Governour under Sir Thomas Jermyn of the Isle of Jersey having given an Account of the state of the Isle was Ordered to repair to his Charge there and if Mr. Percy Mr. Jermyn c. were there to apprehend them and cause them to be safely conducted to the House of Lords A Conference was this day appointed to be had with the Lords Fri day May 7. Heads of a Conference about the present dangers of Portsmouth and the French to acquaint them that divers persons who were suspected to have a hand in the Conspiracy and that in order to the discovery of it should have been Examined were gone that new Informations were brought to the Commons of several French Forces lay in Piccardy to be Transported into England probably into Portsmouth and to desire their Lordships to joyn with this House for the Discovery of these Practices and that some Forces may be drawn out of Wiltshire and Barkshire for securing of Portsmouth Sir Walter Erle was also ordered to go down into Dorsetshire to take care of the preservation and safety of that County Sir Hugh Cholmley to go to the Lords to desire them to move his Majesty that the Earl of Essex in this time of danger may be made Lord Lieutenant of Yorkshire A Proclamation was drawn to bring in Mr. Percy c. WHereas Henry Percy Esq Henry Jermyn Esq Proclamation to bring in Mr. Percy Sir John Suckling Knight William Davenant and Captain Billingsly being by order of the Lords in Parliament to be Examined concerning designs of great danger to the State and mischievous ways to prevent the happy Success and Conclusion of this Parliament have so absented and withdrawn themselves as they cannot be Examined His Majesty by the advice of the said Lords in Parliament doth strictly charge the said Henry Percy Esq Henry Jermyn Esq Sir John Suckling William Davenant and Captain Billingsly to appear before the said Parliament at Westminster within Ten days after the Date hereof upon pain to undergo such forfeitures and punishments as the said Lords shall order and inflict upon them The Earl of Bristol Reported to the Lords House Earl of Bristols Report about disbanding the Irish Army May 7. That his Majesty had taken a resolution for the disbanding of the new Irish Army to that purpose an estimate hath been given in to the King of the Charges that 10000 l. will now do it Whereupon there is order taken for the speedy Raising and Returning of Moneys to that intent And Sir Adam Loftus Vice-Treasurer of Ireland hath engaged himself to repay in September next those Monies shall be disbursed by the Earl of Cork and others in the interim for that purpose That likewise there is care taken how to dispose and imploy the said Soldiers that they may not be troublesome to that Country to that purpose there are Eight Colonels and Captains Nominated who will take off these Men and Transport them to Forreign Parts which his Majesty will give way unto if it be to a Prince that he is in Amity with provided that these Commanders do give the King and Parliament an Account both of their Persons and their Imployers before they have the Command of the Soldiers Mr. White Chair-man of the Committee for Scandalous Ministers Saturday May 8. Reports the matter of Complaint exhibited against Edward Finch Vicar of Christ-Church London Upon which these Votes passed Resolved c. Votes about Mr. Finch Vicar of Christ-Church London That the said Edward Finch is guilty of practising Innovations in the Church Non-Residency foul Extortion neglect of the Duty of his Function and prophaning the Sacrament a Man of prophane Life scandalous in his Doctrine and Conversation and a hinderer of preaching Resolved c. That the said Edward Finch is a man unfit to hold any Benefice or Promotion in the Church Mr. White is Ordered to transmit this Case to the Lords that the Parish may be eased of him Thus early did they begin to strike at Root and Branch of Episcopacy for all those who were obedient to their Governours in the Church or thought God Almighty ought to have bodily Worship and Adoration in those places where he has put his Name and made them Houses of Prayer all those who thought kneeling at the Receiving the Holy Sacrament necessary or any other decent Postures Gestures or Vestments that might outwardly signifie inward Veneration and Homage Lawful and Expedient were upon the slightest Accusations voted Guilty of Innovation Prophaneness and unworthy of any Promotion in the Church And as Mr. Symmons Vindicat of King Charles p. 73. Symmons in his Vindication of King Charles who was an Eye-witness of this terrible Persecution informs us All Accusations against any though the best Ministers by the most malicious and lewdest persons were invited by Ordinance incouraged and admitted of without any proof at all And it can be no wonder that the Orthodox Clergy suffered so deeply both in their Reputation and Estates when not only their Accusers which mostly were the several Sectaries in their Parishes or such others as went about to defraud them of their just Dues were their most inveterate Enemies but their Judges too were frequently both Parties in promoting and managing those Accusations and by their open favouring their Accusers shewed the partiality of Enemies The Faction saw the absolute necessity of getting the power of the Sword into their hands both to justifie what they had already done and to support them in what they intended by their pretended Reformation which was totally to abolish Episcopacy in the Church and to clip the Wings of Prerogative if not wholly to take away the Government of Monarchy it self Now to the accomplishment of this design upon the Militia Navy Forts Magazines and Strength of the Nation all Arts imaginable were used to gain the People the great pretences were Liberty Property and Religion for as Mr. Hambden one of the principal Grandees of the Faction told a private friend without that they could not draw the People to assist them The great Rubb in their way to the gaining of the People they knew would be the Loyal and Orthodox Bishops and Clergy these therefore were to be removed that so Creatures of their own might be introduced into Corporations and especially into the City of London who might from the Pulpit preach the Oracles of Sedition and Rebellion delude the People animate and incourage them to assist the Parliament in this Glorious Reformation by putting the power of the Sword into their hands That they might effect this they did not only obtrude Lecturers by order of the House upon most Churches of Note in London and elsewhere but by their means and the restless malice of the Sectaries were perpetually Petitioning and Articling against the Episcopal Clergy And to encourage this Trade of Parson-hunting as the factious Sectaries called it and which did extreamly tie them to the Parliament a pretended Order of the
