against a Whole House of Commons I will insert an Authority or two Equal to them in better Times tho they be Long. The first of which shall be an Address of the House of Commons the 28. of Febr. 1663. May it please your Most Excellent Majesty WE Your Majesties most Dutiful and Loyal Subjects the Knights Citizens and Burgesses of the House of Commons in Parliament Assembled having with all Fidelity and Obedience Considered of the Several Matters Comprised in Your Majesties late Gracious Declaration of the 26. of Decemb. Last and your most Gracious Speech at the beginning of this presenâ— Session Do in the first place for our Selves and in the Names of all the Commons of England render to your most Sacred Majesty the Tribute of our most hearty Thanks for all that infinite Grace and Goodness wherewith Your Majesty hath been pleased to publish your Royal Intentions of adhering to your Act of Indemnity and Oblivion by your Constant and Religious observance of it And our Hearts are further enlarged in these returns of Thanksgivings when we Consider Your Majesties most Princely and Heroick Professions of relying upon the Affections of your People and Abhorring all Sort of Military and Arbitrary Rule But above all we can never enough remember to the Honour of Your Majesties Piety and our own unspeakable Comfort those Solemn and most endearing Invitations of us Your Majesties Subjects to prepare Laws to be presented to Your Majesty against the Growth and encrease of Popery and withal to provide more Laws against Licentiousness and Impiety at the same time declaring Your Own Resolutions for Maintaining the Act of Vniformity And it becomes us always to acknowledg and Admire Your Majesties Wisdom in this your Declaration whereby Your Majesty is pleased to resolve not onely by Sumptuary Laws but by your Own Royal Example of Frugality to restrain that Excess in mens Expences which is grown so general and so exorbitant and to direct our endeavours to find out fit Laws for Advancement of Trade and Commerce After all this We humbly beseech Your Majesty to believe that it is with Extream Vnwillingness and Reluctancy of Heart that we are brought to differ from any thing which your Majesty hath thought fit to propose And though we do no way doubt but that the unreasonable distempers of Mens Spirits and the Many Mutinies and Conspiracies which were carried on during the late Interval of Parliaments did reasonably incline Your Majesty * * I suppose here is a word wanting to ill humours till the Parliament assembled and the hopes of an Indulgence if the Parliament should Consent to it Especially seeing the pretenders to this Indulgence did seem to make some title to it by virtue of Your Majesties Declaration from Breda Nevertheless your Majesties most Dutiful and Loyal Subjects who are Now returned to Serve in Parliament from those Several Parts and Places of Your Kingdom for which we were Chosen do humbly offer to Your Majesties Great Wisdom That it is in No Sort Adviseable that there be any Indulgence to such persons who prefume to dissent from the Act of Uniformity and Religion Established for these Reasons We have Considered the Nature of Your Majesties Declaration from Breda and are Humbly of Opinion that Your Majesty ought not to be pressed with it any further Because it is not a Promise in it Self but onely a Gracious declaration of Your Majesties Intentions to do what in you lay and what a Parliament should Advise Your Majesty to do and No such Advice was ever given or thought fit to be offered nor could it be otherwise Vnderstood because there were Lawes of Vniformity then in being Note this Which Could not be dispeused with but by Act of Parliament They who do pretend a right to that Supposed Promise put their right into the Hands of their Representatives whom they chose to Serve for them in this Parliament who have passed and your Majesty Consented to the ACT of Vniformity If any shall presume to Say That a right to the benefit of this Declaration doth still remain after this Act passed it tends to dissolve the very Bonds of Government and to Suppose a disability in Your Majesty and your Houses of Parliament to make a Law contrary to any part of your Majesties Declaration though both Houses should Advise Your Majesty to it We have also Considered the Nature of the Indulgence proposed with reference to those Consequences which must Necessarily attend it It will Establish Schism by a Law and make the whole Government of the Church precarious and the Censures of it of No Moment or Consideration at all It will no way become the Gravity or Wisdom of a Parliament to pass a Law at One Session for Vniformity and at the Next Session the reason for Vniformity Continuing still the same to pass another Law to frustrate or Weaken the Execution of it It will Expose Your Majesty to the restless Importunity of every Sect or Opinion and of every single person also that shall presume to dissent from the Church of England It will be a cause of increasing Sects and Sectaries whose Numbers will weaken the true Protestant profession so far that it will at last become difficult for it to defend it self against them And which is yet further Considerable those Numbers which