Estate sufficient to maintain his Quality in the Rank of Reputation which he held in the World but he was also born with a Mind so Great and Generous and a Genius so Elevated above the Lower Orb wherein he moved as could not suffer him to continue long in that safe Obscurity of a private Gentleman King James dying left his Son a Discontented State and an Empty Treasury two Misfortunes then which no Prince can well be supposed to have greater Necessitous Princes having ever been forced to part with a great measure of their Prerogative to inable them to keep and support the remainder and King Charles the First coming to the Crown found it stuck with Thorns instead of many of those Jewels which had adorned the Temples of his Royal Predecessors To Extricate himself out of those Difficulties he Summons a Parliament and layes before them the Necessities of the Crown and demands their assistance by Supplies of Money for managing the Palatinate Warr in which they had involved his Father and which with the Crown was devolved upon him but the Commons instead of Money presented him with Two Petitions one about Religion the other about Grievances and in the Conclusion they fell severely upon the Duke of Buckingham who by reason of the Great Favour of his Prince was fallen under the Popular Envy and Hatred and the Debates running very high the King Dissolved the Parliament and a Second being in the same strain and no Money to be had had also the same period of which the Reader will receive a more full Account in the Introduction to these Historical Collections whither to avoid Repetition he is referred The Necessities of the King daily increasing recourse was had to Extraordinary Methods of raising Money and among the Rest that of Loan by virtue of a Warrant under the Privy Seal to Gentlemen of Estates was made Use of and one of these Seals being sent to Sir Thomas Wentworth for 40 l he declined the Payment of the Money as intrenching upon the Property of the Subject whereupon he was confined as were several other Gentlemen upon the same Occasion By which suffering he became Exceeding Popular and look't upon as a Confessor for the Liberty and Property of the People and in the Following Parliament whereof he was a Member and in which he began to display his great Parts and Abilities upon this Occasion he came to be much taken notice of and observed even at the Court as a Person of uncommon Abilities and the gaining of him to the Kings Interest was by those who managed the Publique Affairs thought might contribute much to the advancement of the Kings Interest and Service But how unsuccessful this Procedure of gaining Men of Ability by Preferments and rebating the Edge of Popular Spirits by Honors and Advancements to Places of Trust proved to the Interest of the King not only the Event but Reason upon which it is Naturally Founded does most plainly manifest for Ambition or the natural Desire of Honour becomes hereby a perfect Hydra and the Prince cannot sooner remove one Head but immediately another rises in the place and at the same time that a Popular Opponent is converted by Court Preferment he becomes the Envy of all those whose Party he seems to have abandoned and the greatest Abilities and real Services he shall render to his Benefactor will not only be ill represented but by how much the greater his Interest Power and Abilities are by so much will he be Esteemed more dangerous and in proportion both Envy'd and Hated However it seems these were not the Sentiments at that time of those who managed the Affairs of State for a Train was laid for an Interview between Sir Richard Weston then Lord Treasurer and afterwards Earl of Portland and Sir Thomas Wentworth which being Effected the Interview begot an acquaintance and the acquaintance in a little time grew to a most Firm and Solid Friendship Great Minds being with little Difficulty invited to and Established in those Generous Friendships which are begotten not out of Wantonness or trifling formality but by the inward harmony and likeness which Noble Souls quickly discover in Each other It happened that in some of the divertive Entertainments of their agreeable Conversation these Two Great Men falling upon the Discourse of the Popular Humor in the Commons House which the Lord Treasurer wisely judged could never either portend or promote any real advantage to the Nation Sir Thomas declared himself to be in his Judgment an absolute Enemy to the consequences and dreadful Effects which usually attend Popular Commotions and disturbances which generally produce the very same or worse miseries then those which they pretend to redress and pursuing his ingenious discourse he offered some Expedients so rational and persuasive towards a Mediation and Reconcilement of the present Differences and some things so apposite to the present juncture of Affairs as Extremely raised the value of his Prudence and Wisdom in the Esteem of the Lord Treasurer who daily discovered more and more the penetrating Abilities of his Mind mingled with a solid firmness of Reason and Judgment It will easily be believed that the Lord Treasurer having as he could not but conclude found a Jewel fit for a Princes Cabinet was not backward in representing Sir Thomas Wentworth to his Majesty with a Character no ways disadvantagious to him nor was there any great difficulty to introduce him into his Majesties Esteem and Favour who was already possessed with a belief and knowledg of his Merit and how serviceable a Person of his Interest and Qualifications might be to his Affairs He was no sooner come under the warm influence of Majesty but he was made sensible of the Beams of Honour which are derived from the Royal Fountain of it and in a little time he was created Baron Wentworth and the Ascendant of his wisdom daily gaining upon his Majesties Favour and Esteem he was shortly advanced to the Honour of Viscount Wentworth of Wentworth Woodhouse made one of his Majesties most Honorable Privy-Council Lord Lieutenant of the County of York and Lord President of the Court and Council of the North. And here give me leave to mention a little and in appearance a trifling accident of Honour which proved the great if not the only occasion of his Ruin among the rest of his Honours he had the Title of Baron of Raby an Honour to which Sir Henry Vane one of his Majesties Secretaries of State who was possessed of the Castle of Raby and the Demeasns thereunto belonging had some pretensions and was not a little ambitious of but being overshadowed by this lofty and spreading Cedar he was so stung with the disappointment and so thirsty of Revenge that though he warily smothered his Resentments yet he was ever an Enemy to this Noble Lord and as it appeared for his sake to his Royal Master and as it may from hence be not improbably conjectured judging himself far more
for an Apostle much less a Bishop And abating the Unlawfulness which this Instance for ever will supersede there can be no Inconvenience but may be thought abundantly Recompensed in a Christian Common-Wealth by the Sage and Religious Advice of these Learned Reverend and Pious Prelates in framing Laws for a Christian Society and the good Government of the State which is imbodied into the Church in a Christian Commonwealth and when this is winnowed from his Lordship's Speech all the rest will be but Chaff The Lord General produced a Letter sent to his Excellency from Sir Thomas Glemham at Hull declaring the great Disorders The Soldiers Disorderly and Mutinous for want of Pay and Unruliness of the Souldiers there and of the Mutiny that lately was among them in which Uproar one of their Captains was killed and others threatned And he further informed the House That the Army through want of Money and Provisions is so dispersed into several places that they are no Security to those Parts in case the Army of the Scots should advance Whereupon it was resolved to have a Conference with the Commons about the state of the Army Mr. Munday June 7. Report of the Case between the Bishop of Ely and the Lady Hatton Whitlock Reports from the Committee to whom the Lady Hattons Complaint against the Bishop of Ely was referred That Richard Cox Bishop of Ely in the 18 Eliz. made a Lease of some Old Buildings and Lands next Ely House to Sir Christopher Hatton Lord Chancellor of England for 21 Years he intending there to make a Habitation for himself That 19 Eliz. Bishop Cox Conveyed the Inheritance to the Crown the Intention of it for the Vse of the said Chancellor Hatton to whom it came afterward In the Preamble of that Conveyance there was a Clause for the Bishop of Ely and his Successors to redeem the Premisses upon the repayment of such Moneys as the Lord Chancellor Hatton should disburse who disbursed in Building One thousand eight hundred and ninety pounds odd Money Chancellor Hatton intailed the Premisses and they were after Extended for a Debt to the Queen and an Act of Parliament was passed to Enable the Sale of them by another Sir Christopher Hatton who was seized by the Entail and who did for valuable Considerations 5 Jac. sell the premisses to the Lady Eliz. Hatton the Petitioner who since Expended in Building Repairing and Improving it Seven Thousand eight hundred pounds odd mony and ever since the purchase being 34 Years till Nov. 14 Car. when the now Bishop of Ely Dr. Wren preferred his Bill into the Court of Requests to have the House and Lands restored to his See by the Clause of Redemption in the Conveyance from Bishop Cox pretending she had notice of it She in answer upon Oath denies that she had any notice of the Trust and none is proved by the Bishop the Cause came to hearing in Nov. 15 Car. but no Judgment though the Lady Hatton moved they would do it and of this suspending of Judgment my Lady complains is a great prejudice to her Whereupon it was Resolved c. That the suspending of Judgment in the Court of Requests in the Case depending between the Bishop of Ely and the Lady Hatton is an unnecessary Delay Resolved c. That the Lady Hatton is a Purchaser upon valuable Considerations and hath been at great Expences in Building Repairing and Improving the said Estate Resolved c. That the Estate of the Lady Hatton being good in Law is not redeemable in Equity nor subject to the said pretended Trust Resolved c. That the Bill depending in the Court of Requests between the Bishop of Ely and the Lady Hatton ought to be dismissed upon the merits of the Cause After which the Lay-Preachers Spencer Lay-Preachers reprehended Green Robinson c. who had been sent for by Order of the House were called in and Mr. Speaker gave them a reprehension telling them That the House had a general distast at this their proceedings and that if they should offend at any time in the like kind again this House would take Care they should be severely punished It is Easy to Observe with what tenderness these Sacrilegious Invaders of the Calling of the Ministry were treated by these High-flown Pretenders to Reformation who were dismissed for this Offence against God and all good men only with fair Warning and a Gentle Reproof when at the same time the Orthodox and Regular Clergy who had a Lawful Commission to speak the Truth and stand up in Vindication of the Church were upon every frivolous complaint from their Enemies the Sectaries for every word which could be tortured to depose any thing against the Proceedings of the Commons sent for in Custody imprisoned Outraged Stigmatized and many of them and their poor and innocent Families utterly ruined and undone The House of Lords being adjourned into a Committee during pleasure to Debate the Reasons sent up from the Commons at the Conference touching the Bishops not Voting in Parliament and after a long Debate the House was resumed Then the Bill was read a third time Entituled The Bill against Bishops thrown out of the Lords House An Act for restraining Bishops and others of the Clergy in Holy Orders from intermeddling in Secular Affairs And being put to the Question Whether it should pass as a Law it was Resolved by the Major part That it should not Upon Letters this day Received from Sir Jacob Ashley Tuesday June 8. it was declared That notwithstanding the Information of Mr. Darley against him yet he was in the good Opinion of the House The House was then informed that the Forty thousand pounds and the Hundred and twenty thousand pounds promised to be lent by the City were yet unpaid in notwithstanding many motions Hereby it appears that Alderman Pennington did not always speak the Truth in that House when he informed them That upon the King 's passing the Bill of Attainder against the Earl of Strafford Money came in as fast as it could be told The Cessation of Arms continued a fortnight longer from the 24th of June upon the same terms The Bills for taking away the Court of Star-Chamber Star-Chamber and Council Table Bills read and passed Report from the Close Committee and Regulating the Proceedings of the Council Board were read a second time and passed Mr. Fines Reports from the Close Committee Matters concerning the Tower of London the French the Flight of the Gentlemen accused of a Conspiracy in the Army to bring them up to Aw the Parliament The Earl of Strafford's design to have made an Escape had he not been prevented The Papists resorting into Hampshire towards Portsmouth and the Fortifying of it Mr. Jermyn's desire to get Portsmouth into his hands And the French Troops drawing down to Callice Diep and Granville Exceptions were taken at the Lord Digby for words spoken concerning an Oath which Colonel Goring