by being troublesom to the Government find they can Arrive to an Indulgence will as their Numbers increase be yet more troublesome so at length they may arrive to a general Toleration which Your Majesty hath declared against and in time some prevalent Sect will at last Contend for an Establishment which for ought can be foreseen may end in Popery It is a thing altogether without Precedent and will take away all means of Convicting Recusants and be inconsistent with the Method and Proceedings of the Laws of England Lastly it is humbly Conceived That the Indulgence proposed will be so far from tending to the Peace of the Kingdom that it is rather likely to occasion great disturbance And on the Contrary That the Asserting of the Laws and the Religion Established according to the Act of Uniformity is the most probable Means to produce a Settled Peace and Obedience through the Kingdom because the Variety of Professions in Religion when Openly indulged doth directly distinguish men into Parties and withal gives them Opportunities to count their Numbers which considering the Animosities that out of a religious Pride will be kept on foot by the several Factions doth tend directly and inevitably to open disturbance Nor can Your Majesty have any Security that the Doctrine or Worship of the Several Factions which are all governed by a Several Rule shall be consistent with the Peace of the Kingdom And if any person shall presume to disturb the Peace of the Kingdome We do in all humility declare That we will for ever and upon all occasions be ready with our Vtmost Endeavours and Assistance to Adhere to and Serve Your Majesty according to our bounden Duty and Allegiance The Reason and Loyalty of this Address prevailed with his Majesty at that time to lay aside all his Thoughts of an Indulgence and well had it been for him and us if he had never reassumed them for from his forsaking this Advice in the Year 1671. Sprung all those Miseries that now so much threaten him and us But tho his Majesty Changed the Parliament kept their grounds for in an Address dated the 14th of Feb. 1672. they assert against His Majesties Declaration of Indulgence dated the 15th of March before That Penal Statutes in Matters Ecclesiastical cannot be suspended but by Act of Parliament We therefore say they the Knights Citizens and Burgesses of the House of Commons do most humbly beseech Your Majesty That the said Lawes may have their Free Course until it shall be otherwise provided by Act of Parliament and that Your Majesty would Graciously be pleased to give such Directions herein that no Apprehensions or Jea ousies may remain in the Hearts of Your Majesties good and faithful Subjects The King not being Satisfied with this but still insisting that he had a Right by his Supremacy to Suspend the Execution of Penal Laws in Ecclesiastical Affairs They replyed the 26th of Feb. following That no such Power was ever Claimed or Exercised by any of his Majesties Predecessors and if it should be admitted might tend to the Interrupting of the Free Course of the Laws and altering the Legislative Power which hath always been acknowledged to reside in his Majesty and the Two Houses of Parliament Therefore they did with an Vnanimous Consent become again Humble Suitors unto his Sacred Majesty That he would be pleased to give them a full and Satisfactory Answer to their first Petition and Address and that his Majesty would take such effectual Order That the Proceedings in this Matter might not be for the future drawn into Example To which said last Address his Majesty was pleased to Condescend so far as to Order his Declaration of Indulgence to be taken off the File and Cancell'd Now the use I make of all is to shew first That the Opinion of an Excellent Wise House of Commons was That an Indulgence Toleration or Vnion as they now call it was of a Mischievous Nature and would finally end in Confusion and Popery Secondly That if it should be thought necessary to grant one it being a Legislative Act it must be by the Joynt Consent of the King and the Two Houses and not by any one of them And therefore I will Leave it to the Consideration of the Gentlemen of that House to Judge Whether they did well in passing the Vote of the 10th of January aforesaid for the Suspension of all Penal Laws which relate to the Protestant Dissenters Some pretending to Excuse them have said it was a Vote only in order to a Bill to be brought in for the taking those Laws away But I answer There were several other Bills for that purpose depending and therefore this was in vain Secondly There is no mention of a Bill to be brought in in the Conclusion of the Vote Thirdly They knew they were to be Prorogued as appears by their first Vote and therefore Such a Design would have been impossible Now if they had carried those few Points in this Session First not onely to Deny the King any Supply but to make it Criminal for any man to Lend him any Money upon his Revenues they might then in another Session have gone further and have made it Punishable for any man to have paid him his Just Settled Legal Dues and that would have made them able to have Forced this King or his Successors to what ever they had pleased Secondly If they might have gone on to imprison his Majesty's Subjects in an Illegal and Arbitrary way for Matters that had no relation to Priviledges of Parliament they might afterwards have Extended this to as many Persons and Things as they had pleased and so No man would have dared to have stood by His Majesty against a House of Commons tho they had attempted to Depose his Majesty Nor would his Majesty in a short time have been able to have Protected his Subjects against any injury that they or any of them had been pleased to have done them which would infallibly have Subverted the Monarchy and have introduced a Common-Wealth Thirdly If they had got that great Branch of the Legislative Power into their hands of suspending the Execution of Laws by their Vote they might have driven it as far as they pleased and so have once more Outed the King and the House of Lords as a former Parliament did by the Same Means I will conclude this with the Judgment of a Great and a Learned Man Clarendon's Answer to Hobbs p. 127 128. No Orders made by A House of Commons in England are of any Validity or Force or receive any Submission longer then that House of Commons Continues and if Any Order made by them be against any Law or Statute it is Void when it is Made and receives no Obedience His Majesty then had both Law and Reason on his Side when he ended his Speech to the Next Parliament at Oxford with these Words I WILL Conclude with this one Advice to you That the Rules