upon the Coyn all his intentions yea his preparations will not serve to make up a Charge of Treason And this under favour may serve to answer the Case of Guido Faux lately objected unless it be alledged that the Lord Strafford had as real an intention against the King's Life as Faux had for though the Intention in that Case be Treason by the Statute yet in all other things there is no Treason without the Action so immense and vast a Difference both is and ought to be betwixt a Project against the Royal Blood and all things else of a lower and inferiour Nature You see then My Lords that the body of the Statute cannot strike against the Lord Strafford neither in letter nor consequence this is not that must not be All that can be said is That yet his Fact may be Treason by the Common Law For my part I profess my Ignorance who ever thought the Common Law might declare but never make a Treason that is it must be presupposed that there is a Statute whereupon to build the Declaration and therefore to say that there is no Statute for it is to say it is no Treason at all The Statute ever makes the Treason and to be declared to be Treason either by Common Law or by Parliament are but two different ways of proceeding and must both resolve into one Principle nay and which comes home to the point in the 21 Ed. 3. to kill a man imployed in the King's War was Treason and 23. to kill the King's Messenger was Treason by Declaration of the Common Law but alwayes by reason of the Statute yet none of these are now Treason but Felony only by reason of the intervening Statute of 25 Ed. 3. Such hath ever been thought the force of its Letter and Declaration And so I leave it and will speak a word or two of the Salvo which is That because all Particulars could not be then determined therefore what the King and his Parliament should declare to be Treasonable in time to come should be punished as Treason And according to this Reservation in the 8 Ric. 2. one M was charged before the Kings-Bench and afterwards referred to the Parliament and there though the Fact was not contained in the Body of the Statute yet because of the Proviso it was adjudged Treason In the 11th Year of the same King the Duke of Ireland and Nevil Archbishop of York were impeached of High Treason by Glocester Arrundel and Warwick and notwithstanding the Statute were convicted thereof by the Salvo But in the 21 of the same Rich. 2. the Tide turned and the King had such a hand with the Parliament that the Sentence was recalled and those three Noblemen themselves were adjudged Traytors Again in the First Year of H. 4. his Successor that Revocation of the 21 Rich. 2. was repealed and the Sentence of the 11th of his Reign Re-established such were the Tossings to and fro of Treason and all because of that uncertain Proviso Therefore it was that in the same Parliament 1 H. 4. a Petition was preferred by the Nobility to have Treason limited within some Statute because they knew not either what to speak or what to do for fear thereof And in Chap. 10. an Act was made upon this Petition That that Salvo should be holden Repealed in all time to come and nothing Esteemed Treason but what was literally contained in the Statute 25 Ed. 3. And then it is said in the Record that there was great Joy at the making of this Act in that the drawn Sword hanging over every man's head by this slender thread of a Consequence or Illation was removed by that Act. Add to this that 1 Mariae c. 1. the same is repeated that No man shall be punished in Life or Estate as a Traitor but for the Crimes contained in the Statute 25 Ed. 3. without the least mention of the pretended Salvo The Earl of Northumberland 's Case comes nigh to the point he was charged with Treason 5 H. 4. and if the Statute of 1 H. 4. c. 10. whereby the Proviso is repealed had not intervened no doubt he had been condemned of Treason but he was convict of Felony and that because he could not be drawn within the Letter of that Statute 25 Ed. 3. and I dare confidently say it That since that Act made 1 H. 4. c. 10. whereby the Proviso is repealed no man hath ever been declared a Traitor either by the King or Parliament except it were upon that or some other Statute litterally and declaratively taken These two things I do offer to your Lordships Consideration that the Lord Strafford cannot be Impeached of Treason by the Statute of 25 Ed. 3. and that the Salvo contained in the same stands repealed almost 200 Years ago And this is all I conceive to be necessary for that Statute which was alledged by the Lord Strafford in his Defence for matter of Law Then the Recorder Mr. Gardener spoke something to this purpose That what was spoken upon that Statute was because it seemed inseparable from the matter of Fact That they could proceed no further till a state were afforded to them That to do otherwise they conceived might be Exceeding prejudicial to the Earl of Strafford 1. In regard that they should suppose that to be done which is not proved to be so 2. That the matter of Law ariseth so naturally from the matter of Fact that it will be impossible to separate them one from the other 3. That it is the Course of all Judicatures first to settle the Verdict and upon that to fix the Arguments otherwise he could conceive no possible Way of Proceeding and therefore in the Lord Strafford 's name he most humbly intreated their Lordships either wholly to determine the matter of Fact not whether Treason or not for then all after-Proceedings in Law were unnecessary but whether done or not done or else to give them some states of the Question whereunto they might conform themselves Whereupon the Court adjourned But the Commons were resolved to pursue another Method and nothing now would do but the Bill of Attainder Munday April 19. and accordingly upon Monday April 19 it was Resolved upon the Question That the Endeavour of Thomas Earl of Strafford to Subvert the Antient and Fundamental Laws of the Realm of England and Ireland and to introduce an Arbitrary and Tyrannical Government against Law in Both these Kingdoms is High Treason By which Vote they not only precluded all further Argument as to matter of Law but made themselves Accusers Parties and Judges both as to Matter of Fact and Law also Upon Wednesday Wednesday April 21. Bill of Attainder of the E. of Strafford read thrice in one day and passed the Commons April 21. the Bill of Attainder was twice read in the Morning with the Amendments and ordered to be ingrossed and so eager were they in the Prosecution that it was read again in the
Afternoon and the House was divided upon it the Lord Digby and Mr. Lloyd tellers for the Years Sir Gilbert Gerrard and Sir Thomas Barrington tellers for the Noes with the Noes were 59 with the Yeas 204. so the Bill passed the House of Commons being thrice read in one Day and Mr. Pym by Order of the House carried it up to the Lords with a special Recommendation to their Lordships to give it all Expedition in regard of the great Importance acquainting them That the Commons would be ready to Justifie the Legality of the Bill But notwithstanding the Tide run with that impetuous Violence against this Noble Lord that to oppose it must hazard drowning and that doubtless Fear carried as many down the stream as Judgment yet so great was the Power of his Innocence and the Force of Truth that even the Lord Digby one who while he thought him Criminal was his severest Accuser yet discerning the unjust practices against the Earl he became his Advocate though all the advantage he got was by generously endeavouring to save the Lord Strafford he lost his own Esteem both in the House of Commons and among the Faction and from that moment became their declared Enemy by being a Bold Friend of Truth and Justice So it happens while men out of too much Popularity court or follow a Faction they kindâ—â— a fire which when they would quench they perish in those Flames which they help'd to blow up However this Speech of the Lord Digby's gives a clear light into the Dark Contrivance which brought this Great Life to an untimely Period and was as followeth Mr. Speaker WE are now upon the point of giving as much as in us lies the Final Sentence unto Death or Life on a great Minister of State and Peer of this Kingdom The Lord Digby's Speech at the passing the Bill of Attainder against the Earl of Strafford Apr. 21. Thomas Earl of Strafford a Name of hatred in the present Age by his practices and fit to be made a Terrour to future Ages by his Punishment I have had the Honour to be Imployed by the House in this great business from the first hour that it was taken into Consideration It was matter of great Trust and I will say with confidence that I have served the House in it both with Industry according to my ability and with most exact Faithfulness and Secrecy And as I have hitherto discharged my Duty to this House and to my Country in the Progress of this Great Cause so I trust I shall do now in the last period of it to God and to a good Conscience I do wish the peace of that unto my self and the blessings of Almighty God to me and my Posterity according as my judgment on the life of this man shall be consonant with my heart and the best of my understanding in all Integrity I know well Mr. Speaker that by some things I have said of late whilst this Bill was in agitation I have raised some prejudices upon me in the Cause Yea some I thank them for their plain dealing have been so free as to tell me that I suffered much by the backwardness I have shewn in this Bill of Attainder of the Earl of Strafford against whom I had been formerly so keen and so active Mr. Speaker I beg of you and the rest but a suspension of Judgment concerning me till I have opened my heart unto you freely and clearly in this business Truly Sir I am still the same in my Opinions and Affections as unto the Earl of Strafford I confidently believe him the most dangerous Minister the most insupportable to free Subjects that can be charactered I believe his Practices in themselves have been as High as Tyrannical as any Subject ever ventured on and the malignity of them are hugely aggravated by those rare abilities of his whereof God hath given him the use but the Devil the application in a word I believe him still that grand Apostate to the Common-wealth who must not expect to be pardoned in this World till he be dispatched to the other And yet let me tell you Mr. Speaker my hand must not be to that dispatch I protest as my Conscience stands informed I had rather it were off Let me unfold unto you the mystery Mr. Speaker I will not dwell much upon justifying unto you my seeming variance at this time from what I was formerly but by putting you in mind of the difference between Prosecutors and Judges How misbecoming that fervour would be in a Judge which perhaps was commendable in a Prosecutor Judges we are now and must put on another Personage It is honest and noble to be earnest in order to the discovery of Truth but when that hath been brought as far as it can to light our judgment thereupon ought to be calm and cautious In prosecution upon probable Grounds we are accountable only for our industry or remisness but in judgment We are deeply responsible to God Almighty for it's Rectitude or Obliquity in cases of Life the Judge is God's Steward of the Partie's blood and must give a strict account for every drop But as I told you Mr. Speaker I will not insist long upon the Ground of Difference in me now from what I was formerly The truth on 't is Sir the same Ground whereupon I with the rest of the Five to whom you first committed the Consideration of my Lord Strafford brought down our Opinion That it was fit he should be Accused of Treason upon the same Ground I was engaged with earnestness in his Prosecution and had the same Ground remained in that force of belief with me which till very lately it did I should not have been tender in his Condemnation But truly Sir to deal plainly with you that Ground of our Accusation That Spur to our Prosecution and that which should be the basis of my judgment of the Earl of Strafford as unto Treason is to my understanding quite vanisht away This it was Mr. Speaker His advising the King to employ the Army of Ireland to reduce England This I was assured would be proved before I gave my consent to his Accusation I was confirmed in the same belief during the Prosecution and fortified in it most of all since Sir Henry Vane 's preparatory Examination by the assurances which that worthy Member Mr. Pym gave me that his Testimony would be made convincing by some Notes of what passed at that Junto concurrent with it which I ever understanding to be of some other Councellor you see now prove but a Copy of the same Secretaries Notes discovered and produc'd in the manner you have heard and those such disjoynted Fragments of the Venomous part of Discourses no Results no Conclusions of Counsels which are the only things that Secretaries should Register there being no use at all of the other but to Accuse and to bring men into danger But Sir this is not that which overthrows
and Deputy-Lieutenants how affected to the Religion and to present their Names to the House and that where there is want that Arms and Ammunition may be supplyed By this Means they got a true account of all those who were their Friends and who their Enemies who were therefore to be displaced as disaffected to Religion and Popishly inclined as all those who were for Episcopacy were vogued to be and besides hereby they gave a General Alarm and Amazement to the Whole Nation to believe that those Fears and Jealousies with which they bewitched the People into Rebellion were grounded upon the foundations of Truth and real Danger which was the Occasion of this Inquiry into the state of the Militia Upon this a Message was sent to the Lords to acquaint them with a dangerous Conspiracy to seduce the Army against the Parliament and to increase the Fears and Jealousies among the People Message to the Lords about the Conspiracy to seduce the Army an Order was sent from the Commons to the Lord Mayor of London to take care of the City Guards The Message to the Lords was in haec verba Mr. Hollis who carried up the Message read it in these words Message about the Conspiracy of the Army That the House of Commons hath received such Information as doth give them just cause to suspect that there have been and still are secret practices to discontent the Army with the proceedings of Parliament and to ingage them in some Design of dangerous Consequence to the State and by some other mischievous ways to prevent the happy success and conclusion of this Parliament And because the timely discovery and prevention of these dangerous Plots doth so nearly concern the safety both of * Yet afterwards they did all that was possible to persuade the People that the King was in this Conspiracy King and Kingdom they desire your Lordships would be pleased to appoint a select Commitee to take the Examinations upon Oath of such persons and Interrogatories as shall be presented unto them by the Directions of the House of Commons and in the presence of such Members of that House as shall be thereunto appointed with Injunction of such Secrecy as a business of this nature doth require They have Ordered That such Members of their House as shall be thought fit shall upon notice be ready to be Examined and they desire your Lordships would be pleased to order the like for the Members and Assistants of your own House And further it is desired That your Lordships will forthwith send to his Majesty to beseech him in the Name of the Parliament upon this great and weighty occasion that no Servants of his Majesties of the Queen or Prince may depart the Kingdom or otherwise absent himself without leave from his Majesty with the humble advice of the Parliament until these Examinations be perfected Whereupon it was Ordered That this House will joyn with the House of Commons in all that they desire and these Lords following were Deputed to take the Examinations Earl of Bath Earl of Essex Earl of Warwick Earl of March Viscount Say and Seal Lord Wharton Lord Paget and Mr. Serjeant Glanvile and Mr. Attorney General to write and set down the Examinations There being never a Bishop in the Committee A Salvo for the Bishops a Memorandum was entered in the Journals MEmorandum Whereas none of the Lords the Bishops are joyned with the aforesaid deputed Lords it was declared by the House that it should be no prejudice to the Lords the Bishops This being done the Lord Great Chamberlain the Lord Steward the Lord Chamberlain the Earl of Dorset and the Earl of Newcastle were appointed to wait on his Majesty with the aforesaid request of the Parliament to which they brought this Answer THat his Majesty hath willingly granted it The Kings Answer concerning his Servants and gave a present Command to the Lord Chamberlain the Earl of Newcastle and the Earl of Dorset to give notice hereof to all under their Charge that none do depart the Kingdom without the King's License but to be forth-coming upon demand which accordingly they have already done After which the Oath of Secrecy was given to Serjeant Glanvile and Mr. Attorney in these words YOV shall Swear The Oath of Secrecy given by the Lords to Serjeant Glanvile and Mr. Attorney assistant to the Committee of Lords to Examine the Conspiracy The Persons accused That in your writing and setting down of the Examination of the Witnesses to be produced before the Lords deputed to take Examinations upon Interrogatories to be produced by the House of Commons concerning the English Army in the North and in all things concerning the same You shall well truly and faithfully behave your selves and not discover the same before the end of this Parliament or Publication granted or leave of this House first obtained The Persons Accused of this Design of seducing the Army against the Parliament were Sir John Suckling Mr. Henry Percy Brother to the Earl of Northumberland Mr. Henry Jermyn Colonel Goring Mr. William Davenant Captain Palmer Captain Billingsley and Sir Edward Wardourn and Warrants were issued out against them to bring them under the Examination of the House of Commons This day there passed little of Moment Thursday May 6. the Commons being taken up with Reading several Bills one for the security of the True Religion the Safety and Honour of his Majesties Person the just Rights of the Subject and the better discovering and punishment of Popish Recusants as also another Bill for Subsidies With which guilded baits they not only Angled for Popular Favour but also endeavoured to hide their Antimonarchical Designs against his Majesty by these specious pretences of endeavouring to study his Safety and Honour The House was this day informed That the Persons against whom the Warrants were Issued upon the Accusation of their endeavouring to seduce the Army were not to be found whereupon at a Conference it was desired that all the Ports might be stopped upon which the Lords made this Order Ordered The Order of the Lords for stopping the Ports That all the Ports of England shall be forthwith stopped until the pleasure of this House be further known and none to depart the Kingdom except Sir Thomas Roe and such as he will be answerable for who is to give in their names to this House And in particular stay is to be made of Henry Percy Esq Henry Jermyn Esq Sir John Suckling Knight William Davenant and Captain Billingsly that they depart not out of this Kingdom but are to be apprehended and safely conducted with all speed unto this House Directed To the Right Honourable Algernon Earl of Northumberland L. High Admiral of England To James Earl of March Lord Warden of the Cinque-Ports To Jerom Earl of Portland Captain and Governour of the Isle of Wight To George Goring Esq Governour of Portsmouth After which Sir Philip Carteret Lieutenant
auxi mesmes les Communes remercierment les seigneurs Espirituelx Temporelx de lour bon droiturell Jugment quils auoint fait come Piers du Parlement That the said Commons returned thanks to the Lords Temporal and Spiritual for the good and upright Judgment which they had made as Peers of Parliament In the 2 of H. 6 John Lord Talbot accused James Boteler Earl of Ormond Rot. Par. n. 9. 2 H. 6. in Parliament of sundry Treasons and the Record saith That De avisamento assensu Dominorum Spiritualium Temporalium ac Communitatis Regni Angliae in eodem Parliamento existent ' facta fuit quaedam Abolitio delationis nunciatonis Detectionis predict ' c. By the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons of England there was made a certain abolition of the said Accusation Relation and Discovery From which Presidents it is evident that the Lords the Bishops did Sit and Debate Vote and Determin in Causes Capital as well as the other Temporal Lords The third Position is that they are a third Estate in Parliament Which is proved both by undeniable Reason and undoubted Presidents and Records That there are three Estates in the Parliament of England is a matter on all hands allowed But some Persons who would bring down the Soveraignty to a Coordinacy do affirm that the King is the third Estate the Lords making one and the Commons the other which dangerous Position as it doth submit the Monarchy to great hazzards so it gave occasion and colour to the taking away of the Peerage of the Bishops the third Estate notwithstanding their Exclusion being according to this principle left as Intire in the Lords House as it was upon the Exclusion of the Lord Abbots in the time of King Henry the Eighth Now that the King is not one of the three Estates and consequently that the Lords the Bishops must be so and were ever accounted so evidently appears by the Records of our Parliaments which are cited to this purpose as follows In the Parliament of 1. H. 4. By the Roll it appears that King Richard the Second appointed two Procurators to declare his Resignation of the Crown coram omnibus Statibus Regni before all the States of the Realm and one of the Articles against him was concerning his Impeachment of Thomas Arch-Bishop of Canterbury coram Rege omnibus Statibus Regni before the King and all the Estates of the Realm And who all these Estates of the Realm were it most fully appears in that the Commissioners for the Sentence of this unfortunate Kings deposition are said to be appointed Per Pares Proceres Regni Anglia Spirituales Temporales ejusdem Regni Communitates omnes status ejusdem Regni representantes By the Peers and Nobility of the Kingdom of England Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons of the same representing all the Estates of the said Realm So that First the Bishops are declared Peers of the Realm in Parliament Secondly The Estates of the Parliament are to represent all the Estates of the Kingdom Clergy Nobility and Commons Thirdly The three Estates in Parliament are the Lords Spiritual the Lords Temporal and the Commons of the Realm In the Roll of Parliament Rot. Parl. 1. R. 3. 1. R. 3. it is Recorded That whereas before his Coronation certain Articles were delivered unto him in the name of the three Estates of the Realm that is to say of the Lords Spiritual Lords Temporal and of the Commons by name c. Now forasmuch as neither the said three Estates neither the said Persons which in their name presented and delivered as it is aforesaid the said Roll unto our Soveraign Lord the King were Assembled in Form of Parliament divers doubts have been moved c. Now by the said three Estates Assembled in this present Parliament and by Authority of the same be ratified and Enrolled c. Upon which Record Mr. Prinn himself makes this Marginal Note The three Estates must concur to make a Parliament no one or two of them being a full or Real Parliament but all conjoyned In the 3. H. 6. it is said in the Record Prinn Abridgments of Records p. 710. 714. the three Estates Assembled in this present Parliament In the Explanation of the Duke of Bedford's Power as Protector It is said it was advised and appointed by the Authority of the King Assenting the three Estates of this Realm so that it is plain that the King was not then accounted one of them Rot. Par. 3. H. 6. n. 19. 6. H. 6. n. 24. In the 11. H. 6. The Duke of Bedford appeared in Parliament and declared the Reason of his coming coram Domino Rege tribus Statibus Regni before the King and the three Estates of the Realm 11. Hen. 6. n. 10. and n. 2. n. 2. N. 11. Domino Rege tribus Regni Statibus in presenti Parliamento Existentibus Our Lord the King and the three Estates in Parliament being present where the King is plainly distinct from the three Estates 11. H. 6. N. 2. The Lord Cromwell Lord Treasurer Exhibits a Petition in Parliament wherein he saith that the Estate and necessity of the King and of the Realm have been notified to the three Estates of the Land Assembled in Parliament In the Appendix to the Rolls of Parliament that Year the Duke of Bedford saith in his Petition to the King How that in your last Parliament yit lyked your Hyghness by yaduis of three Estates of yis Land to will me c. 23. H. 6. N. 11. Presente Domino Rege 23. H. 6. n. 11. tribus Statibus in presenti Parliamento Existentibus c. Our Lord the King being present and the three Estates in the present Parliament Assembled 28. H. 6. N. 9. Domino Rege 28. H. 6. n. 9. tribus Regni Statibus in pleno Parliamento comparentibus c. Our Lord the King and the three Estates in full Parliament appearing c. 1. H. 6. 1. H. 6. The Queen Dowager in her Petition mentioning the Ratification made in Parliament 9. H. 5. saith it was not only sworn by the King but by the three Estates of the Kingdom of England Cest assavoir Les Prelatz Nobles Grands per les Comuns de mesm le Royalm Dengleterre That is to say by the Prelats Nobles and Great Men and by the Commons of the said Realm of England And since the Reformation In the 8 of Eliz. 1. 8. Eliz. 1. The Bishops are in Parliament called one of the greatest States of this Realm From all which Instances it plainly appears First That there are three Estates in the Fundamental Constitution of every Parliament Secondly That there are three Estates besides the King and consequently that he cannot be one of the three Thirdly that the Lords Spiritual the Bishops are a Third Estate of the Realm in Parliament
the English who lived under them rise against them with great Malignity and joyn with the Rebels They defaced the Chargeable Buildings and profitable Improvements of the English to their uttermost Power They threaten all the English to be gone by a time or they will destroy them utterly and indeed they give out publickly That their purpose is totally to Extirp the English and Protestants and not to lay down Arms until by an Act of Parliament here the Romish Religion be Established and that the Government be settled in the hands of Natives and all the old Irish restored to the Lands of their supposed Ancestors These and other Miseries and Calamities the English and Protestants of all Conditions here do suffer which we cannot mention without horror and grief of Heart Besides in these high Disturbances and general mischiefs the Irish inhabiting on the Borders of the Counties of Meath and Lowth adjoyning to the Counties of Cavan and Monaghan do make daily Incursions on all the English near them and Rob and Spoyl them of all they have whereby many are utterly undon and ruined in their Estates The Rebels finding their numbers to increase which we are informed to be very many and in many Places insomuch as it is conceived that they are not less than thirty thousand already declared assemble themselves in great Parties whom notwithstanding we dare meet with far fewer numbers as we hope to be Armed and Horsed they for the most part being as yet meanly provided of any Arms or Munition but such only as they got from the English whom they Robbed and the Kings Magazins which they surprised They sent a Party of their men to the Town of Dundalk an antient Corporation which held firm to the Crown in all the times of the late Rebellions in this Kingdom When they approached the Town on Saturday last it was rendred up to them without a blow strucken in the defence of it They are now advancing immediately to Drogheda a Walled Town upon the Sea Coast within twenty Miles of Dublin and if they can prevail there it is conceived they will March immediately hither to Besieâ—e this City and Castle In this straight and therein our extream want of Money and Arms as well as men adding to our grief We conceived it became of absolute necessity to find means to imploy some strength as well to deter the Rebels and their Adherents as to countenance and if it be possible to preserve the good Subjects especially in these Parts And therefore having sent what Supplies of Arms and Munition we could to Drogheda we raised here a thousand Foot consisting of as many English as we could possibly gather yet a great part of them are Irish whom we are necessitated to trust and have Armed them and they are now Marched with two Troops of Horse towards Drogheda But if through the defection of these Irish in that Regiment or any other accident it should so happen as God forbid that the Rebels should prevail against them then considering the present State and Condition of this City we must utterly dispair of being able to keep it against the Rebels unless we be with all possible speed relieved from thence with Men Money and Arms and on the other side not to send forth those Troops would be extreamly Dangerous as giving not only too much heart to the Rebels when they should see themselves able to come so far without resistance but also great Discouragement and Terror to the well affected when they should see us unable to shew any strength for their defence We hold it our duties thus to acquaint your Lordships with the Lamentable State wherein this Kingdom stands that so his Majesty and the Parliament there may understand it and then we hope they will provide for relieving us Immediately with ten thousand Foot and one thousand Horse for the present well Armed and further Provision of Arms to furnish the Stores as also some able Commanders and one hundred thousand pound in money to pay them and answer other occasions here which being now speedily sent us may prevent the Effusion of very much English Bloud and the vast expence of Treasure hereafter which must of necessity be spent if we be not presently thus relieved We must also make known to your Lordships that upon this occasion many of the Noblemen and Gentry of the Pale coming to us for Arms as also many in this City and other Towns We held it the safest way to avoid their Suspition of our Jealousie of them and so we yielded to set some prime Men and some Counties also to have Arms and Munition for their defence against the Rebels upon deep professions of their Loyalty to the Crown who we hope will be a strength to us But however there was no safety to let them lodge any thoughts of Jealousie in us against them And our Issuing of Arms in that manner hath very much lessened our stores Sir Faithful Fortescue coming lately from Drogheda shewed us a Paper which he told us was dropped under a Stall at Drogheda and so was brought to him it seems to be a Declaration of some of the reasons pretended by the Rebels for taking up Arms which Paper we humbly offer to your Lordships here inclosed as also two Proclamations Published by us by occasion of this Rebellion since our last dispatch to the Lord Lieutenant The Lord Magwire and Mr. Mahown the two Principal Prisoners we have we should think fit to send into England for their more safety and to take a way from the Rebels all hope of delivering them from Prison by their coming hither to besiege this Place wherein therefore we humbly 〈◊〉 a speedy Signification of his Majesties or your Lordships good pleasure to be hastened unto us To quicken our Supplies from thence without which and that with all possible speed we cannot expect to live to give his Majesty an account of this Place We have now written our Letters to the Lords and Commons House of Parliament there and have for the particulars referred to these our Letters to your Lordships humbly beseeching your Lordships to Communicate them to both Houses yet so we hope as those Parts thereof which your Lordships may easily judge are fit to be kept secret and being published may discover our Disability to make defence and our Apprehensions of great and Eminent danger may not come to common view We have also so extreamly necessary it is sent this Bearer Richard Fitz Gerald Esq as an Express Agent or Sollicitor from this State to attend his Majesty and your Lordships that so by his Majesties gracious Interposition and your Lordships Mediation for us to the Parliament there the succors we expect may be seat us which if they come not immediately we crave leave to repeat it again and again the Kingdom will be utterly lost and all the English and Protestants in Ireland destroyed and so England instead of Subjects will have Enemies here who